Febrile infants testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, especially those aged 29 to 60 days, have low prevalence of UTI, bacteremia, bacterial meningitis<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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FRIDAY, May 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Febrile infants aged 8 to 60 days old who test positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have a low prevalence of urinary tract infection (UTI), bacteremia, and bacterial meningitis, according to a study published online May 12 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul L. Aronson, M.D., from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues describe the prevalence of UTI, bacteremia, and bacterial meningitis among febrile infants aged 8 to 60 days with versus without SARS-CoV-2 in a multicenter cross-sectional study conducted at 106 hospitals in the United States and Canada. Data were included for 14,402 febrile infants, aged 8 to 60 days, with SARS-CoV-2 testing (26.1 percent tested positive).<\/p>\n The researchers found that a lower proportion of infants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 compared with those who tested negative had UTI (0.8 versus 7.6 percent), bacteremia without meningitis (0.2 versus 2.1 percent), and bacterial meningitis (<0.1 versus 0.5 percent). Among infants aged 29 to 60 days who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 0.4, <0.1, and <0.1 percent had UTI, bacteremia, and meningitis, respectively. Among SARS-CoV-2-positive infants, the proportion with bacteremia and\/or bacterial meningitis was lower for those with normal versus abnormal inflammatory markers (<0.1 versus 1.8 percent).<\/p>\n “Infants with SARS-CoV-2 positivity had very low prevalence of UTI, bacteremia, and bacterial meningitis,” the authors write. “Given these findings, the integration of SARS-CoV-2 testing results into the risk stratification of febrile infants merits future study.”<\/p>\n