The Febrile Infant: Updates in Evaluation and Management

Abstract

New American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines were published in 2021 for the evaluation and management of well-appearing febrile infants from age 8 to 60 days. This first guideline of its kind from the AAP brings together increasing evidence from the last 20 years and replaces the varied protocols previously used (eg, Rochester, Philadelphia, Boston). The guideline also incorporates lessons from newer studies, such as the work of the Febrile Infant Working Group of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. This article will explain the motivation for the guideline, summarize its recommendations, and fill in some details about how to evaluate and manage infants that fall out of the guideline's scope of the well-appearing febrile infant age 8 to 60 days (ill-appearing infants and early-onset infections in newborns younger than age 8 days). [Pediatr Ann. 2024;53(9):e314-e319.].