Prevalence of Serious Bacterial Infections Among Febrile Infants 90 Days or Younger in a Canadian Urban Pediatric Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Approximately 2% of all full-term neonates are evaluated for fever in the first months of life, and there exists significant ongoing variation in their care.¹ Although most febrile neonates and infants 90 days or younger (hereafter referred to as young infants) have self-limited viral illnesses, the prevalence of life-threatening serious bacterial infections (SBIs) has remained approximately 10% for more than 30 years.¹ On March 11, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, and since that time, studies worldwide have reported a 30% to 89% reduction in the number of children brought to emergency care^2,3 as well as fewer circulating respiratory viruses owing to widespread COVID-19 public health mitigation strategies.^4,5 To our knowledge, the epidemiologic characteristics of SBIs among febrile young infants during the COVID-19 pandemic has not previously been assessed. We sought to assess the prevalence of SBIs among febrile young infants evaluated in the emergency department (ED) for fever during the COVID-19 pandemic.