Fever in the neonatal period
- Special Care Baby Unit, Royal Hospital, PO Box 1331, Muscat 111, Sultanate of Oman; shabihman@hotmail.com
This is in reference to the recent article by Maayan-Metzger et al.1 The clinical implication of the study is questionable. It is difficult to make a prospective decision on retrospective data. What should a clinician do if a healthy asymptomatic 3 day old baby has a fever of 37.9°C? There is no problem in labelling the infant as having non-specific fever, which may be due to dehydration. The problem is to decide on the treatment. Unfortunately, the study in question not only lacks that information but also supports treatment with antibiotics. This inference is drawn from the results of the study, stating that 108 of 122 healthy asymptomatic babies (that is, …
