Dehydration: the main cause of fever during the first week of life
- Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey; filiztiker@yahoo.com
We read with interest the findings of Maayan-Metzger et al on fever in healthy newborns during the first days of life.1
It is difficult to identify febrile neonates at low risk of serious bacterial infection.2 Although no consensus exists on the optimal approach to diagnosis and treatment, current guidelines recommend that febrile infants less than 28 days of age be admitted to hospital and given intravenous antibiotics for 48–72 hours. However, as mentioned in this report, dehydration is the primary cause of fever especially during the first …
