Occult bacteremia

[Hina Muqadas]

Occult (hidden) bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream of a child who has a fever but who looks well and has no obvious source of infection.

Most commonly, occult bacteremia is caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria.
Typically, children have no symptoms other than fever.
The diagnosis is based on blood tests.
Routine childhood vaccination can prevent infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Antibiotics can eliminate the infection.

(See also Bacteremia in adults.)
Children younger than 3 years commonly develop fevers. Most of the time, they have other symptoms, such as a cough and runny nose, which help doctors diagnose the cause of the fever. Sometimes, however, children have fever and no other symptoms. That is, they have a fever with no apparent source or cause. In most of these children, the fever is caused by a viral infection that goes away without treatment. In some of these children, a urinary tract infection is present. In a few children who have fever with no obvious cause, the fever is caused by bacteria circulating in their bloodstream (bacteremia). Circulating bacteria are almost never the cause of fever in older children or adults who have no other symptoms.
In the past, children 3 to 36 months of age who had a temperature higher than or equal to 102.2