Prediction of Bacteremia and Bacterial Meningitis Among Febrile Infants Aged 28 Days or Younger

The updated PECARN rule had high sensitivity but lower specificity for identifying febrile infants 28 days or younger with invasive bacterial infections in this study, with no missed cases of bacterial meningitis. These results may support shared decision-making regarding select vs routine use of lumbar puncture among infants classified as being at low risk of invasive bacterial infections.