The Epidemiology of Co-Infections in Febrile Children Younger than ۵-Years-Old in Emergency Department; A Cross-Sectional Hospital-Based Study

Background Fever is one of the most common causes of children’s referral to pediatric emergency department (ED), and almost ۲۰% of General ED referrals relate to febrile children. When it comes to febrile pediatrics patients, co-infection is a very important issue to discuss. This topic has been considered in current literature so, we considered to examine the epidemiology of these co-infections in febrile children younger than ۵ years in emergency department. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out retrospectively with the enrollment of children younger than ۵-years-old (accessible sampling) in the emergency department of Mofid Hospital, Tehran, Iran, during November ۲۰۱۷ to December ۲۰۱۸.  After designing and completing a check list.   Results: Totally, ۳۸۸ patients with the mean age of ۲۵.۴ ± ۱۲.۴ months were studied (۵۱.۵% Girl).  The source of infection was unclear after using all of the diagnostic tools in ۲۷.۵% of cases. Based on the findings fever-associated diarrhea (۱۳۲ patients, ۴۶.۹%), and cellulitis (۱ patient, ۰.۴%) were the most and least frequent source of infections, respectively. The co-incidence of different source of infections showed that the most frequent co-infections were sepsis and UTI; otitis and UTI; pneumonia and UTI; pneumonia and URI; and sepsis and otitis. Conclusion It seems that co-infections have been significantly increased in girls and in theage range of ۶-۳۶ months. The most and least prevalent infections were fever-associated diarrhea and cellulitis among the patients with at least one type of infection. The co-incidence of different source of infection showed that the most frequent co-infections were sepsis and UTI; otitis and UTI; pneumonia and UTI; pneumonia and URI; and sepsis and otitis.

Keywords:

Children , Co-infection , Febrile , Epidemiology