"Clinical and Hematologic Features Do Not Reliably Identify Children With Unsuspected Meningococcal Disease."

According to the authors' abstract of an article published in Pediatrics, "Objective: To determine the frequency of unsuspected meningococcal disease (UMD) in young febrile children with meningococcal infections and evaluate whether clinical and laboratory parameters commonly used in the evaluation of fever can help identify children with UMD. Methods: We reviewed the records of children with meningococcal disease from 1985 to 1996 at four referral centers. Children who were evaluated as outpatients and then discharged to home, from whom Neisseria meningitidis was isolated from blood or cerebrospinal fluid cultures obtained during these outpatient visits, were...

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