Testing for Meningitis in Febrile Well-Appearing Young Infants With a Positive Urinalysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To determine factors associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing in febrile young infants with a positive urinalysis and assess the probability of delayed diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in infants treated for urinary tract infection (UTI) without CSF testing. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study using data from the Reducing Excessive Variability in Infant Sepsis Evaluation quality improvement project. A total of 20 570 well-appearing febrile infants 7 to 60 days old presenting to 124 hospitals from 2015 to 2017 were included. A mixed-effects logistic regression was conducted to determine factors associated with CSF testing. Delayed meningitis was defined as a new diagnosis of bacterial meningitis within 7 days of discharge. RESULTS: Overall, 3572 infants had a positive urinalysis; 2511 (70.3%) underwent CSF testing. There was wide variation by site, with CSF testing rates ranging from 64% to 100% for infants 7 to 30 days old and 10% to 100% for infants 31 to 60 days old. Factors associated with CSF testing included: age 7 to 30 days (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 4.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.8-5.5), abnormal inflammatory markers (aOR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.8-2.5), and site volume >300 febrile infants per year (aOR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.6). Among 505 infants treated for UTI without CSF testing, there were 0 (95% CI: 0%-0.6%) cases of delayed meningitis. CONCLUSIONS: There was wide variation in CSF testing in febrile infants with a positive urinalysis. Among infants treated for UTI without CSF testing (mostly 31 to 60-day-old infants), there were no cases of delayed meningitis within 7 days of discharge, suggesting that routine CSF testing of infants 31 to 60 days old with a positive urinalysis may not be necessary.

Cerebrospinal fluid shunt infection secondary to Escherichia coli bacteriuria.

A 10-year-old girl with a lumbosacral myelomeningocele, managed with clean intermittent catheterization, presented with headache, vomiting, and lethargy. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and urine cultures revealed Escherichia coli, documented to be the same subtype. The organisms were subtyped and the E. coli from both the urine and CSF were noted to be of the same strain. Management consisted of intravenous antibiotics and ultimate replacement of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Children with myelodysplasia and CSF shunts should be carefully monitored in a multidisciplinary fashion to anticipate, correctly diagnose, and treat CSF shunt infections associated with bacteriuria.