Boston prococol

Boston protocol — The Boston group prospectively evaluated 503 28- to 89-day-old infants with rectal temperature greater than 38ºC (100.4ºF) who met the following criteria and were managed as outpatients:

<ul >

<li>No immunizations or antimicrobials within the preceding 48 hours</li>

<li>No evidence of dehydration, ear, soft tissue, or bone infection</li>

<li>Overall well appearance</li>

<li>Caretaker available by telephone</li>

</ul>

The laboratory criteria defining low-risk patients included:

<ul >

<li>Peripheral white blood cell (WBC) count less than 20,000/microL</li>

<li>No infiltrate on chest radiograph if one was obtained</li>

</ul>

Infants in the study group received 50 mg/kg <a href="/contents/ceftriaxone-pediatric-drug-information?source=see_link" jquery1510883236380069639="14">ceftriaxone</a> intramuscularly and were sent home with scheduled follow-up visit 24 hours later.

The categorization of infants with a WBC count between 15,000 and 20,000/microL as low risk was more liberal than in other studies, and 27 patients (5.4 percent) had an SBI identified during follow-up. Nevertheless, there were no adverse outcomes; all infants with SBIs received an appropriate course of antimicrobial therapy and were well at follow-up.