Rochester Criteria for Identifying Febrile Infants at Low Risk for Serious Bacterial Infection

1. Infant appears generally well
2. Infant has been previously healthy:
3. Born at term (>/=37 weeks of gestation)

• No perinatal antimicrobial therapy
• No treatment for unexplained hyperbilirubinemia
• No previous antimicrobial therapy
• No previous hospitalization
• No chronic or underlying illness
• Not hospitalized longer than mother

4. Infant has no evidence of skin, soft tissue, bone, joint or ear infection
5. Infant has these laboratory values:

• White blood cell count of 5,000 to 15,000 per mm3
  
• Absolute band cell count of <=1,500 per mm³
• Ten or fewer white blood cells per high-power field on microscopic examination of urine
• Five or fewer white blood cells per high-power field on microscopic examination of stool in infant with diarrhea

Jaskiewicz JA, McCarthy CA, Richardson AC, White KC, Fisher DJ, Dagan R, Powell KR. Febrile infants at low risk for serious bacterial infection--an appraisal of the Rochester criteria and implications for management. Febrile Infant Collaborative Study Group. Pediatrics. 1994 Sep;94(3):390-6. [Medline]