Diagnosis and evaluation of febrile infants under 4 months of age in Japan by using RT-PCR for enterovirus

Clinicians should consider age, sex and seasons when evaluating and treating infants with fever. Previously lumbar puncture, urinalysis and chest X-ray were recommended to avoid useless assays. These results also revealed that RT-PCR is a useful and significant assay to establish an exact diagnosis in very young infants.