>>Most have minor self-resolving viral infections
>>The key is to identify those with a serious infectious or non-infectious entity
>>Factors to consider in your approach
▫What is the age of the patient?
▫Is the child a normal host?
▫What exposures have occurred?
▫Is there an identifiable focus of infection?
▫How sick does the child look?

definitions:
•Fever without a source
▫Acute febrile illness in which the etiology of the fever is not apparent after careful history & physical examination
•Serious bacterial infection
▫Meningitis, sepsis, bone & joint infections, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, enteritis
•Toxic appearance
▫Clinical picture consistent with the sepsis syndrome (lethargy, poor perfusion, marked hypoventilation or hyperventilation, cyanosis etc.)