[omegatoo]

1. Any child under 2 months old with a fever has meningitis or sepsis until proven otherwise...their immune systems are not well developed so they must be treated quickly or they can die or be seriously disabled. That’s standard of care and not doing it is negligent.
2.Spinal taps in infants are easier than drawing blood.
3.The only alternative would have been for the child to be admitted and treated for meningitis/sepsis without a clear diagnosis...a 10 day or so course of IV antibiotics.
4.As an ER doc, I wouldn’t have let the mom take the baby out of the hospital, (I’ve done it, and I am legally obligated to do it if I think the child is in danger) but if she still refused the tap, I’d have started antibiotics and gotten the child admitted and let the pediatricians deal with the fallout.
5. This is why I cringe every time I see a teeny-tiny out in public when they are only a few weeks old, a random virus causing them to run fever can set this whole thing in motion.
O2

[netmilsmom]

1. The baby was nine weeks and there was a flu going through the house
2. Are you seriously saying that a spinal has as little risk as drawing blood? Seriously?
3. The infant’s temperature was dropping after subcue fluid intake. Observation is the course that should have been taken. Admit the baby if need be, OR do as the mother said and get a second opinion. YOU would have done that, as you stated. This ER idiot called CPS.
4. I don’t like to see infants out either.

[GatorGirl]

Thank you for your sane post. My daughter had meningitis at 8 weeks old and the cautious treatment she received saved her life.

My husband is a doc and I made him stay in the ER with her during the LP. I couldn’t stand it and stayed out taking care of my other child. But when she was admitted I didn’t leave her side for the entire week she remained for antibiotics and observation.

Other than some rotten baby teeth she came through completely unscathed.

[poobear]

Our daughter just under 15 months old spiked a fever of 102 one evening. Did the normal children's Advil then Tylenol regime that night. Around midnight she was still miserable. I was changing her when I noticed a pink rash all over her tummy and arms and immediately called the emergency room and her doctor. The on call pediatrician HAD to rule out meningitis and I wanted her to.

I'll never forget the animal cry of agony that came out of our little baby's mouth while she received that tap. I had to relieve myself from her room once it was over.

While this procedure was awful, death by meningitis was NOT an option. Turns out she did not have it and no one to this day is sure what she had. Many theories of course.

Thank you and other good Doctors for taking care of our little ones. BTW, she's 15 now and thriving!