Handbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases

The febrile infant is in front of you, the clock is running, and the differential includes something that kills in hours if you miss it.

Applying the wrong framework to a child is not a minor error - it is the doxycycline withheld because of a dental staining myth, the STEC patient given antibiotics that triggered HUS, the septic hip sent home because the Kocher score was not calculated.

This handbook transforms clinical reasoning at the exact moment it matters - the bedside decision between watchful waiting and emergency surgery, between oral step-down and prolonged IV, between prophylaxis and overtreatment.

Inside this book:

• Start doxycycline now - understand exactly why RMSF kills children who present without a rash, and why no age restriction applies
• Never miss a septic hip - apply the Kocher criteria, interpret joint fluid, and determine surgical urgency before damage is irreversible
• Stop STEC antibiotics cold - recognize hemorrhagic colitis before HUS develops and know which interventions accelerate renal failure
• Diagnose TB without a culture - integrate exposure history, IGRA, CT findings, and therapeutic response when smears are negative
• Select the right antifungal immediately - distinguish invasive candidiasis from aspergillosis from mucormycosis and match each to first-line therapy
• Treat perinatally acquired HIV from day one - apply current DHHS preferred regimens by age, initiate ART in neonates, and counsel with U=U evidence
• Step down IV to oral with confidence - apply Helsinki trial criteria to osteomyelitis, RIVUR evidence to UTI, and CAP-IT data to pneumonia
• Protect the immunocompromised child - identify which pathogens target which immune defects and build a prophylaxis strategy before infection strikes

Written for pediatric residents, fellows, hospitalists, emergency physicians, infectious disease consultants, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who care for children with infections from the nursery through adolescence.

If you see sick children, this book belongs at your side - buy it as a commitment to the clinical precision they deserve.