Blood culture is the most important tool for detecting bacteremia in children with fever. However, blood culture contamination rates range from 0.6% to 6.0% in adults; rates for young children have been considered higher than these, although data are limited, especially in Korea. This study determined the contamination rate and risk factors in pediatric patients visiting the emergency room (ER)...

To evaluate the clinical characteristics of vitamin D deficiency and its association with iron deficiency anemia (IDA).

A total of 171 children aged less than two years underwent 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ tests between January 2007 and July 2009. The study was classified into two groups: normal and vitamin D insufficiency, by their vitamin 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ levels.

In total, 120 children were in the...