Beyond the Usual Suspects: Neonatal Fever and Desaturation

We report a 1-month-old infant admitted with fever, dyspnea, and desaturation after an unmonitored pregnancy in a migrant family. The patient rapidly required mechanical ventilation. Laboratory parameters were markedly elevated, suggesting an infectious etiology.

The clinical course is described with emphasis on diagnostic challenges, including imaging, laboratory findings, and the stepwise process of differential diagnosis.

After common etiologies were excluded, rarer causes were considered. The final diagnosis was established through integration of clinical assessment, radiological imaging, laboratory data, and microbiological testing.

In neonates with fever and respiratory distress, RSV bronchiolitis is usually the first consideration. If excluded, clinicians must remain alert to less frequent etiologies. This case underscores the importance of a broad differential diagnosis in infants with acute respiratory compromise.