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Feverish illness in children under 5 years

¹ Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough PE3 6DA
² National Collaborating Centre for Women and Children’s Health, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London and University of Leicester, Department of Medical Education and Social Care Leicester, UK

Correspondence to:
Dr M Lakhanpaul, National Collaborating Centre for Women and Children’s Health, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London NW1 4RG, UK; ml103@leicester.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Feverish illness is very common in young children. It is probably the commonest reason for a child to be taken to the doctor and nearly half of all paediatric admissions to hospital are associated with fever.¹ Most feverish illnesses are caused by self-limiting viral infections but a significant few are caused by serious bacterial infections. It is often difficult for healthcare professionals to distinguish between the two, especially in the younger child. In an attempt to help healthcare professionals in this area, the Department of Health instructed the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to commission an evidence-based guideline on the assessment and initial management of feverish illness in children aged 0–5 years. The guidance has recently been published in full and abbreviated forms.^{2 3} Another summary has also been published.⁴

The Department of Health considered that national guidance was needed for a number of reasons (MacFaul R, personal . . . [Full text of this article]

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