Winter is Coming 28 Jun 2017

With winter approaching, we expect that you will be seeing a significant increase in the number of sick infants and children.

With winter approaching, we expect that you will be seeing a significant increase in the number of sick infants and children.

We would request that all children under six weeks of age, with a febrile illness are discussed with our on call team. This is a high risk group, with bacterial infection in approximately 15% of patients with a fever, and the possibility of rapidly progressive disease. We would suggest review of these infants in hospital and consideration of a septic screen, ideally prior to antibiotics. We would not usually use oral antibiotics in the community as primary treatment for this age group.

We would also suggest a low threshold for referral and discussion for children between the ages of 6 weeks and 3 months. The risk of bacterial infection in this age group is still relatively high (around 6%).

CLICK HERE  for Information and management guidelines for febrile children