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VOL. 7 2000 Issue 2 (May-August)

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Browsing VOL. 7 2000 Issue 2 (May-August) by Author "Al-Zamil, Fahad"

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    Pattern of febrile illnesses in children seen at a pediatric ambulatory care setting
    (2000) Al-Eissa, Youssef; Ghazal, Sameeh; Al-Zamil, Fahad; Al-Salloum, Abdullah; Al-Omair, Abdullah; Al-Nasser, Mohammed
    Background: Fever is the most common sign of childhood illnesses and febrile children constitute a substantial proportion of the practice of pediatrics and family medicine. Objectives: To highlight the pattern of febrile illnesses in children attending pediatric ambulatory health-care settings. Methods: A one-year prospective study was conducted on febrile children who were consecutively seen and managed at two walk-in primary-care clinics in Sulaimania Children's Hospital, Riyadh. Data collection and analysis were structured around the principal study objectives. Results: Among the 16,173 children seen, 4086 (25.3%) were identified as having a fever and evaluated to determine the aetiology of their febrile illness. Boys outnumbered girls and a significant increase in the frequency of febrile illnesses was noted in children 4 to 24 months of age. Upper respiratory tract infections were the commonest cause of fever (75%) and most of these infections were viral rhinopharyngitis. Viral gastroenteritis and pneumonia were prominent diagnoses, each accounting for 5% of febrile illnesses. Notably of low frequency were serious bacterial infections, such as meningitis (0.5%), cellulitis and bone or joint infection (1.8%) and urinary tract infection (0.7%). Only 9% of the febrile children required hospitalization. The ambulatory management of the other febrile children included the prescription of oral antibiotics to 64% of them. Conclusion: The proper clinical assessment of these febrile children and the prudent use of laboratory tests and antimicrobials remain the most important management strategies in primary health-care practice.