Optimising Diagnosis and Antibiotic Prescribing for Acutely Ill Children in Primary Care

Plain-language summary

Acute illness is the most common presentation of children attending ambulatory care settings. Serious infections (e.g. meningitis, sepsis, pyelonephritis, pneumonia) are rare, but their impact is quite large (increased morbidity, mortality, induced fear in parents and defensive behaviour in clinicians). Early recognition and adequate referral of serious infections are essential to avoid complications (e.g. hearing loss after bacterial meningitis) and their accompanied mortality. Secondly, we aim to reduce the number of investigations, referrals, treatments and hospitalisations in children who are diagnosed with a non-serious infection. Apart from the cost-effectiveness, this could lead to less traumatic experiences for the child and less fear induction for the concerned parent. Finally, we aim to support the clinicians to rationalise their antibiotic prescribing behaviour, resulting in a reduction of antibiotic resistance in the long run.

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