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Kohlmaier B, Leitner M, Hagedoorn NN, Borensztajn DM, von Both U, Carrol ED, Emonts M, van der Flier M, de Groot R, Herberg J, Levin M, Lim E, Maconochie IK, Martinon-Torres F, Nijman RG, Pokorn M, Rivero-Calle I, Tan CD, Tsolia M, Vermont CL, Zachariasse JM, Zavadska D, Moll HA, Zenz W. European study confirms the combination of fever and petechial rash as an important warning sign for childhood sepsis and meningitis. Acta Paediatr 2023; 112:1058-1066. [PMID: 36866956 DOI: 10.1111/apa.16740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023]
Abstract
AIM This study investigated febrile children with petechial rashes who presented to European emergency departments (EDs) and investigated the role that mechanical causes played in diagnoses. METHODS Consecutive patients with fever presenting to EDs in 11 European emergency departments in 2017-2018 were enrolled. The cause and focus of infection were identified and a detailed analysis was performed on children with petechial rashes. The results are presented as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS We found that 453/34010 (1.3%) febrile children had petechial rashes. The focus of the infection included sepsis (10/453, 2.2%) and meningitis (14/453, 3.1%). Children with a petechial rash were more likely than other febrile children to have sepsis or meningitis (OR 8.5, 95% CI 5.3-13.1) and bacterial infections (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0-1.8) as well as need for immediate life-saving interventions (OR 6.6, 95% CI 4.4-9.5) and intensive care unit admissions (OR 6.5, 95% CI 3.0-12.5). CONCLUSION The combination of fever and petechial rash is still an important warning sign for childhood sepsis and meningitis. Ruling out coughing and/or vomiting was insufficient to safely identify low-risk patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benno Kohlmaier
- Department of General Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Manuel Leitner
- Department of General Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Nienke N Hagedoorn
- Department of General Paediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dorine M Borensztajn
- Department of General Paediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ulrich von Both
- Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research, DZIF, Munich, Germany
| | - Enitan D Carrol
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences Liverpool, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
- Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK
| | - Marieke Emonts
- Great North Children's Hospital, Paediatric Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Allergy, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre based at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust and Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Michiel van der Flier
- Section of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, RadboudUMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Ronald de Groot
- Section of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, RadboudUMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Jethro Herberg
- Section of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Imperial College, London, UK
| | - Michael Levin
- Section of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Imperial College, London, UK
| | - Emma Lim
- Great North Children's Hospital, Paediatric Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Allergy, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Ian K Maconochie
- Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Imperial College Healthcare Trust NHS, London, UK
| | - Federico Martinon-Torres
- Genetics, Vaccines, Infections and Paediatrics Research group (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Ruud G Nijman
- Section of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Imperial College, London, UK
| | - Marko Pokorn
- University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Department of Infectious Diseases and Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Irene Rivero-Calle
- Genetics, Vaccines, Infections and Paediatrics Research group (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Chantal D Tan
- Department of General Paediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Maria Tsolia
- Second Department of Paediatrics, P. and A. Kyriakou Children's Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Clementien L Vermont
- Department of Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Joany M Zachariasse
- Department of General Paediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dace Zavadska
- Department of Paediatrics, Children Clinical University Hospital, Rīga Stradiņa Universitāte, Riga, Latvia
| | - Henriette A Moll
- Department of General Paediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Werner Zenz
- Department of General Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
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