GPs who fear a child has meningitis can add leg pain to key symptoms, according to a new analysis published today.
The findings, from a study of 1,000 children, provide a radical new approach to spotting the illness – which frequently proves hard to distinguish from passing fevers.
Doctors in Oxfordshire compared the experience of families with children who recovered from common infections with families where a child developed meningitis.
Their findings confirm well-known symptoms of the disease – such as aversion to light, neck stiffness and confusion.
But they warn that commonly cited symptoms do not help to distinguish the disease from harmless illnesses. These include headache, tiredness, pale colour and cold hands and feet.
The doctors, led by Dr Matthew Thompson, say diagnosis is often difficult because classic symptoms, such as rash and neck stiffness may not appear until late in the development of illness.
Writing in the British Journal of General Practice, they say: "In a child with an acute febrile illness, confusion, leg pain, photophobia, rash, and neck pain/stiffness should usually prompt a face-to-face assessment, unless another cause of these symptoms is obvious.
"Results of this paper provide evidence for a more targeted approach to identifying febrile children who may be at risk for meningococcal disease in primary care."
Journal editor Professor Roger Jones said: "This is just what good general practice research should be – a well conducted study in a really important clinical area that yields useful, practical guidance for practising clinicians."
British Journal of General Practice March 2011 61:584, 171-172
Leave a Reply