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Meningitis Research Foundation welcomes feverish child guidelines
23 May 2007
Meningitis Research Foundation welcomes new guidelines on assessing and managing children with fever, issued today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Collaborating Centre for Women and Children's Health.
Fever can be an important sign of meningitis and septicaemia, and the Foundation is happy to have taken part in the consultation on these guidelines. The guidelines will help health professionals to identify children with serious infections. More young children die from infections than from any other cause, and meningitis and septicaemia are the leading infectious cause of death in children.
The Foundation's Chief Executive, Denise Vaughan commented: "These guidelines represent an important advance in early detection of children with meningitis and septicaemia. The guidelines promote the importance of systematically checking for signs of serious illness in any feverish child. We welcome the recommendation that parents' concerns about their child's health are seriously considered, and that parents of a child to be cared for at home are provided with an information 'safety net' and encouraged to seek help again if the illness gets worse. The Foundation has advocated these measures for many years."
Media contact
Julia Warren: 01454 281811 or 07711 057875