Fever Risks Underestimated by Doctors

A study by researchers at the University of Sydney has said that many doctors underestimate the risks posed by fever.

The study involved almost 16,000 children in Australia. It found that many doctors had difficulty in diagnosing life-threatening illnesses. "Fever is very common in children, which we knew. Every year about 50,000 kids present with fever," said study author Professor Jonathan Craig from the University of Sydney and Westmead Children's Hospital.

He also told ABC News that there was room for improvement on how doctors diagnosed fever in kids. "What we showed was that as expected sometimes children who have serious bacterial illness like urinary tract infection, bacteria in the blood or pneumonia, don't receive antibiotics at the time they present," he added.

But Professor Craig also said that this does not represent failure among doctors. "I think it represents what happens in everyday clinical practice for every clinical condition, which is that diagnosing someone as soon as they present is very difficult," he said.


Source-Medindia
RAS