Background: Fever is the most common sign of childhood illnesses and febrile children constitute a substantial proportion of the practice of pediatrics and family medicine.
Objectives: To highlight the pattern of febrile illnesses in children attending pediatric ambulatory health-care settings.
Methods: A one-year prospective study was conducted on febrile children who were consecutively seen and managed at two walk-in primary-care clinics in Sulaimania Children's Hospital, Riyadh. Data collection and analysis were structured around the principal study objectives.
Results: Among the 16,173 children seen, 4086 (25.3%) were identified as having a fever and evaluated to determine the aetiology of their febrile illness. Boys outnumbered girls and a significant increase in the frequency of febrile illnesses was noted in children 4 to 24 months of age. Upper respiratory tract infections were the commonest cause of fever (75%) and most of these infections were viral rhinopharyngitis. Viral gastroenteritis and pneumonia were prominent diagnoses, each accounting for 5% of febrile illnesses. Notably of low frequency were serious bacterial infections, such as meningitis (0.5%), cellulitis and bone or joint infection (1.8%) and urinary tract infection (0.7%). Only 9% of the febrile children required hospitalization. The ambulatory management of the other febrile children included the prescription of oral antibiotics to 64% of them.
Conclusion: The proper clinical assessment of these febrile children and the prudent use of laboratory tests and antimicrobials remain the most important management strategies in primary health-care practice.
Keywords: Bacteremia; Fever; Gastroenteritis; Meningitis; Otitis Media; Pneumonia; Upper respiratory tract infection; Urinary tract infection.