Education and debate

Lesson of the Week: Who spots the spots? Diagnosis and treatment of early meningococcal disease in children

^a Institute of Child Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, ^b Department of Medical Microbiology

Correspondence to: Dr F A I Riordan, Undergraduate Teaching Centre, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham B9 5SS.

Meningococcal disease can begin suddenly and may kill within hours.¹ Delays in diagnosis and treatment can therefore decrease the chances of survival. The commonest delays in those who die are: parents not recognising that their child is seriously ill; and doctors failing to make a correct diagnosis.²

 Information for parents and doctors about meningococcal disease should emphasise
 the septicaemic rash, not meningitis

Accurate information about meningococcal disease for both parents and doctors is therefore extremely important. The information widely available, however, may be misleading, because it tends to focus on meningitis rather than on septicaemia.³ More deaths result from septicaemia, and the proportion of children who present with septicaemia is increasing.⁴

We conducted a prospective study of children admitted with meningococcal disease over a period of 18 months, and we . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Meningococcal disease and its management in children

C Anthony Hart and Alistair P J Thomson
BMJ 2006 333: 685-690. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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