BMJ  2003;327 (8 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7423.0-d

Duration of children's illness is often underestimated

Doctors often tell carers that children with suspected acute viral infection of the upper respiratory tract will get better quickly, but less than half recover within four days. In a secondary analysis on 290 children from a randomised trial Butler and colleagues (p 1088) found that four days after the initial consultation 56% of the children were still unwell. The percentage decreased to 26% on the 7th day and to 6% by the 14th day. The authors believe that giving carers this information will help them to know what to expect and will reduce the need for further consultations.

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Relevant Article

Clinical course of acute infection of the upper respiratory tract in children: cohort study

Christopher C Butler, Paul Kinnersley, Kerenza Hood, Mike Robling, Hayley Prout, Stephen Rollnick, and Helen Houston
BMJ 2003 327: 1088-1089. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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