Prospective, hospital based study of fever in children in the United Kingdom who had recently spent time in the tropics

Published data are lacking on the subject of imported infections in children. As general practitioners and paediatricians in the United Kingdom are frequently involved in the assessment of children with such infections, this lack of information may hinder optimal management. We report the results of a one year prospective, hospital based study of all children with fever admitted to our paediatric ward who had recently spent time in the tropics. From August 1996 to July 1997 all children aged 16 years and under who were admitted with a fever (oral temperature >37.5°C) and had been in a tropical country within the previous four weeks were entered into the study; details of the few children who had a fever and had been in the tropics but were managed as outpatients were not recorded. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory features were recorded on …