Project to improve the treatment of feverish children

Project should significantly improve therapy of feverish children
Feverish children are always a cause for concern for parents. Also, because it is often unclear where the fever comes from, there is often an inpatient treatment for safety reasons, according to the Medical University of Graz (MedUni Graz). A new research project has set itself the goal of significantly reducing the number of hospital stays and antibiotic use in feverish children.

Better testing to identify viral and bacterial infections and the establishment of Europe-wide standards for the management of feverish children should allow the research project to significantly improve the treatment of fevered children. Unnecessary hospital stays and prescriptions for antibiotics can thus be avoided, stresses MedUni Graz.

Often children with fever are unnecessarily admitted to clinics or treated with antibiotics. A new research project should change this. (Image: Ermolaev Alexandr / fotolia.com)

Treating feverish children a challenge
According to the Medical University, the treatment of feverish children "presents a permanent challenge." Often children who suddenly experience fever often do not know whether it is a harmless infection or a dangerous bacterial infection "For example, the affected children are often hospitalized for safety reasons and in many cases they are also prescribed unnecessary antibiotic therapy.

Only rarely are life-threatening infections present
The fight of the body against pathogens usually leads to fever, which among other things, the proliferation of viruses and bacteria is inhibited. According to Professor dr. Werner Zenz of the Clinical Department of General Pediatrics at the MedUni Graz suffers from the overwhelming majority of children several times a year harmless viral infections that cause the corresponding fever. Only a few feverish children actually have a life-threatening bacterial infection, according to the expert.

Distinction between viral and bacterial infections difficult
However, in the initial stage of the infection, the distinction between a harmless viral disease and a dangerous bacterial infection is difficult to make, according to the MedUni Graz. Many feverish children are therefore hospitalized in hospital, undergoing invasive testing and needlessly receive antibiotic therapy. Through this approach, "in addition to the avoidable burden on children, additional antibiotic resistance and enormous costs for the health care system," emphasizes Prof. Zenz.

Already in 2010, an international research network was established under the direction of Professor Michael Levin of Imperial College in London with the aim of improving diagnostics and therapy in children with severe infectious diseases. Now, the working group has raised funds for a project worth 18 million euros. Researchers from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece, Gambia, the Netherlands, Latvia, Spain, Slovenia, Switzerland and Austria are involved in the project, according to MedUni Graz.

New treatment standards and test procedures
According to Prof. Zenz, "the project aims to create Europe-wide standards for the medical care of feverish children, and to develop new and simpler laboratory tests to quickly and reliably distinguish between bacterial and viral infections." This would be the latest findings in the areas of personalized medicine combined with molecular biological and chemical methods. It also carried out an assessment of the current approach to caring for feverish children and a corresponding cost-benefit analysis. "Stationary images, invasive examination methods and the use of antibiotics should be shortened in the long term," says Professor. Zenz. (Fp)