Improving Emergency Care for Febrile Children Across Europe

Fever in children is a frequent reason for visit to the Emergency Department (ED). The majority of children have viral respiratory infections that are self-limiting in nature. A small proportion of children with fever have a serious bacterial infection that requires early treatment with antibiotics to prevent morbidity and mortality in children. Emergency care of febrile children can be improved by focusing on 1) improved diagnosis by the use of host response biomarkers and 2) improvement of antibiotic prescription. The overarching aim of this thesis is to improve diagnostic strategies and antibiotic treatment of febrile children. This thesis is part of the PERFORM project (Personalised Risk assessment in febrile illness to optimise Real-life Management across the European Union).