Editor,—The number of admissions to hospital emergency departments is increasing, by up to five per cent a year.1 Most of these children are under 5 years of age, and they may come straight to hospital without any preceding medical examination.2 Although a short stay observation unit (SSOU) has been proved essential for a good emergency service,3 few publications have looked at its influence on the admission rate in paediatrics.4 We analysed the activity of a SSOU opened in 1992 in the paediatric emergency department (PED) of the Children's Hospital of Bordeaux. We also looked at the number of total admissions to the PED and …