Are the UK clinical guidelines for H1N1 influenza infection valid in the hospital setting?
- 1Department of Medical Paediatrics, Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, Aberdeen, UK
- 2Department of Child Health, Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, Aberdeen, UK
- Correspondence to Dr Craig Oxley, Department of Medical Paediatrics, Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, Westburn Road, Aberdeen AB25 2ZG, UK; craig.oxley{at}nhs.net
- Accepted 13 April 2010
- Published Online First 16 September 2010
Abstract
The diagnosis of pandemic influenza is clinical. This prospective study questions the validity of the Department of Health guidelines in 77 children admitted to hospital. The positive predictive value for the guidelines was 0.39. Although H1N1 was identified in a sizeable minority of cases using the guidelines, virology testing is still required.
Footnotes
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Competing interests None.
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Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
