Table 3 Ambiguities with the handling of ill children as reported by Swiss CCC directors
Description of the ambiguous situation | %a | AAP?b |
|---|---|---|
Conjunctivitis | 23.7 | |
Not specified | 8.4 | Yes |
Unclear when or for how long conjunctivitis is contagious | 5.6 | No; MK |
Differentiation between infectious and non-infectious conjunctivitis | 4.4 | Yes |
Parents want to bring the child without seeing a doctor first | 1.6 | Yes |
Parents insist on conjunctivitis not being contagious | 1.6 | No; PC |
Different doctors give different recommendations | 1.2 | No; CWP |
Antipyretic drugs | 22.9 | |
If a feverish child has received antipyretic drugs and is increasingly ill, as the effect is fading | 13.3 | No; IL |
Parents administer antipyretic drugs without informing us | 12.4 | No; IL |
Not specified | 3.2 | No; IL |
Parents insist on inclusion after use of antipyretic drugs | 2.8 | No; IL |
Parents want us to administer antipyretic drugs | 0.8 | No; IL |
Rashes | 16.5 | |
We cannot gauge the cause | 6.0 | No; MK |
Not specified | 3.6 | Yes |
Chickenpox; parents want to bring children before all lesions are dry | 3.2 | Yes |
Hand foot and mouth disease | 1.6 | Yes |
Teething | 10.4 | |
We are not sure, if teething causes illness, diarrhoea or fever | 5.2 | No; IL |
Parents insist on teething causing illness, diarrhoea or fever | 3.2 | No; IL |
Not specified | 2.0 | No; IL |
Fever | 10.0 | |
If the child is ill, but does not have fever; or vice versa | 5.6 | Yes |
If the child had fever in the past 24 h, but is well now | 3.6 | Yes |
Not specified | 1.6 | Yes |
Vomiting | 5.6 | |
Parents insist on inclusion or find excuses like eating too much | 2.4 | No; PC |
Vomiting only once | 1.6 | Yes |
Not specified | 0.8 | Yes |
Diarrhoea | 5.2 | |
Parents insist on inclusion or do not think it is diarrhoea | 2.0 | No; PC |
Not specified | 1.2 | Yes |
Child has diarrhoea, but is normally active | 0.8 | Yes |
Only one unformed stool | 0.8 | Yes |
Other | 24.9 | |
If exclusion criteria are met, but there is no alternative care available | 5.2 | No; OAC |
Common cold | 4.8 | Yes |
Parents give us wrong or incomplete information | 3.6 | No; PC |
Child is uncomfortable without any obvious reason | 2.8 | Yes |
Parents do not have the same perception of when a child is ill | 2.8 | No; PC |
If we think a child should be excluded, but the paediatrician does not | 2.4 | No, CWP |
Parents call us in the morning to ask whether we care for their ill child | 1.2 | No; PC |
If one of our attendees’ family members has an infectious disease | 1.2 | Yes |
Lice | 1.2 | Yes |
Oral infections | 0.8 | Yes |
Different doctors give different recommendations | 0.8 | No; CWP |
Suspicion of contagious diseases | 0.8 | No; MK |