NICE guideline review: fever in under 5s: assessment and initial management (NG143)
Siba Prosad Paul, P. Kini, Shiv Ratan Tibrewal, Paul Anthony Heaton
Abstract
Feverish illness is one of the leading causes for a child to be seen by healthcare professionals, and is a major cause for hospital admissions. In 2007, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the original guidance on feverish illness in children (CG47). This was developed to aid healthcare professionals in their decision-making process while managing children aged <5 years with fever. This guidance has been revised multiple times in 2013 (CG160) and 2019 (NG143) and was updated in 2017. The current update (NG143) has made specific recommendations on assessment for Kawasaki disease in febrile children.1 Most of the recommendations from the past update 2013 (CG160) have been retained. This guideline should be used in conjunction with other NICE guidelines on gastroenteritis (CG84), urinary tract infection (CG54), neonatal infection (NG195), bacterial meningitis (CG102) and sepsis (NG51) (see box 1). Box 1 ### Resources The incidence and type of serious bacterial infection is likely to have changed following the introduction of newer vaccines.2 3 This review encompasses recommendations from the NICE guideline NG143 (2019). ### Definition of fever Children <3 months with temperature ≥38°C should be included in red …