A5V4d

Feverish illness in children
Length of fever
Delphi statement 3.1d
Following contact with a healthcare professional, parents/carers who are looking after their feverish
child at home should seek further advice if the fever lasts longer than 48 hours.
The first round survey ratings categories were:
1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 Don’t know Missing Total Median
4 (8%) 14 (27%) 33 (63%) 1 (2%) 1 52 7
As no consensus was achieved, it went to round 2 where the ratings categories were:
1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 Don’t know Missing Total Median
2 (4%) 9 (17%) 40 (77%) 1 (2%) 52 7
Consensus was therefore achieved for this statement.
Delphi statement 3.1e
Following contact with a healthcare professional, parents/carers who are looking after their feverish
child at home should seek further advice if the fever lasts longer than 5 days.
The first round ratings categories were:
1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 Don’t know Missing Total Median
1 (2%) 0 50 (96%) 1 (2%) 1 52 9
Consensus was therefore achieved for this statement.
Parental distress and unable to cope
Delphi statement 3.1f
Following contact with a healthcare professional, parents/carers who are looking after their feverish
child at home should seek further advice if the parent/carer is very distressed or unable to cope with
their child’s illness.
The first round ratings categories were:
1 to 3 4 to 6 7 to 9 Don’t know Missing Total Median
1 (2%) 5 (9%) 46 (87%) 1 (2%) 53 9
Consensus was therefore achieved for this statement.
Non-blanching rash
After suggestions from stakeholders, the GDG also decided that parents and carers should seek
further advice if the child develops a non-blanching rash.
Health economics
The GDG did not identify any issues that required cost-effectiveness analysis for this question.
GDG translation
The GDG decided to include all but one of the Delphi statements that had achieved consensus as
recommendations in the guideline. The exception was the statement about seeking further advice if
the fever lasts for more than 48 hours. The GDG unanimously decided not to include this statement
because they had found evidence on the predictive value of duration of fever after the statement had
240