New evidence to help doctors diagnose childhood meningitis earlier and more accurately is among the papers featured in this month’s British Journal of General Practice.
The study from Oxford of over 1000 children has found that the key symptoms of early childhood meningitis are leg pain, confusion, neck pain or stiffness and photophobia. Other symptoms, previously thought to be important, such as headache, pallor and cool peripheries, were not found to predict the diagnosis.
Commenting on the importance of this research, Professor Roger Jones, Editor of the BJGP said: “We were very pleased to receive this paper and delighted that, after extremely positive expert reviews, we are able to publish it. This is just what good general practice research should be – a well conducted study in a really important clinical area that yields useful, practical guidance for practising clinicians”
Also in this month’s issue – a separate study from Oxford has shown an increase in the number of cancer survivors seeing their GPs for follow up care. Survivors of colon, breast and prostate cancer see their GPs up to three times as often as controls – which has significant implications for GP workload and for training.
The March issue of the BJGP also recommends that GPs check boys for undescended testes. Surgical correction of undescended testes improves subsequent fertility and reduces the chance of the development of malignancy.
The UK’s dysfunctional relationship with medical migrants and editorials on the NHS reforms and GP revalidation also feature.
Source: Royal College of General Practitioners