Measles: Royal college issues updated guidance as outbreaks loom

Guidance on managing children with viral respiratory tract infections has been updated for the first time in decades to include measles, amid several outbreaks across the UK.The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said that the main symptoms of measles had been added to the guidance because many paediatricians would not have previously seen cases. It also reminds healthcare professionals to check the immunisation status of all children presenting to hospital.1Because of the contagiousness of measles the guidance recommends that any unimmunised child presenting with symptoms of measles—fever and rash, together with one of coryza, cough, or conjunctivitis—should be immediately isolated and tested, all while wearing appropriate personal protective equipment.Camilla Kingdon, RCPCH president, described the need to update the guidance as “disappointing but necessary” in light of poor vaccination coverage among children under the age of 5, which is now the lowest it has been in 10 years….
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