Evaluation of Medical and Non-medical Factors Associated With Admission of Children Aged 3 Months to 5 Years Presenting to the Urban Paediatric Emergency Department With Febrile Illness in the United Kingdom and in Switzerland

This study primarily aims to describe factors associated with hospitalisation of children aged 3 months to 5 years presenting with fever to an urban paediatric A&E departments by describing and analysing characteristics both of those patients admitted to hospital and those managed in the community. To complement this, information on the short-term healthcare utilization by families attending the emergency department because of feverish illness will be collected. The study will be carried out in one participating centre in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, respectively, to enable a head to head comparison of the assessment and admission practices in two European countries. The resulting data will be used as the basis for further research in this area and will provide information on how to optimally structure service provision in acute febrile childhood illness.