One in five child deaths due to potentially preventable infections
The Health Protection Agency has found that as many as 1 in 5 deaths in children in England and Wales is due to potentially preventable infections, with half of the 1,300 infection-related deaths occurring in children with other health problems including prematurity, cerebral palsy and cancer.
Researchers said greater vigilance by doctors could significantly reduce child mortality and that childhood vaccines have a key role in cutting unnecessary deaths.
The study looked at death certificates in children aged 28 days to 14 years old from 2003 to 2005, is the first to look at the burden of deaths from specific infections in children.
As this is the first time such analysis has been done, the researchers had no data to compare the findings with but they said the results backed a recent report on the care of critically ill children in the UK which called for better recognition of serious illness in children and more aggressive treatment.
Writing in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, they said that adding in more vaccines to the routine childhood programme would be one way to cut the number of deaths. Influenza, hepatitis B, rotavirus, and chicken pox vaccines are among those that are currently available but not included in the schedule.
Dr Shamez Ladhani, study leader and consultant in paediatric infectious disease, said ensuring good uptake of currently used vaccinations would also have an impact on deaths. "We have very good vaccination programmes in place - but we also need to make sure we are up to date with the latest vaccines out there."
He added that doctors needed to be more vigilant for infection in seriously ill children to ensure they get treatment quickly enough. We also need to look at surveillance and keep an eye out for antibiotic resistance.
Susan Brown a medical negligence solicitor from Reading based law firm Boyes Turner said “Previous reports have highlighted the need for improved care for seriously ill children, however in addition to these deaths there is no doubt that many other children are ending up seriously injured as a result of medical negligence including delays in diagnosis and treatment of serious infections, like meningitis. The medical negligence claims team here at Boyes Turner deal with a large number of such cases.”
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