It’s getting to that time of year again! The waiting room is full of snotty spluttering children, most of whom just need simple advice and reassurance. But amongst them will be the occasional infant who is more unwell with a cough, most likely bronchiolitis. How confident are you at spotting these patients and sorting them out? NICE have produced new guidance to aid in diagnosing bronchiolitis and knowing when to refer, as well as exploring the evidence-based management (NICE 2015, NG9).
Before we look at the NICE guidelines, here’s some statistics on bronchiolitis:
- Most common LRTI in infants.
- 1 in 5 of those
- Almost exclusively a disease of the under 2s.
- Peak incidence is 3-6m of age.
- Up to 3% of patients require hospitalisation.