Proposed epidemiological case definition for serious skin infection in children.

Aim: Researching the rising incidence of serious skin infections in children is limited by the lack of a consistent and valid case definition. We aimed to develop and evaluate a good quality case definition, for use in future research and surveillance of these infections.

Methods: We tested the validity of the existing case definition, and then of 11 proposed alternative definitions, by assessing their screening performance when applied to a population of paediatric skin infection cases identified by a chart review of 4 years of admissions to a New Zealand hospital.