Efficacy and safety of rapid tests to guide antibiotic prescriptions for sore throat.

Background: Sore throat is a common condition caused by viruses or bacteria, and is a leading cause of antibiotic prescription in primary care. The most common bacterial species is group A streptococcus ('strep throat'). Between 50% to 70% of pharyngitis cases are treated with antibiotics, despite the majority of cases being viral in origin.

Symptomatic Management of Febrile Illnesses in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Parents' Knowledge and Behaviors and Their Evolution Over Time.

Recommendations to guide parents' symptomatic management of febrile illnesses in children have been published in many countries. The lack of systematic appraisal of parents' knowledge and behaviors and their evolution over time precludes an analysis of their impact and identification of targets for future educational messages. We systematically searched for studies published between 1980 and 2016 that reported a quantitative evaluation of knowledge and behaviors of >50 parents for managing fever in children.

Survey highlights important discrepancies between definitions of paediatric abnormal growth taught to medical students in 23 European countries.

Aim: This study compared the definitions of abnormal growth that are taught across Europe to explain previously reported variations in growth-monitoring practices.

Methods: We developed two online surveys in 2016 to obtain the definitions of abnormal growth in European countries and approached the national chairs of the European Confederation of Primary Care Paediatricians in 18 countries and the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations in 33 countries.

Results: We obtained definitions from 10 of 18 paediatricians and 18 of 33 students, covering 23 of the 33 European countries surveyed.