eAbstract: Identifying Children at Low Risk for Bacterial Conjunctivitis

Click here to access this third-party resource:

Identifying Children at Low Risk for Bacterial Conjunctivitis

Journal: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (March 2010)

Authors: Meltzer J, Kunkov S, Crain E

Purpose: To identify a combination of clinical risk factors that indicate a low risk for bacterial conjunctivitis and to use these factors to try to reduce the routine administration of antibiotics

Results: In the entire group of children 6 months to 17 years, those cases associated with a negative culture were the children who were 6 and older, presented from April to November, had either no or watery discharge, and had no glued eye in the morning. If at least three of these factors were present, 76.4% of patients had a negative culture; if all four factors were present, 92.3% of patients had a negative culture.