title: Can urgency classification of the Manchester triage system predict serious bacterial infections in febrile children?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the discriminative ability of the Manchester triage system (MTS) to identify serious bacterial infections (SBIs) in children with fever in the emergency department (ED) and to study the association between predictors of SBI and discriminators of MTS urgency of care.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective observational study included 1255 children with fever (1 month-16 years) attending the ED of the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 2008-9. Triage urgency was determined with the MTS (urgency (U) level 1-5). The relationship between triage urgency and SBI was assessed with multivariable logistic regression, including effects of age, sex and temperature. Discriminative ability was assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SBI prevalence was 11% (n=131, 95% CI 9% to 12%). The discriminative value of the MTS for predicting SBI was 0.57 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.62), and the MTS did not contribute to a model including age, sex and temperature. The sensitivity of the MTS (U1-2 vs U3-5) to detect SBI was 0.42 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.51) and specificity was 0.69 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.72). MTS high urgency discriminators include several known predictors of SBI, such as fever, work of breathing, meningism and oxygen saturation, but apply to non-SBI children as well.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MTS has poor discriminative ability to predict the presence of SBIs in children presenting with fever to the paediatric ED. Important predictors of SBI are represented within the MTS, but are used in a different way to classify urgency.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Paediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Dr Molewaterplein 60, 3015 GJ Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ruud G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Nijman
authors.forename: Rob L J
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Zwinkels
authors.forename: Mirjam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Veen
authors.forename: Ewout W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Steyerberg
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Lei
authors.forename: Henriëtte A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.forename: Rianne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oostenbrink
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001831:Body Temperature; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D009426:Netherlands; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D012737:Sex Factors; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods*; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis