title: Community paediatric respiratory infection surveillance study protocol: a feasibility, prospective inception cohort study.
abstract: Paediatric respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are common reasons for primary care consultations and antibiotic prescribing. Locally relevant syndromic and microbiological surveillance information has the potential to improve the care of children with RTIs by normalising illness (parents) and reducing uncertainty (clinicians). Currently, most RTI studies are conducted at the point of healthcare service consultation, leaving the community burden, microbiology, symptom duration and proportion consulting largely unknown. This study seeks to establish the feasibility of (mainly online) participant recruitment and retention, and the acceptability/comparability of parent versus nurse-collected microbiological sampling, to inform the design of a future surveillance intervention study. Evidence regarding consultation rates and symptom duration is also sought.
  
  
  
  A community-based, feasibility prospective inception cohort study, recruiting children aged ≥3 months and <16 years and their parents via general practitioner surgery invitation letter, aiming to collect data on 300 incident RTIs by July 2016. Following informed consent, parents provide baseline (demographic) data online, and respond to weekly emails to confirm the absence/presence of new RTI symptoms. Once symptomatic, parents provide daily data online (RTI symptoms, school/day-care attendance, time off work, health service use, medication), and a research nurse visits to collect clinical examination data and microbiological (nasal and saliva) swabs. Parents are invited to provide symptomatic (at nurse visit, but without nurse assistance) and asymptomatic (alone) swabs on recovery. A review of primary care medical notes will gather medical history, health service utilisation, referral and antibiotic prescribing rates. Feasibility will be assessed using recruitment and retention rates, data completeness; and acceptability by quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. Symptomatic parent and nurse swab pairs will be compared for microbe isolation.
authors: National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) on Evaluation of Interventions, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Department of Health and Social Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
authors: Emma C
authors: EC
authors: Anderson
authors: National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) on Evaluation of Interventions, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors: Suzanne Marie
authors: SM
authors: Ingle
authors: Public Health England, Specialist Virology Centre, Bristol, UK.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Muir
authors: National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) on Evaluation of Interventions, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Field Epidemiology Service, Public Health England, Bristol, UK.
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Beck
authors: Schools of Clinical Sciences and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Finn
authors: North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol Centre for Antimicrobial Research and Evaluation (BCARE), Bristol, UK.
authors: John Peter
authors: JP
authors: Leeming
authors: National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) on Evaluation of Interventions, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors: Christie
authors: C
authors: Cabral
authors: National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) on Evaluation of Interventions, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK The National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care West (NIHR CLAHRC West) at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK.
authors: Joanna May
authors: JM
authors: Kesten
authors: National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) on Evaluation of Interventions, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors: Alastair D
authors: AD
authors: Hay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D017053:Infection Control; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D010290:Parents; D061214:Patient Safety; D018579:Patient Selection; D010372:Pediatrics; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013048:Specimen Handling; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: PRIMARY CARE; PUBLIC HEALTH