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  Slipped upper femoral epiphysis
This article is part of the BMJ 'Easily Missed' series and reminds us to consider slipped upper femoral epiphysis (SUFE) in our differential diagnosis for leg pain in adolescents.
  Developmental dysplasia of the hip
This is one of those 'not to be missed' conditions that we always hope we have checked for adequately at the six-week baby check using the fiddly Barlow and Ortolani manoeuvre on a wriggling neonate. Is this really the best screening method for a condition that can cause significant morbidity in adulthood and where early diagnosis and treatment is simpler and more successful? This recent clinical review in the BMJ considers the condition in more detail:
  Cow's milk allergy
There are many parents who diagnose cow's milk intolerance in their children and exclude dairy products from their diet without medical supervision. Potentially this increases the risk of calcium and vitamin D deficiency and in extreme cases, rickets.
  Gastro-oesophageal reflux in infants
This useful review in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin considers the common problem of gastro-oesophageal reflux in infants – when is it a normal developmental physiological process and when does it become gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD)?
  Biliary atresia
Continuing the excellent 'Easily Missed' series, the BMJ considers this rare but serious liver disease which presents with neonatal jaundice. It affects 1 in 17 000 live births in the UK and often occurs in term babies who have previously had entirely normal antenatal scans.
  OTC cough mixtures
Over the counter cough medicines have been under increasing scrutiny both in the USA and UK over recent months. As doctors, most of us are relatively sceptical about their benefits but generally have felt that they were a harmless part of self-management. This editorial in the NEJM suggests otherwise!
  Kawasaki disease
The NICE guidelines for fever in children remind us not to forget Kawasaki disease in children who present with a fever of greater than 5 days duration
  NICE on neonatal jaundice
NICE have recently produced guidance on identification and management of neonatal jaundice. The guidance is written for both community- and hospital-based practitioners and I have focused on the most important bits for general practice.
  NICE on UTIs in children
The NICE guidelines on UTIs in children work on the assumption that you have excluded children with serious illness in line with the guidelines on fever in children (NICE 2007, CG 47).
  NICE on child protection
Here is a summary of the NICE guidance on when to suspect child maltreatment.
  NICE on D&V in children
NICE have recently produced guidelines on the management of diarrhoea and vomiting in children. They are designed to be used alongside the guidelines on fever considered later in this chapter. I think you will agree, they contain nothing very surprising and the words 'grandmothers' and 'sucking eggs' may spring to mind for some of you!
  NICE on fever
In 2007 NICE produced a guideline on the assessment of fever in children under 5 (NICE 2007, CG47).  Here I am going to summarise the parts that may be useful to us as practising GPs.
  A child with an acute limp
Most children who present with a limp will have a history of trauma and will be straightforward to assess and manage in a primary care setting. However, as GPs we need to be alert for atraumatic limps which may have serious causes such as septic arthritis, Perthes' disease or slipped upper femoral epiphysis. 
  Paracetamol and asthma
In 2008, The International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC Lancet 2008;372:1039) published results from its large international questionnaire-based crosssectional study which suggested that paracetamol use in early childhood may increase the risk of developing asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis in later life.
  Episodic viral wheeze
This is a 'bread and butter' general practice problem. It falls into the category of one of those conditions where we feel we 'must do something'. The problem is that the evidence suggests that most of the interventions we commonly use are not particularly effective, and some are associated with harms.
 
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