Wednesday 6 June
2007
A study urging doctors to be more
alert to the signs of whooping cough in school age children has won
the 2006 Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP)/Merck Sharp
& Dohme Limited (MSD) Research Paper of the Year Award.
The authors will be presented with a cheque for £1000 at the RCGP
on Wednesday 6 June 2007.
Led by Dr Anthony Harnden FRCGP, a
GP and lecturer at Oxford University, the study1 took blood samples
from 172 children aged 5-16 years in the Oxfordshire area who had
previously presented to their GP with a persistent cough lasting 14
days or more.
The study found that of these 172
participants, 64 had evidence of a recent Bordetella pertussis
infection, the bacterium that causes whooping cough. 85.9% of
these (55n) had been fully immunised against whooping cough,
although immunisation or infection do not guarantee lifelong
immunity.
The authors of the study noted that
whooping cough is often an infection commonly associated with very
young children presenting with the trademark ‘whoop’. They
concluded that GPs should consider diagnosing more school age
children presenting with a cough lasting more than two weeks as
whooping cough sufferers.
Although there is little evidence
of the efficacy of prescribing drugs for whooping cough after the
infection has been contracted two weeks previously, diagnosis would
give children and parents an idea of the duration of the cough and
prevent inappropriate investigations and treatment.
Over 30 academic papers were
submitted for in-depth discussion by the panel of assessors chaired
by Professor Greg Rubin. The winning study was chosen because
of the clarity, rigour and relevance for all practitioners, with
clear presentation coupled with commendable transparency about
methods and findings.
Professor Greg Rubin said: “This
study addresses a problem encountered in general practice on a
daily basis, that of the child with a cough. The messages are
important for us as GPs. We should think about pertussis in
children whose cough has persisted for two weeks or more, because
if it is the cause, we can tell the parents that the cough is
likely to be protracted. We are less likely to misdiagnose, and
therefore mistreat the problem as asthma. Lastly we can consider
the possible risk of transmission to newborn siblings.”
MSD has provided financial support
for this award. Chris Round, Managing Director of MSD, said: “We
are proud to support the Research Paper of the Year Award. It is
encouraging to know that a large amount of high quality research is
taking place within general practice and primary care. We fully
support the aims and objectives of this award and hope that even
more general practitioners and members of the primary care team
will become actively involved in research.”
The RCGP/Merck Sharp & Dohme
Limited Research Paper of the Year Award is designed to raise the
profile of research in general practice and give recognition to an
individual or group of researchers who have undertaken and
published an exceptional piece of research relating to general
practice.
Ends
Press contact: Heather Whitney,
RCGP Press Office: 020 7344 3137; press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes for
Editors:
The authors will be presented with a cheque by Mr Chris Round,
Managing Director of Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited at a special
dinner at the RCGP on Wednesday 6 June.
Photographers are welcome to attend
the RCGP at 6.30 pm on 6th June to take photographs of the winning
authors. If you would like to attend please contact Heather
Whitney on 020 7344 3137.
The authors will present their
winning paper at the Society of Academic Primary Care Annual
Scientific Meeting in London on 4-6 July 2007.
1. Harnden A, Grant C, Harrison T,
Perera R, Brueggemann AB, Mayon-White R, Mant D. “Whooping
cough in school age children with persistent cough: prospective
cohort study in primary care”. British Medical Journal, July
2006 (333), 174-177.
2. Further information on whooping
cough can be found on Health Protection Agency.
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/whoopingcough/gen_info.htm
The Royal College of General
Practitioners is the largest membership organisation in the United
Kingdom solely for GPs. It aims to encourage and maintain the
highest standards of general medical practice and to act as the
“voice” of GPs on issues concerned with education; training;
research; and clinical standards. Founded in 1952, the RCGP has
over 27,000 members who are committed to improving patient care,
developing their own skills and promoting general practice as a
discipline. Promoting excellence in family medicine http://www.rcgp.org.uk/.
Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited
(MSD) is the UK subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., of Whitehouse
Station, New Jersey, USA, a leading research-based pharmaceutical
company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets a wide
range of innovative pharmaceutical products to improve human
health.