TY - JOUR T1 - Cellulitis in children: a retrospective single centre study from Australia JF - BMJ Paediatrics Open JO - BMJ Paediatrics Open DO - 10.1136/bmjpo-2021-001130 VL - 5 IS - 1 SP - e001130 AU - Elise Salleo AU - Conor I MacKay AU - Jeffrey Cannon AU - Barbara King AU - Asha C Bowen Y1 - 2021/07/01 UR - http://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/5/1/e001130.abstract N2 - Aim To characterise the epidemiology, clinical features and treatment of paediatric cellulitis.Methods A retrospective study of children presenting to a paediatric tertiary hospital in Western Australia, Australia in 2018. All inpatient records from 1 January to 31 December 2018 and emergency department presentations from 1 July to 31 December 2018 were screened for inclusion.Results 302 episodes of cellulitis were included comprising 206 (68.2%) admitted children and 96 (31.8%) non-admitted children. The median age was 5 years (IQR 2–9), 40 (13.2%) were Aboriginal and 180 (59.6%) boys. The extremities were the most commonly affected body site among admitted and non-admitted patients. There was a greater proportion of facial cellulitis in admitted patients (27.2%) compared with non-admitted patients (5.2%, p<0.01). Wound swab was the most frequent microbiological investigation (133/302, 44.0%), yielding positive cultures in the majority of those tested (109/133, 82.0%). The most frequent organisms identified were Staphylococcus aureus (94/109, 86.2%) (methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (60/94, 63.8%), methicillin-resistant S. aureus) and Streptococcus pyogenes (22/109, 20.2%) with 14 identifying both S. aureus and S. pyogenes. Intravenous flucloxacillin was the preferred antibiotic (154/199, 77.4%), with median intravenous duration 2 days (IQR 2–3), oral 6 days (IQR 5–7) and total 8 days (IQR 7–10).Conclusions Cellulitis is a common reason for presentation to a tertiary paediatric hospital. We confirm a high prevalence of extremity cellulitis and demonstrate that children with facial cellulitis often require admission. Cellulitis disproportionately affected Aboriginal children and children below 5 years. Prevention of cellulitis involves early recognition and treatment of skin infections such as impetigo and scabies.All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. ER -