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The letter by Thomas Weatherby comes close to a legal ruling following the tragedy of a child who went on to develop herpes encephalitis after an eye infection. Sticky eyes in babies are common. Red eyes and photophobias (eye not opening) are rare. The point I would like to make is that in the lawsuit one of the failings was lack of safety netting (or documented safety netting) after the child was first seen in hospital. Though the 'case' was some years ago and safety netting is now much more practiced as is the need to document this advice even more so, it is still worth re-enforcing the point. As a GP most things we see run a benign course, but a tiny, unpredictable minority wont so in ALL consultation this safety netting needs to be specific, shared and documented.
Competing Interests: None declared.