Management of Reye's syndrome: need for early diagnosis and intravenous treatment of stage I non-comatose cases.

Clinicians and nurses should obtain a history of antecedent illness occurring within 2 weeks of the onset of vomiting. Ninety percent of school-age children will give a history of an antecedent illness (varicella or influenza-like respiratory illness) within 1 week of the onset of vomiting. The vomiting of Reye's syndrome is usually persistent, lasting for 24 to 96 hours before the onset of serious brain signs. We believe that any child with the history of flu or chickenpox within 1 week of the onset of vomiting, which lasts for more than 12 hours, and is unusually severe or is associated with lethargy, should have an SGPT (alanine aminotransferase). This laboratory measure is clearly elevated in most cases of Reye's syndrome.