The most important special investigations are:
- Urinalysis with a urine dipstick to detect urinary tract disease or diabetes. It is particularly important to test the urine in a child with fever.
- Haemoglobin concentration.
These are often done routinely in ill children.
Other special investigations, which are often asked for in hospital, are a full blood count (FBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), chest X-ray, urine and stool microscopy and culture, and Mantoux skin test. These tests may not be available in many clinics.