Study to Investigate the Causes of Fever in Children Living in Urban Dar es Salaam and Rural Ifakara

Study to Investigate the Causes of Fever in Children Living in Urban Dar es Salaam and Rural Ifakara

The goal is to improve the evidence-based management of fever cases seen in outpatient clinics in malaria endemic countries, through a better understanding of the value of accurate malaria diagnosis, and through an improved understanding of the other causes of fever in children. The objective is to describe systematically (as much as possible) the etiologies of fever in children in an urban and in a rural environment of sub-Saharan Africa.

Inclusion Criteria:

• axillary temperature of 38°C or more
• first consultation for the present problem
• history of fever lasting for one week or less
• main complaint was not an injury or trauma
• no report of an antimalarial or antibiotic medicine taken during the previous week

Exclusion Criteria:

• severe malnutrition
• categorized as P1 (requiring immediate live saving procedures)