Etiology of Severe Febrile Illness in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With apparent declines in malaria worldwide during the last decade and more widespread use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests, healthcare workers in low-resource areas face a growing proportion of febrile patients without malaria. We sought to describe current knowledge and identify information gaps of the etiology severe febrile illness in low-and middle-income countries.

Methods and findings

We conducted a systematic review of studies conducted in low-and-middle income countries 1980-2013 that prospectively assessed consecutive febrile patients admitted to hospital using rigorous laboratory-based case definitions. We found 45 eligible studies describing 54,578 patients; 9,771 (17.9%) had a positive result for ≥1 pathogen meeting diagnostic criteria. There were no

SUBMITTER: Prasad N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4488327 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature