Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda
Abstract Background Early recognition of symptoms and signs perceived as malaria are important for effective case management, as few laboratories are available at peripheral health facilities. The validity and reliability of clinical signs and symptoms used by health workers to diagnose malaria were...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:08e90b511e3a49ca92b0b21c67b1f430 2023-05-15T15:10:47+02:00 Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda Clarke Siân Magnussen Pascal Ndyomugyenyi Richard 2007-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-39 https://doaj.org/article/08e90b511e3a49ca92b0b21c67b1f430 EN eng BMC http://www.malariajournal.com/content/6/1/39 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-6-39 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/08e90b511e3a49ca92b0b21c67b1f430 Malaria Journal, Vol 6, Iss 1, p 39 (2007) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2007 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-39 2022-12-31T00:17:28Z Abstract Background Early recognition of symptoms and signs perceived as malaria are important for effective case management, as few laboratories are available at peripheral health facilities. The validity and reliability of clinical signs and symptoms used by health workers to diagnose malaria were assessed in an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda. Methods The study had two components: 1) passive case detection where all patients attending the out patient clininc with a febrile illness were included and 2) a longitudinal active malaria case detection survey was conducted in selected villages. A malaria case was defined as any slide-confirmed parasitaemia in a person with an axillary temperature ≥ 37.5°C or a history of fever within the last 24 hrs and no signs suggestive of other diseases. Results Cases of malaria were significantly more likely to report joint pains, headache, vomiting and abdominal pains. However, due to the low prevalence of malaria, the predictive values of these individual signs alone, or in combination, were poor. Only 24.8% of 1627 patients had malaria according to case definition and > 75% of patients were unnecessarily treated for malaria and few slide negative cases received alternative treatment. Conclusion In low-transmission areas, more attention needs to be paid to differential diagnosis of febrile illnesses In view of suggested changes in anti-malarial drug policy, introducing costly artemisinin combination therapy accurate, rapid diagnostic tools are necessary to target treatment to people in need. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 6 1 39 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Clarke Siân Magnussen Pascal Ndyomugyenyi Richard Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background Early recognition of symptoms and signs perceived as malaria are important for effective case management, as few laboratories are available at peripheral health facilities. The validity and reliability of clinical signs and symptoms used by health workers to diagnose malaria were assessed in an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda. Methods The study had two components: 1) passive case detection where all patients attending the out patient clininc with a febrile illness were included and 2) a longitudinal active malaria case detection survey was conducted in selected villages. A malaria case was defined as any slide-confirmed parasitaemia in a person with an axillary temperature ≥ 37.5°C or a history of fever within the last 24 hrs and no signs suggestive of other diseases. Results Cases of malaria were significantly more likely to report joint pains, headache, vomiting and abdominal pains. However, due to the low prevalence of malaria, the predictive values of these individual signs alone, or in combination, were poor. Only 24.8% of 1627 patients had malaria according to case definition and > 75% of patients were unnecessarily treated for malaria and few slide negative cases received alternative treatment. Conclusion In low-transmission areas, more attention needs to be paid to differential diagnosis of febrile illnesses In view of suggested changes in anti-malarial drug policy, introducing costly artemisinin combination therapy accurate, rapid diagnostic tools are necessary to target treatment to people in need. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clarke Siân Magnussen Pascal Ndyomugyenyi Richard |
author_facet |
Clarke Siân Magnussen Pascal Ndyomugyenyi Richard |
author_sort |
Clarke Siân |
title |
Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda |
title_short |
Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda |
title_full |
Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda |
title_fullStr |
Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda |
title_sort |
diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in uganda: findings from an area of low transmission in south-western uganda |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-39 https://doaj.org/article/08e90b511e3a49ca92b0b21c67b1f430 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 6, Iss 1, p 39 (2007) |
op_relation |
http://www.malariajournal.com/content/6/1/39 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-6-39 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/08e90b511e3a49ca92b0b21c67b1f430 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-39 |
container_title |
Malaria Journal |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
39 |
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1766341740231393280 |