Malaria
Conditions
Keywords
malaria microscopy primary health care children
Brief summary
General objective: To improve the quality of fever case management in children in government health facilities in Tanzania Hypothesis:The training of health workers, as well as provision, training and use of microscopes for malaria diagnosis will improve the treatment of clinical episodes of fever in children while reducing the amount and costs of drugs
Detailed description
PHC facilities were eligible for the study if they were rural government owned; accessible by road during rainy season; and within 3 hours by car from Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS), Dar es Salaam All children attending the 16 PHC facilities under the study during daytime were enrolled if they fulfilled the following criteria: 1. below five years of age 2. fever (temperature≥37.5◦C) and/or reported history of fever in last 2 days 3. able to return to the facility on day 7 after treatment or any other day if symptoms were to worsen or recur 4. the mother/guardian or caretaker consented to participate. Patients with severe disease and/or general danger signs requiring inpatient care according to the IMCI guidelines were admitted or referred to the health centers or the district hospitals
Interventions
PROCEDUREClinical algorithm and microscopy diagnosis of malaria
Clinical alogarithm The content of the package included 1. description of signs and symptoms of malaria disease 2. history taking relevant to malaria and physical examination 3. identification of danger signs and severe illness for referral 4. appropriate treatment 5. counseling patients on the use of drugs. Malaria microscopy. contents 1. make thick blood smears from patients with fever and stain with Giemsa 2. identify and count malaria parasites 3. maintain the microscope and store blood slides.
Sponsors
Karolinska Institutet
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
6 Months to 59 Months
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. below five years of age 2. fever (temperature≥37.5◦C) and/or reported history of fever in last 2 days 3. able to return to the facility on day 7 after treatment or any other day if symptoms were to worsen or recur 4. the mother/guardian or caretaker consented to participate
Exclusion criteria
a) N/A
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| the proportion of study children receiving prescriptions of antimalarial drugs in the respective arms | Day 0 |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| prescriptions of antibiotics, cost of drugs | Day 0 |
| health outcome of the patients | Day 1-6, day 7 |
Countries
Tanzania
Outcome results
None listed