What would PCR assessment change in the management of fevers in a malaria endemic area? A school-based study in Benin in children with and without fever.

Background: A recent school-based study in Benin showed that applying a policy of anti-malarial prescriptions restricted to parasitologically-confirmed cases on the management of fever is safe and feasible. Additional PCR data were analysed in order to touch patho-physiological issues, such as the usefulness of PCR in the management of malaria in an endemic area or the triggering of a malaria attack in children with submicroscopic malaria.

Methods: PCR data were prospectively collected in the setting of an exposed (with fever)/non exposed (without fever) study design.

Can treatment of malaria be restricted to parasitologically confirmed malaria? A school-based study in Benin in children with and without fever.

Background: Applying the switch from presumptive treatment of malaria to new policies of anti-malarial prescriptions restricted to parasitologically-confirmed cases is a still unsolved challenge. Pragmatic studies can provide data on consequences of such a switch. In order to assess whether restricting anti-malarials to rapid diagnostic test (RDT)-confirmed cases in children of between five and 15 years of age is consistent with an adequate management of fevers, a school-based study was performed in Allada, Benin.