Management of acute fever in children : consensus recommendations for community and primary healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa

dc.contributor.authorGreen, Robin J.
dc.contributor.authorWebb, David
dc.contributor.authorJeena, Prakash Mohan
dc.contributor.authorWells, Mike
dc.contributor.authorButt, Nadia
dc.contributor.authorHangoma, Jimmy Mapenzi
dc.contributor.authorMoodley, Rajatheran Sham
dc.contributor.authorMaimin, Jackie
dc.contributor.authorWibbelink, Margreet
dc.contributor.authorMustafa, Fatima
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-11T06:13:22Z
dc.date.available2021-06-11T06:13:22Z
dc.date.issued2021-06
dc.description.abstractFever is one of the most common reasons for unwell children presenting to pharmacists and primary healthcare practitioners. Currently there are no guidelines for assessment and management of fever specifically for community and primary healthcare workers in the sub-Saharan Africa region. This multidisciplinary consensus guide was developed to assist pharmacists and primary healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa to risk stratify and manage children who present with fever, decide when to refer, and how to advise parents and caregivers. Fever is defined as body temperature ≥ 37.5 ◦C and is a normal physiological response to illness that facilitates and accelerates recovery. Although it is often associated with self-limiting illness, it causes significant concern to both parents and attending healthcare workers. Clinical signs may be used by pharmacy staff and primary healthcare workers to determine level of distress and to distinguish between a child with fever who is at high risk of serious illness and who requires specific treatment, hospitalisation or specialist care, and those at low risk who could be managed conservatively at home. In children with warning signs, serious causes of fever that may need to be excluded include infections (including malaria), non-infective inflammatory conditions and malignancy. Simple febrile convulsions are not in themselves harmful, and are not necessarily indicative of serious infection. In the absence of illness requiring specific treatment, relief from distress is the primary indication for prescribing pharmacotherapy, and antipyretics should not be administered with the sole intention of reducing body temperature. Care must be taken not to overdose medications and clear instructions should be given to parents/ caregivers on managing the child at home and when to seek further medical care.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentPaediatrics and Child Healthen_ZA
dc.description.librarianpm2021en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipReckitt Benckiser Granten_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://www.elsevier.com/locate/afjemen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationRobin Green, David Webb, Prakash Mohan Jeena, Mike Wells, Nadia Butt, Jimmy Mapenzi Hangoma, Rajatheran (Sham) Moodley, Jackie Maimin, Margreet Wibbelink, Fatima Mustafa, Management of acute fever in children: Consensus recommendations for community and primary healthcare providers in sub-Saharan Africa, African Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2021, Pages 283-296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2020.11.004.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2211-419X (print)
dc.identifier.other10.1016/j.afjem.2020.11.004
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/80278
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherElsevieren_ZA
dc.rights© 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd. CC BY 4.0 This is an open access article under the CC BY license.en_ZA
dc.subjectChildhooden_ZA
dc.subjectFeveren_ZA
dc.subjectFebrileen_ZA
dc.subjectPrimary healthcareen_ZA
dc.subjectSub-Saharan Africa (SSA)en_ZA
dc.titleManagement of acute fever in children : consensus recommendations for community and primary healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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