SynthesisInfectious diseases of poverty2023
Prevalence of fever of unidentified aetiology in East African adolescents and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Infectious diseases of poverty, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rwanda's National Reference Laboratory Operational Capacity during the 2024 Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak Response.Tropical diseases, travel medicine and vaccines · 2026Article
- Institutional Readiness and Diagnostic Challenges for the Management of Pyrexia of Unknown Origin (PUO) in Nepal: A Mixed-Methods Study at Tertiary Level Hospitals.Research square · 2026Article
- Technical validation and implementation of a multiplex real-time PCR for differential diagnostic detection of Zika virus, yellow fever virus, dengue virus and chikungunya virus (ZYDC-PCR).BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Mapping of the country-wide prevalence of non-malarial febrile illnesses in areas with varying malaria transmission intensities in Mainland Tanzania.Gates open research · 2026Article
- Patterns of antibiotic use for acute febrile illness in resource-limited settings: a multicenter study in DR Congo, Kenya and Uganda.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Rift Valley fever virus and Coxiella burnetii infections among febrile patients, Eastern Ethiopia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Adding Virome Capture Metagenomic Sequencing to Conventional Laboratory Testing Increases Unknown Fever Etiology Determination in Bamako, Mali.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Febrile Illnesses in Uganda: Case Studies of Brucellosis, Malaria and Typhoid Fever (2016-2023).Journal of tropical medicine · 2025Article
- Seroprevalence and risk factors for Q fever and Rift Valley fever in pastoralists and their livestock in Afar, Ethiopia: A One Health approach.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Understanding the Transmission Dynamics of the Chikungunya Virus in Africa.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Molecular and serological prevalence of Leptospira spp. among slaughtered cattle and associated risk factors in the Bahr El Ghazal region of South Sudan.BMC veterinary research · 2024Article
- Geography and health: role of human translocation and access to care.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2024Article
- Status of zoonotic disease research in refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people, globally: A scoping review of forty clinically important zoonotic pathogens.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Health facility-based prevalence of typhoid fever, typhus and malaria among individuals suspected of acute febrile illnesses in Southwest Region, Ethiopia.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrimary health care settings and hospitals of low- and middle-income countries have few accessible diagnostic tools and limited laboratory and human resources capacity to identify multiple pathogens with high accuracy. In addition, there is a paucity of information on fever and its underlying aetiology in the adolescent and adult population in East Africa. The purpose of this study was to estimate the pooled prevalence of fever of unidentified aetiology among adolescent and adult febrile patients seeking health care in East Africa.
methodsWe pursued a systematic review using readily available electronic databases (i.e. PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature, Scopus, Cochrane Library and Web of Science) without language restriction from inception date of the respective databases to October 31, 2022. We adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Identified studies were screened for relevance. Further analyses based on pre-set eligibility criteria were carried out for final inclusion. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted data. Risk of study bias was assessed. Meta-analysis of the prevalence of fever of unidentified aetiology was performed.
resultsWe identified 14,029 articles of which 25 were eligible for inclusion, reporting data from 8538 participants. The pooled prevalence of febrile cases with unidentified aetiology was 64% [95% confidence interval (CI): 51-77%, I
conclusionsOur study provides evidence that almost two-thirds of adolescent and adult febrile patients attending health care facilities in East Africa might receive inappropriate treatments due to unidentified potential life-threatening fever aetiology. Hence, we call for a comprehensive fever syndromic surveillance to broaden a consequential differential diagnosis of syndromic fever and to considerably improve the course of patients' disease and treatment outcomes.
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