Challenges in Diagnosis of Febrile illnesses in Tanzania in the Era of Declining Malaria Epidemiology

Abstract

Malaria and other febrile illnesses are very common especially in children in developing countries. Due to reliance on clinical algorithms for diagnosis in resource-poor settings, most febrile episodes have always been attributed to malaria. However, continuous malaria monitoring and recent improvements in malaria diagnosis have revealed a progressive decline in malaria and significant involvement of non-malarial etiologies in most febrile cases. This paper highlights the situation of malarial and non-malarial fevers, challenges facing the health sector, and possible approaches to addressing these challenges for better diagnosis of non-malarial febrile illnesses in Tanzania.