Etiologies of Fever Among Adults in Dar es Salaam

Swiss Tropical and Public Health (TPH) Institute

Status: Completed

Conditions: Acute Febrile Illnesses

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01947075

Fever Study

Adult Fever Study (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Following the decline of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa, clinicians face febrile patients in whom an alternative diagnosis has to be made. This situation has led to an overuse of antibiotics by clinicians. It is crucial to increase knowledge on etiologies and risk factors of outpatient febrile illness in order to improve their management.

This present proposal aims to investigate the etiologies of fever among adult patients attending an outpatient department in urban Tanzania. It also aims to assess the clinical significance of nasopharyngeal (NP) respiratory viruses and bacteria documentation in this setting. Third, it aims to compare the spectrum of infections in this population with that of children included in the same setting in a previous study. The last objective is to assess diabetes mellitus (DM) as a risk factor for infection and exposure to indoor air pollution (IAP) as a risk factor for acute respiratory infections (ARI) in adults in Tanzania.

The investigators hypothesize that acute respiratory infections are the main cause of adult febrile illness in a urban low-income setting and that use of quantitative molecular assays on naso-oropharyngeal samples can improve the diagnosis of pneumonia. The investigators also think that the spectrum of infections is different between children and adults, mainly due to a high HIV prevalence in adults. The investigators also hypothesize that experiencing IAP and/ or DM is a risk factor for infections in adults.

Enrollment: 538 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Temperature >=38°C
• History of fever for less than 8 days
• First consultation for the present problem

Exclusion criteria

• Refusal of HIV screening
• Main complaint is injury or trauma
• Antibiotic treatment in the last 7 days
• Within 6 weeks after delivery
• Hospitalization during the last month

Trial design

538 participants in 2 patient groups

Adults with fever

Description:

Every adult with fever will be screened for different infectious diseases and for nasopharyngeal respiratory viruses and bacteria

Healthy volonteers

Description:

For every adult with fever included with a diagnosis of pneumonia, a healthy volunteer will be included. These healthy volunteers will be screened for nasopharyngeal respiratory viruses and bacteria.