Body temperature is a poor predictor of malaria parasitaemia in children with acute diarrhoea

SummaryIn order to ascertain the usefulness of a temperature ≥ 38°C or a history of fever in detecting malaria parasitaemia in children with diarrhoea as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), 522 children aged from 6 to 60 months presenting with acute diarrhoea were studied in Ibadan, Nigeria. The overall prevalence of malaria parasitaemia was 13%. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of parasitaemia between patients with a temperature ≥ 38°C and those < 38°C. Neither was any difference found in the prevalence of parasitaemia between those with and those without a history of fever. Temperature ≥ 38°C had a low sensitivity (53%) and specificity (57%) and a low positive predictive value (16%) in detecting malaria parasitaemia. A history of fever had a higher sensitivity (79%) than temperature ≥ 38°C in detecting malaria parasitaemia but a low specificity (27%) and low positive predictive value (14%). Similar results were obtained in a simultaneously studied non-diarrhoea contr...