Could combined rapid diagnostic testing for malaria and c-reactive protein be helpful for the diagnosis and management of febrile illnesses in children under-5 years of age in rural Burkina Faso?

Table 5 Antibiotic prescriptions to febrile children with positive mRDT-PfHRP-2 and confirmed bacterial infections

Number of antibiotic(s) prescribed	Number of children with positive mRDT-PfHRP and bacterial infections and who received antibiotic prescriptions, (N = 20)^a
	Bacterial infections, (n = 20)		CRP results, (n = 20)
	bBSI, (n = 12)	bGE, (n = 08)	Level < 10 mg/L, (n = 1)	10-40 mg/L, (n = 0)	Level ≥ 40 mg/L, (n = 19)
One antibiotic prescribed, (n = 9)	5 (41.7)	4 (50.0)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	9 (47.4)
Two antibiotics prescribed, (n = 1)	1 (8.3)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	1 (5.3)

CRP: C-reactive protein; mRDT-PfHRP2: malaria rapid diagnostic test for Plasmodium falciparum-specific histidine-rich protein 2; bBSI: bacterial bloodstream infection; bGE: bacterial gastroenteritis
^a Bacterial infections without bacterial gastroenteritis caused by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (n = 10) (this infection is under the Burkinabe guidelines not treated)

ISSN: 1471-2334