Diagnosis and management of febrile children using the WHO/UNICEF guidelines for IMCI in Dhaka, Bangladesh

objective: to determine whether the fever module in the who/unicef guidelines for the integrated management of childhood illness (imci) identifies children with bacterial infections in an area of low malaria prevalence. methods: physicians assessed a systematic sample of 669 sick children aged 2-59 months who presented to the outpatient department of dhaka shishu hospital, bangladesh. findings: had imci guidelines been used to evaluate the children, 78% of those with bacterial infections would have received antibiotics: the majority of children with meningitis (100%), pneumonia (95%), otitis media (95%) and urinary tract infection (83%); and 50% or less of children with bacteraemia (50%), dysentery (48%), and skin infections (30%). the current fever module identified only one additional case of meningitis. children with bacteraemia were more likely to be febrile, feel hot, and have a history of fever than those with dysentery and skin infections. fever combined with parental perception of fast breathing provided a more sensitive fever module for the detection of bacteraemia than the current imci module. conclusions: in an area of low malaria prevalence, the imci guidelines provide antibiotics to the majority of children with bacterial infections, but improvements in the fever module are possible.