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Health Beliefs and Patient Perspectives of Febrile Illness in Kilombero, Tanzania

Christine HercikGeorgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia;

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Leonard CosmasDivision of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), Nairobi, Kenya;

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Ondari D. MogeniCentre for Global Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya;

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Wanze KohiMuhimbili Research Centre, National Institute of Medical Research, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;

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Sayoki MfinangaMuhimbili Research Centre, National Institute of Medical Research, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;

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Christopher LoffredoGeorgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia

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Joel M. MontgomeryDivision of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), Nairobi, Kenya;

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This qualitative study assessed the knowledge and beliefs surrounding fever syndrome among adult febrile patients seeking health care in Kilombero, Tanzania. From June 11 to July 13, 2014, 10% of all adult (≥ 15 years) febrile patients enrolled in the larger syndromic study, who presented with an axillary temperature ≥ 37.5°C and symptom onset ≤ 5 days prior, were randomly selected to participate in an in-depth physician–patient interview, informed by Health Belief Model constructs. Interviews were audio recorded, translated, and transcribed. Transcripts were coded using NVivo Version 11.1, and the thematic content was analyzed by two separate researchers. Blood and nasopharyngeal/oralpharyngeal specimens were collected and analyzed using both acute febrile illness and respiratory TaqMan Array Cards for multipathogen detection of 56 potential causative agents. A total of 18 participants provided 188 discrete comments. When asked to speculate the causative agent of febrile illness, 33.3% cited malaria and the other 66.6% offered nonbiomedical responses, such as “mosquitoes” and “weather.” Major themes emerging related to severity and susceptibility to health hazards included lack of bed net use, misconceptions about bed nets, and mosquito infestation. Certain barriers to treatment were cited, including dependence on traditional healers, high cost of drugs, and poor dispensary services. Overall, we demonstrate low concurrence in speculations of fever etiology according to patients, clinicians, and laboratory testing. Our findings contribute to the important, yet limited, base of knowledge surrounding patient risk perceptions of febrile illness and underscore the potential utility of community-based participatory research to inform disease control programs.

Author Notes

Address correspondence to Christine Hercik, Global Infectious Disease Researcher, Georgetown University, 3700 O St. NW, Washington, DC 20057-0004. E-mail: cah227@georgetown.edu

Disclosure: The funding agency (USAID) had no part in the design of this study or analysis of results.

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions of this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. CDC, the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), or Georgetown University.

Authors’ addresses: Christine Hercik, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, E-mail: cah227@georgetown.edu. Leonard Cosmas and Joel M. Montgomery, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), Nairobi, Kenya, E-mails: leocosmas@gmail.com or ztq9@cdc.gov. Ondari D. Mogeni, Center for Global Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya, E-mail: ondarim@gmail.com. Wanze Kohi and Sayoki Mfinanga, Muhimbili Research Center, National Institute of Medical Research, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, E-mails: wanzejoyce@hotmail.com and gsmfinanga@yahoo.com. Christopher Loffredo, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, E-mail: cal9@georgetown.edu.

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