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Table 1 Frequency, sensitivity and specificity of symptoms for clinical malaria (symptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia) in children <5 years of age

From: Sensitivity of fever for diagnosis of clinical malaria in a Kenyan area of unstable, low malaria transmission

Symptoms

Pf pos,an (%)

Pf neg,bn (%)

P value

Sensitivity (%)

Specificity (%)

Fever

32 (89)

506 (85)

0. 49

88. 9

15. 4

Appetite loss

25 (64)

323 (54)

0. 07

69. 4

46

Headache

19 (53)

191 (32)

0. 01

52. 8

68. 1

Vomiting

11 (31)

237 (40)

0. 28

30. 6

60. 4

Chills

10 (28)

56 (9)

<0. 001

27. 8

90. 6

Malaise

7 (19)

53 (9)

0. 04

19. 4

91. 1

Diarrhea

5 (14)

121 (20)

0. 35

13. 9

79. 8

Nausea

3 (8)

30 (5)

0. 38

8. 3

95

Joint pains

1 (3)

12 (2)

0. 75

2. 8

98

Jaundice

0 (0)

7 (1)

0. 51

0

98. 8

Backache

0 (0)

8 (1)

0. 49

0

98. 7

  1. Abbreviations: Pf P. falciparum, pos positive, neg negative.
  2. aTotal N for Pf pos, N = 36.
  3. bTotal N for Pf neg, N = 598.