Prediction of Disease Severity in Young Children Presenting With Acute Febrile Illness in Resource-limited Settings

Note that this is a study that is co-sponsored by Medecins Sans Frontieres, Spain, and the University of Oxford. The primary objective is to develop a risk prediction algorithm, combining measurements of host biomarkers and clinical features at the point-of-triage, for children with an acute febrile illness in resource-limited settings. The secondary objectives are to determine which host biomarkers, feasible for measurement at the point-of-care, are predictive of disease severity. Additionally to determine the optimal combination of clinical features (including demographics, anthropometric data, historical variables, vital signs, clinical signs and clinical symptoms), feasible for assessment by limited-skill health workers, that is predictive of disease severity. The tertiary objectives are to explore the impact of different methods of outcome classification on development of the risk prediction algorithm, and to explore the performance of the algorithm to predict disease severity in key presenting clinical syndromes and aetiologies.