Fever (also known as pyrexia[1] or febrile response) is one of the most common medical signs and is characterised by an elevation of body temperature above the normal range of 36.5 - 37.5 °C (97.7 - 99.5 °F) due to an increase in the temperature regulatory set-point. It is one of the common symptoms of many febrile communicable diseases. Malaria and measles are the two main childhood febrile illnesses in Ethiopia.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans (a type of single cell microorganism) of the Plasmodium.It is one of the severe febrile diseases Unless it is diagnosed and treated promptly; it can cause death in children. Some of the clinical manifestation of malaria is nausea and vomiting, shivering, sweating and joint pain.

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness characterised by fever, malaise, rash, cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis. It results in severe complications of the eye, ear, gastric tract (diarrhoea), bacterial respiratory infections (pneumonia), malnutrition and also it leads to death. Since the virus reduces the immune system, those complications will appear and threaten the child. So to avoid measles infection the children should be vaccinated.

Last modified: Wednesday, 1 March 2017, 1:55 AM