title: Knowledge on management of fever among mothers of undertens in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore on mothers' knowledge on fever and its management as well as assess treatment received by under 10 year-old children (undertens) having fever prior to being presented in outpatient departments at two Municipal hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire interviews among mothers of undertens, who had problems of fever and presented at the two Municipal hospitals viz. Mwananyamala and Temeke Municipal hospitals, in Dar es Salaam.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 301 respondents were interviewed. Of those, 151 had male and 150 and female undertens, whose ages ranged from 1 month to 10 years-old with median of 2 years. Minority (32%) of the interviewees were unaware of possible causes of fever, while 52% attributed it to malaria. About 25% of the respondents regard fever as a minor health problem, thus they did not seek medical attention unless other severe symptoms were manifested. Majority (88.4%) of the respondents self-medicated, and out of those 24% used antimalarials and antipyretics, while 7.6% used both antipyretics and antibiotics for alleviation of fever. On arrival in OPDs, only 62.4% of the respondents were prescribed with antimalarial agents. Approximately 18% of the interviewees admitted to have had changed medications due to unresponsiveness to the previously prescribed drugs. Pharmacies were the main sources of the self-medicated drugs (n = 272; 90.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fever is a public health concern among undertens, which contributed to high rate of self-medication and irrational use of medicines. However, respondents demonstrated adequate knowledge on fever and on its management though fever was associated with underlying causes.
authors.affiliation: Muhimbili University of Health & Allied Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, P.O. Box 65013, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. kmwambete@muhas.ac.tz
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Mwambete
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Andrew
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D058633:Antipyretics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013636:Tanzania
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000962:Antimalarials; D058633:Antipyretics