title: Evidence of a major reservoir of non-malarial febrile diseases in malaria-endemic regions of Bangladesh.
abstract: In malaria-endemic regions any febrile case is likely to be classified as malaria based on presumptive diagnosis largely caused by a lack of diagnostic resources. A district-wide prevalence study assessing etiologies of fever in 659 patients recruited in rural and semi-urban areas of Bandarban district in southeastern Bangladesh revealed high proportions of seropositivity for selected infectious diseases (leptospirosis, typhoid fever) potentially being misdiagnosed as malaria because of similarities in the clinical presentation. In an area with point prevalences of more than 40% for malaria among fever cases, even higher seroprevalence rates of leptospirosis and typhoid fever provide evidence of a major persistent reservoir of these pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; MARIB, Malaria Research Initiative Bandarban, Bandarban, Bangladesh; Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; ICDDR,B, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Swoboda
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Fuehrer
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ley
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Starzengruber
authors.forename: Kamala
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ley-Thriemer
authors.forename: Mariella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matt
authors.forename: Markus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fally
authors.forename: Milena K S
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Johannes A B
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Reismann
authors.forename: Rashidul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haque
authors.forename: Wasif A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noedl
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D060085:Coinfection; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003715:Dengue / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult