RESEARCH c g

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Malaria still remains a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa in spite of an increase in control measures. In Cameroon it is estimated that 41 % of the population has at least one episode of malaria each year with children under five years and pregnant women mostly affected [1]. The clinical consequence of an infec-tion in a child depends on many factors, which are often ill-defined and determine the outcome in each child. The clinical effect of a malarial infection in an African child depends on parasite, host, geographical and social factors. These converge in the child to result in a range of outcomes, from an asymptomatic infection to severe disease and death [2]. Although fever usually has a high sensitivity but poor specificity for the diagnosis of malaria, it still serves as the entry point for presumptive treatment of malaria in African children who, if left untreated, run the risk of se