{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]],"date-time":"2026-06-15T13:52:57Z","timestamp":1781531577258,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]],"date-time":"2026-06-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781481600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":14,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Associated Laboratory in Translation and Innovation Towards Global Health REAL","award":["LA\/P\/0117\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0117\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the R&D unit Global Health and Tropical Medicine","award":["UID\/04413\/2025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UID\/04413\/2025"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Acute febrile illness is a major cause of morbidity and healthcare seeking in sub-Saharan Africa, including Mozambique. However, few studies have explored the perceptions and practices related to clinical management of acute febrile illness. Our aim was to understand the perceptions, knowledge and practices of healthcare professionals and community members regarding the management of acute febrile illness.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A qualitative study was conducted using a thematic analysis approach. Eight focus group discussions (FGDs) and three in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted in two Mozambican provinces across four healthcare facilities. Purposive sampling was used to select participants, comprising both healthcare professionals and community members. Data were analysed thematically through manual coding, applying inductive and deductive approaches, in line with established qualitative analytical frameworks.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study included a total of 60 participants, 28 healthcare professionals who participated in FGDs (25) and IDIs (3) and 32 community members who participated in FGDs. Major causes of fever, according to healthcare professionals, were upper and lower respiratory infections, malaria, diarrhoeal diseases and COVID-19. The diagnostic approach for febrile patients primarily included screening, malaria testing and other non-specific investigations depending on availability at health facilities. Antibiotics and antipyretics were the most commonly prescribed treatments. The healthcare professionals reported a decrease in prescribing antimalarials due to extensive training on malaria case management. In contrast, community members reported relying primarily on home-based and traditional practices to treat acute febrile illness before seeking care at health facilities. These practices are related to sociocultural habits, such as the use of traditional medicine and self-medication. The main barriers to seeking care at health facilities were the perception of poor quality of care, long waiting times, cultural beliefs and lack of medicines.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Proper management of non-malarial febrile illness remains a major challenge for both healthcare professionals and communities. Training, adherence to case management protocols and efforts to change behaviours to mitigate harmful sociocultural practices are urgently necessary to improve febrile illness management.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-113361","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]],"date-time":"2026-06-15T12:55:18Z","timestamp":1781528118000},"page":"e113361","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Perceptions of healthcare professionals and community members on acute febrile illness management in Maputo and Quelimane City: a qualitative study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-9213-4900","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vanessa Da Concei\u00e7\u00e3o Onofre","family":"Monteiro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), LA-REAL, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2519-1419","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedroso","family":"Nhassengo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elidio","family":"Muamine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pascoal","family":"Alho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yolanda","family":"Manganhe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0698-6686","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Am\u00e9rico","family":"Zandamela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria I","family":"Cambe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eduardo S","family":"Gudo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Nacional de Sa\u00fade, Maputo, Mozambique"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabel","family":"Craveiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), LA-REAL, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026061505551325000_16.6.e113361.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/cis596"},{"key":"2026061505551325000_16.6.e113361.2","first-page":"283","article-title":"Fever: its history, cause, and function","volume":"55","author":"Atkins","year":"1982","journal-title":"Yale J Biol Med"},{"key":"2026061505551325000_16.6.e113361.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"943","DOI":"10.1111\/tmi.12722","article-title":"Aetiologies of non\u2010malaria febrile episodes in children under 5 years in sub\u2010Saharan Africa","volume":"21","author":"Kiemde","year":"2016","journal-title":"Tropical Med Int Health"},{"key":"2026061505551325000_16.6.e113361.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.17-0682"},{"key":"2026061505551325000_16.6.e113361.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12936-018-2488-x","article-title":"Integrated fever management: disease severity markers to triage children with malaria and non-malarial febrile illness","volume":"17","author":"McDonald","year":"2018","journal-title":"Malar J"},{"key":"2026061505551325000_16.6.e113361.6","unstructured":"WHO . 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