ArticleTropical medicine & international health : TM & IH2025
TaqMan Array Card real-time polymerase chain reaction panel to detect pathogens in whole blood of febrile inpatients in northern Tanzania, 2016-2019.
Article in Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Etiologies of community-acquired febrile illness identified by TaqMan Array Card qPCR on blood samples: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Measles Without Rash During Acute Febrile Illness Surveillance in Tanzania, 2023-2024.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Infectious pathogens associated with stillbirth and under-five mortality by sickle cell disease in Western Kenya: a cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Multi-Pathogen Surveillance of Acute Febrile Illness in Nigeria Using TaqMan Array Cards: Implementation Successes and Lessons Learned From the SAFIAN Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
24 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAcute febrile illness is a common reason for seeking healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. We describe the diagnostic utility of a TaqMan Array Card (TAC) real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panel for pathogen detection in paediatric and adult inpatients admitted with febrile illness.
methodsIn this prospective cohort study, we screened medical admissions for a tympanic temperature ≥38.0°C or reported fever within 72 h and used a PCR panel to detect pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa, in 697 participants. We compared PCR results to conventional diagnostic methods and considered PCR detections as the cause of fever, except for Plasmodium spp. and Schistosoma spp. Participants for PCR testing was consecutively selected from the end of enrolment.
resultsOf 1132 participants enrolled in the cohort, 697 (61.6%) were tested by PCR. Median (IQR) age was 29.6 (4.6-46.4) years. Three hundred seventy-eight (54.2%) were male. The PCR method improved illness identification, increasing diagnostic yield from 73 (10.5%) by conventional methods to 124 (17.8%) of 697 participants. PCR detections included four viral pathogens: dengue (n = 1), enterovirus (n = 7), measles (n = 1) and Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV) (n = 3). Forty-six bacterial pathogens were detected in 44 (6.3%) participants, including fastidious bacteria such as Bartonella spp. (n = 2), Brucella spp. (n = 3), Coxiella burnetii (n = 2), Leptospira spp. (n = 1), M. tuberculosis (n = 7) and Rickettsia spp. (n = 9).
conclusionThe PCR panel improved pathogen detection in febrile inpatients, providing clinically actionable results for fastidious bacteria and epidemiologically relevant findings like RVFV detections, when combined with conventional methods.
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