VHF Questionnaire

A diagnosis of VHF should be considered for any patient with a fever who has recently arrived in this country from an endemic area.

Question 1

Has the patient been to an endemic country for VHF in the last month?
Endemic countries are: Guinea (-Conakry), Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea

Question 2

Does the patient have an illness with fever of less than 21 days' duration that started either while s/he was in the endemic country, or within 21 days of leaving an endemic country?

Question 3

Has the patient:

• Travelled outside major cities
• Had contact with sick people or been to health care facilities
• Been in contact with rats or their excreta
• Been in direct contact with wild animals

If the answer to any part of question 3 is YES, or there is another reason to suspect VHF, then take a THIN FILM ONLY for malaria screen. DO NOT take any other specimens from the patient.. Discuss with the on-call Microbiologist. This does NOT necessarily mean that the patient is at risk of VHF, simply that further assessment is required.
If the answer to all parts of question 3 are NO, then document 'minimal risk of VHF' and continue with triage as normal.