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  1. Case Definitions/

Open Syndrome Unconfirmed Severe Malaria

Authors: Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

Location: Nigeria

Purpose #

The definition #

Any patient hospitalized with severe febrile disease with accompanying vital organ dysfunction diagnosed clinically.

Machine-readable definition #

The definition is available in JSON format following the Open Syndrome v1.0 specification:

{
   "category": "suspected",
   "definition_type": "case_definition",
   "description": "",
   "human_readable_definition": "Any patient hospitalized with severe febrile disease with accompanying vital organ\ndysfunction diagnosed clinically.",
   "inclusion_criteria": [
     {
       "description": "Any patient hospitalized with severe febrile disease with accompanying vital organ dysfunction diagnosed clinically.",
       "logical_operator": "AND",
       "type": "criterion",
       "values": [
         {
           "name": "severe febrile illness",
           "type": "symptom"
         },
         {
           "name": "vital organ dysfunction",
           "type": "professional_judgment"
         }
       ]
     }
   ],
   "keywords": [
     "Malaria",
     "Africa"
   ],
   "language": "English",
   "location": "Nigeria",
   "open_syndrome_version": "1.0.0",
   "organization": "Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention",
   "published_at": "2025-01-29T12:00:00Z",
   "published_by": [
     "Open Syndrome Initiative"
   ],
   "published_in": "https://opensyndrome.org",
   "references": [
     {
       "url": "https://ncdc.gov.ng/themes/common/docs/protocols/31_1503912332.pdf"
     }
   ],
   "scope": "broad",
   "status": "draft",
   "target_public_health_threats": [
     "Malaria"
   ],
   "title": "Open Syndrome Unconfirmed Severe Malaria",
   "version": "1.0.0"
 }

Using the Definition #

Healthcare organizations can implement this definition through:

  • Direct integration with surveillance systems
  • API endpoints for real-time validation
  • Manual case verification processes

Next Steps #

We encourage:

  • Clinical feedback on the definition criteria
  • Technical feedback on the implementation format
  • Suggestions for additional symptoms or signs
  • Reports of implementation experiences

Get Involved #

We welcome contributions and feedback from the community.