Self-diagnosis and self-treatment of Plasmodium spp. infection by travellers (1989-2019): A systematic review and meta-analysis

摘要

Background: Standby emergency self-treatment (SBET) is often recommended as an anti-malaria strategy for travellers to low-risk endemic areas. This self-treatment enables competent malaria therapy, if medical assistance is unavailable. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends performing reliable diagnostic tests before starting antimalarial treatment. For the self-diagnosis of malaria in travellers, rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) can be used to confirm the infection before SBET is used. The aim of this research is to assess the use of RDT and/or SBET in travellers.