Table 1.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria	Reporting on pathogens causing fever in human (inpatients or outpatients)
	Studies conducted in the targeted geographical areas
	Abstract and full text available in English or Chinese
	Samples tested from normally sterile sites1
	Samples analysed in a laboratory setting
	Total number of individuals tested is clearly stated for population-based studies (case reports and case series were categorised separately and did not need to meet this criterion)
Exclusion criteria	Published before 1980
	Primary focus on malaria, HIV, or tuberculosis
	Non-clinical studies (descriptions of laboratory methods, modelling studies, economic evaluations, opinion pieces)
	Drug or vaccine trial
	Studies conducted in travellers
	Other studies of disease not including laboratory identification of pathogens causing fever

¹The definition of a confirmed diagnosis was restricted to pathogens detected in or cultured from samples from normally sterile sites (e.g. bacterial or fungal isolates cultured from the blood, cerebrospinal fluid, arthrocentesis or paracentesis fluid, etc., or virus or parasite detection in the blood or cerebrospinal fluid) or serological evidence of current or past infection