Table 1. A comparison of the general WHO guidelines with the possible recommendations for the study area, based on threshold analysis.

Management of a febrile patient	Child, dry season	Child, rainy season	Adult, dry season	Adult, rainy season
WHO guidelines	Test, treat for malaria if positive, consider other possible causes if negative	Id.	Id.	Id.
Threshold analysis, costs not considered	Treat for malaria without test, consider other possible causes	Id.	Refrain from both test and malaria treatment, consider other possible causes	Test, treat for malaria if positive, consider other possible causes regardless the result
Threshold analysis, costs considered	Treat for malaria without test, consider other possible causes	Id.	Refrain from both test and malaria treatment, consider other possible causes	Id., or treat for malaria with alternative regimen

x = diseased; 1-x = not diseased; Tc = Treatment cost; Tmort = mortality caused by the treatment; Lv = value of a death averted; Dmort = Disease mortality; t = test threshold; tT test/treatment threshold; tc = test cost; FP = false positive rate; TP = true positive rate; FN = false negative rate; TN = true negative rate; Tb = Treatment burden ( = Tc +Tmort * Lv); Db = Disease burden ( = Dmort * Lv).

Tc = Treatment cost; Tmort = mortality caused by the treatment; Lv = value of a death averted; Dmort = Disease mortality; t = test threshold; tT test/treatment threshold; tc = test cost; FP = false positive rate; TP = true positive rate; FN = false negative rate; TN = true negative rate; Tb = Treatment burden ( = Tc +Tmort * Lv); Db = Disease burden ( = Dmort * Lv).