Table 2.

Codes, categories, and themes of the study

Theme	The emergence of unclassified fever as diagnosis
Subthemes	The meaning of “fever”			Changes in fever management		Trade-offs between follow-up recommendations
Categories	Visibility of the disease	Fever without malaria	Health workers as focal point for fever management	Renegotiating the need of medicine	Reporting raises attention	Conditional follow-up: Reducing the number of visits to health facilities	Universal follow-up as continuum of care
Codes	Caregivers want a malaria diagnosis	Fever not only caused by malaria	HEWs as educators	Never send patients back empty handed	Giving attention to fever	Reduction in visits to health facility	Following process of disease and visibility of diagnostic outcome
	Fever expected to be malaria	Unclassified fever is no disease	Communication between HEWs and caregivers	Caregivers insist on medicine	HEWs’ desire for knowledge	Possibility for additional services and diagnosis when needed	Reduction in diagnostic uncertainty
	Concerns about the child’s illness	Child is free of disease	HEWs play a role as health professionals	Caregivers comply with follow-up recommendation	Fever alone recognized as illness	Separation of illness cases	Possibility for additional services and diagnosis
	Blood tests	–	HEWs give advice	Recovery of child equals correct diagnosis	Reporting as a task of HEWs	Recommendation reduces referral and costs	Facilitating mothers to return for follow-up
	Disease could not be seen	–	–	No medicine given as treatment at health posts	Conducting follow-ups during outreach activities	–	Seeing the same child twice
	–	–	–	Drugs as incentive to seek care at health posts	–	–	–