By IDSE News Staff
Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria are reducing overuse of malaria medications but may also produce a range of unintended results (Am J Trop Med Hyg 2017 Aug 7. [Epub ahead of print]).
An analysis of more than 500,000 patient visits across malaria-endemic regions of Africa and Afghanistan found that in most settings, the introduction of RDTs improved antimalarial targeting, but negative test results prompted a shift to antibiotic prescriptions. Even more concerning: A