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Table 1 Recommended medications for specified diagnoses according to the Papua New Guinea Standard Treatment Guidelines for Adults and Children

From: The treatment of non-malarial febrile illness in Papua New Guinea: findings from cross sectional and longitudinal studies of health worker practice

Diagnosis

Recommended medications

 

Adults

Children

Anaemiaa

Fefol; Albendazole; if spleen is very large, Chloroquine

Antimalarial + Albendazole + Folic Acid + Iron (for severe cases a blood transfusion)

Coughb

Amoxicillin + Paracetamol (if simple cough)

Amoxicillin

Diarrhoeac

Treat dehydration with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS); in severe cases treat intravenously with ORS

Treat dehydration with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS); in severe cases treat intravenously with ORS

Gastroenteritisc

Treat dehydration with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS); in severe cases treat intravenously with ORS

Treat dehydration with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS); in severe cases treat intravenously with ORS

Influenza-like-illness

Amoxicillin (bacterial infection) + Paracetamol (fever)

Amoxicillin (bacterial infection) + Paracetamol (fever)

Malariad

P.falciparum: Artemether Lumefantrine (AL); P.vivax: AL + Primaquine

P.falciparum: Artemether Lumefantrine (AL); P.vivax: AL + Primaquine

Otitis Mediae

Amoxicillin + Paracetamol (acute otitis media); Co-trimoxazole (for pus in chronic Otitis media)

Amoxicillin + Paracetamol (acute otitis media); Co-trimoxizole (if pus/discharge after 1 week of treatment); Boric Acid ear drops (Chronic Otitis Media)

Pneumoniaf

Paracetamol (chest pains) + Amoxicillin (mild, moderate); Benzyl-penicillin (severe); Chloramphenicol (severe); gentamicin (severe); ceftriaxone (severe) + Oxygen (severe) + nebulised salbutamol (for wheezing); salbutamol inhaler (for wheezing)

Chloramphenicol (severe pneumonia) + Oxygen (if child is cyanosed/grunting/in heart failure/restless/drowsy/stopping breathing); Benzyl Penicillin (moderate pneumonia); Amoxicillin (mild pneumonia)

URTIg

Amoxicillin (bacterial infection) + Paracetamol (fever)

Amoxicillin (bacterial infection) + Paracetamol (fever)

Worms

Albendazole

Albendazole

  1. aIncludes severe anaemia, anaemia acquired in pregnancy, anaemia acquired after birth and non-specific anaemia
  2. bIncludes general cough, simple cough and productive cough
  3. cA rating could not be made in the majority of cases due to insufficient diagnostic information (e.g., diarrhoea would be treated in different ways depending on the cause, but the cause was rarely stated)
  4. dIncludes uncomplicated malaria, severe malaria and non-specific malaria
  5. eIncludes both acute and chronic otitis media as well as non-specific otitis media
  6. fIncludes moderate, mild and severe pneumonia
  7. gUpper Respiratory Tract Infection
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BMC Health Services Research

ISSN: 1472-6963

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