Eligible publications were retrieved in full text if available online or from academic libraries. Both prospective and etrospective case series of children with malaria undergoing blood culture were subdivided according to principal inclusion criteria (Severe malaria, all malaria or non-severe malaria). Studies principally reporting epidemiological associations were tabled separately. The definitions of Severe malaria varied widely. In order to facilitate agreement between the reviewers for study inclusion
we used the following criteria for assessment of the quality of studies reporting on severe malaria (SM): 1) criteria for SM well-defined; 2) bacterial species defined or quality assurance verified that contaminants were excluded; 3) mortality data for ‘high risk’ SM cohort at least 7.4% (the lowest 95% confidence for artesunate arm of the AQUAMAT multicountry trial [2]; the overall mortality in this arm was 8.5% (7.4% to 9.5%)) [2]. These were ranked as low, moderate and high (1, 2 and 3) according to the number of criteria met. We reviewed the reference lists from articles rated ‘high quality’ to identify additional secondary articles not found during the initial online search.