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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 16, 2025; 13(32): 110760
Published online Nov 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i32.110760
Published online Nov 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i32.110760
Fever phobias, perception among caregivers across Nigerian states: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Awoere Chinawa, Department of Community Medicine, Enugu State Univeristy College of Medicine, Enugu 400001, Nigeria
Paschal Chime, Department of Pediatrics, University of Nigeria, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu 400001, Nigeria
Jude Onyia, Grace Agu, Department of Pediatrics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu 400001, Nigeria
Ogonna Nwankwo, Department of Pediatrics, Enugu State Univeristy College of Medicine, Enugu 400001, Nigeria
Josephat Maduabuchi Chinawa, Department of Paediatrics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka 400001, Nigeria
Co-corresponding authors: Paschal Chime and Josephat Maduabuchi Chinawa.
Author contributions: Chinawa JM conceived and designed this study performed the data analysis/interpretation; Chinawa JM, Chinawa A, Chime P, Onyia J, Agu G and Nwankwo O helped in the critical revision of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Josephat Maduabuchi Chinawa, FACC, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Nigeria, 1o Thinkers estate Enugu, Nsukka 400001, Enugu, Nigeria.
Received: June 16, 2025
Revised: June 20, 2025
Accepted: October 14, 2025
Published online: November 16, 2025
Processing time: 151 Days and 21.4 Hours
Revised: June 20, 2025
Accepted: October 14, 2025
Published online: November 16, 2025
Processing time: 151 Days and 21.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: In Nigeria, childhood fevers are often mistaken as malaria and this had led to majority of deaths among under-five children. Similarly, fever as a result of vaccination of childhood killer diseases accounts for over 30% of all presenting complaints to children hospital. Regrettably, caregivers still consider childhood fever as a disease and not as a sign of an underlying disease. This makes them to indulge in unacceptable practices. Fever phobias is a global issue among caregivers and goes beyond cultures, race and language.