Background. The clinical diagnosis of bacterial bloodstream infections (BSIs) in sub-Saharan Africa is routinely confused with malaria due to overlapping symptoms. The Typhoid Surveillance in Africa Program (TSAP) recruited febrile inpatients and outpatients of all ages using identical study procedures and enrollment criteria, thus providing an opportunity to assess disease etiology and pretreatment patterns among children and adults. Methods. Inpatients and outpatients of all ages with tympanic or axillary temperatures of≥ 38.0 or≥ 37.5° C, respectively, and inpatients only reporting fever within the previous 72 hours were eligible for recruitment. All recruited patients had one blood sample drawn and cultured for microorganisms. Data from 11 TSAP surveillance sites in nine different countries were used in the analysis. Bivariate analysis was used to compare frequencies …