They do not attempt to cover all childhood illnesses. The first step in the process is to look for non-specific danger signs that indicate the child is severely ill and needs urgent referral. Following this, for all children, the health worker asks questions about four main presenting symptoms. A child presenting with diarrhoea is managed according to the already widely used WHO diarrhoea management charts. The child's dehydration status is classified, as are persistent diarrhoea and dysentery if present.
Treatment is defined accordingly.
Depending on the other symptoms present and the risk of malaria, this disease may be diagnosed. Fever may also be the starting point for a classification of measles with or without complications. Mastoiditis and chronic or acute ear infection are the classifications that can be made from the examination of an ear problem. In addition to these classifications based on presenting symptoms, nutritional status is assessed for all children. Each child's immunization status is also checked and vaccinations given as needed.