- Section 1 Patients and their treatment
- Section 2 Background to medicine
- Section 3 Cell biology
- Section 4 Immunological mechanisms
- Section 5 Principles of clinical oncology
- Section 6 Old age medicine
- Section 7 Pain and palliative care
- Section 8 Infectious diseases
- 8.1 Pathogenic microorganisms and the host
- 8.2 The patient with suspected infection
- 8.2.1 Clinical approach
- 8.2.2 Fever of unknown origin
- 8.2.3 Nosocomial infections
- 8.2.4 Infection in the immunocompromised host
- 8.2.5 Antimicrobial chemotherapy
- 8.3 Immunization
- 8.4 Travel and expedition medicine
- 8.5 Viruses
- 8.6 Bacteria
- 8.7 Fungi (mycoses)
- 8.8 Protozoa
- 8.9 Nematodes (roundworms)
- 8.10 Cestodes (tapeworms)
- 8.11 Trematodes (flukes)
- 8.12 Nonvenomous arthropods
- 8.13 Pentastomiasis (porocephalosis, linguatulosis/linguatuliasis, or tongue worm infection)
- Section 9 Sexually transmitted diseases
- Section 10 Environmental medicine, occupational medicine, and poisoning
- Section 11 Nutrition
- Section 12 Metabolic disorders
- Section 13 Endocrine disorders
- Section 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- Section 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- Section 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- Section 17 Critical care medicine
- Section 18 Respiratory disorders
- Section 19 Rheumatological disorders
- Section 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- Section 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- Section 22 Haematological disorders
- Section 23 Disorders of the skin
- Section 24 Neurological disorders
- Section 25 Disorders of the eye
- Section 26 Psychiatric and drug-related disorders
- Section 27 Forensic medicine
- Section 28 Sport and exercise medicine
- Section 29 Biochemistry in medicine
- Section 30 Acute medicine
Fever of unknown origin
- Chapter:
- Fever of unknown origin
- Author(s):
Steven Vanderschueren
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780198746690.003.0070
Fever of unknown origin refers to a prolonged febrile illness that persists without diagnosis after careful initial assessment. Although over 200 causes have been described, including rare diseases, most cases are due to familiar entities presenting in an atypical fashion. The ‘big three’ are infections, tumours, and multisystem inflammatory conditions. A miscellaneous category including factitious fever, habitual hyperthermia, and drug fever deserves consideration early in a patient’s workup, since timely recognition may avert invasive and expensive procedures. The clinician must rely on a very careful and thorough clinical history and examination that does not neglect any part of the body, followed by appropriately targeted investigations directed by knowledge of the broad spectrum of diseases and local epidemiology.
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- Section 1 Patients and their treatment
- Section 2 Background to medicine
- Section 3 Cell biology
- Section 4 Immunological mechanisms
- Section 5 Principles of clinical oncology
- Section 6 Old age medicine
- Section 7 Pain and palliative care
- Section 8 Infectious diseases
- 8.1 Pathogenic microorganisms and the host
- 8.2 The patient with suspected infection
- 8.2.1 Clinical approach
- 8.2.2 Fever of unknown origin
- 8.2.3 Nosocomial infections
- 8.2.4 Infection in the immunocompromised host
- 8.2.5 Antimicrobial chemotherapy
- 8.3 Immunization
- 8.4 Travel and expedition medicine
- 8.5 Viruses
- 8.6 Bacteria
- 8.7 Fungi (mycoses)
- 8.8 Protozoa
- 8.9 Nematodes (roundworms)
- 8.10 Cestodes (tapeworms)
- 8.11 Trematodes (flukes)
- 8.12 Nonvenomous arthropods
- 8.13 Pentastomiasis (porocephalosis, linguatulosis/linguatuliasis, or tongue worm infection)
- Section 9 Sexually transmitted diseases
- Section 10 Environmental medicine, occupational medicine, and poisoning
- Section 11 Nutrition
- Section 12 Metabolic disorders
- Section 13 Endocrine disorders
- Section 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- Section 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- Section 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- Section 17 Critical care medicine
- Section 18 Respiratory disorders
- Section 19 Rheumatological disorders
- Section 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- Section 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- Section 22 Haematological disorders
- Section 23 Disorders of the skin
- Section 24 Neurological disorders
- Section 25 Disorders of the eye
- Section 26 Psychiatric and drug-related disorders
- Section 27 Forensic medicine
- Section 28 Sport and exercise medicine
- Section 29 Biochemistry in medicine
- Section 30 Acute medicine