National survey of childhood febrile illness cases with fever of unknown origin in Japan

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuko Kasai ◽  
Masaaki Mori ◽  
Ryoki Hara ◽  
Takako Miyamae ◽  
Tomoyuki Imagawa ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Paulo Sérgio Gonçalves da Costa ◽  
Marco Emilio Brigatte ◽  
Dirceu Bartolomeu Greco

Q fever has been considered non-existing in Brazil where reports of clinical cases still cannot be found. This case-series of 16 patients is a result of a systematic search for such illness by means of clinical and serologic criteria. Serologic testing was performed by the indirect microimmunofluorescence technique using phase I/II C. burnetii antigens. Influenza-like syndrome was the most frequent clinical form (eight cases - 50%), followed by pneumonia, FUO (fever of unknown origin), mono-like syndrome (two cases - 12.5% each), lymphadenitis (one case - 6.3%) and spondylodiscitis associated with osteomyelitis (one case - 6.3%). The ages varied from four to 67 years old with a median of 43.5. All but one patient had positive serologic tests for phase II IgG whether or not associated with IgM positivity compatible with acute infection. One patient had both phase I and phase II IgG antibodies compatible with chronic Q fever. Seroconvertion was detected in 10 patients. Despite the known limitations of serologic diagnosis, the cases here reported should encourage Brazilian doctors to include Q fever as an indigenous cause of febrile illness.


2003 ◽  
Vol 163 (9) ◽  
pp. 1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Vanderschueren ◽  
Daniël Knockaert ◽  
Tom Adriaenssens ◽  
Wim Demey ◽  
Anne Durnez ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Thapa ◽  
L B Sapkota ◽  
P Hamal

Scrub typhus is a potentially fatal zoonotic infection, reported from many parts of Asia including Nepal. There is in­creasing reports of outbreak of Scrub typhus, after the earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, 2015. The recent outbreak of Scrub typhus posed problems in diagnosis and treatment of the disease. It may be related to poor awareness of the disease or lack of suspicion for Scrub typhus which often presents with clinical features indistinguishable from typhoid fever. Since, various parts of Nepal appeared to be suitable hubs for Scrub typhus, the clinical suspicion of Scrub typhus in the differential diagnosis of fever of unknown origin (FUO) is of utmost importance to prevent mortality and morbidity. This is a prospective study conducted in Chitwan Medical College (CMC), Chitwan, Nepal. This study was carried out over a period of 4 months extending from June 2016 to September 2016. A total of 410 serum samples were collected from all patients visiting CMC, clinically suspected of having Scrub typhus infec­tion. The samples were processed for the detection of IgM antibodies for Scrub typhus by ELISA. Results: A total of 410 samples from patients suspected with Scrub typhus infection were processed which included 200 males and 210 females. Out of total 410 samples tested, 181 (44.1%) were seropositive for Scrub typhus. Seropositivity was highest 25.9% among the age group 11-20 years of age. Females were infected more than males. This study implies the re-emergence of Scrub typhus in different regions of Nepal. Although the disease is endemic in our country, it is grossly underdiagnosed owing to non-specific clinical presentation and lack of diagnostic facilities. It is thus suggested that high index of suspicion should be maintained for cases presenting with febrile illness. Infection with Scrub typhus was found high and this calls for an urgent need to introduce vaccine against Scrub typhus. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e2015021
Author(s):  
Nayyar Iqbal ◽  
Aneesh Basheer ◽  
Sudhagar Mookkappan ◽  
Anita Ramdas ◽  
Renu G'Boy Varghese ◽  
...  

Background: Enteric fever, a common infection in the tropics and endemic to India, often manifests as an acute febrile illness. However, presentation as fever of unknown origin (FUO) is not uncommon in tropical countries. Methods: We aim to describe the clinical, laboratory and pathological features of cases hospitalized with fever of unknown origin and diagnosed as enteric fever. All culture proven cases of enteric fever were analyzed retrospectively over a period of three years from January 2011 to December 2013.Results: Seven of 88(8%) cases with enteric fever presented as FUO. Abdominal pain was the most common symptom besides fever. Relative bradycardia and splenomegaly were uncommon. Thrombocytopenia was the most common haematological abnormality, while leucopenia was rare. Transaminase elevation was almost universal. S.Typhi and S.Paratyphi were isolated from six cases and one case respectively.  Yield of organisms from blood culture was superior to that of bone marrow aspirate. Multiple granulomas were identified in 4 out of 6 (67%) of the bone marrows studied, including that due to S. Paratyphi and histiocytic hemophagocytosis was noted in two cases.Conclusion: FUO is a relatively common manifestation of enteric fever in the tropics. Clinical and laboratory features may be atypical in such cases, including absence of relative bradycardia, leucopenia and presence of thrombocytopenia, bicytopenia or pancytopenia.  Moreover, in endemic countries, enteric fever should be considered as a differential diagnosis, next to tuberculosis, in the evaluation of bone marrow granulomas in cases with FUO and culture correlation should be mandatory.


2020 ◽  
pp. 664-669
Author(s):  
Steven Vanderschueren

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.


2001 ◽  
Vol 40 (03) ◽  
pp. 59-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Becker ◽  
J. Meiler

SummaryFever of unknown origin (FUO) in immunocompetent and non neutropenic patients is defined as recurrent fever of 38,3° C or greater, lasting 2-3 weeks or longer, and undiagnosed after 1 week of appropriate evaluation. The underlying diseases of FUO are numerous and infection accounts for only 20-40% of them. The majority of FUO-patients have autoimmunity and collagen vascular disease and neoplasm, which are responsible for about 50-60% of all cases. In this respect FOU in its classical definition is clearly separated from postoperative and neutropenic fever where inflammation and infection are more common. Although methods that use in-vitro or in-vivo labeled white blood cells (WBCs) have a high diagnostic accuracy in the detection and exclusion of granulocytic pathology, they are only of limited value in FUO-patients in establishing the final diagnosis due to the low prevalence of purulent processes in this collective. WBCs are more suited in evaluation of the focus in occult sepsis. Ga-67 citrate is the only commercially available gamma emitter which images acute, chronic, granulomatous and autoimmune inflammation and also various malignant diseases. Therefore Ga-67 citrate is currently considered to be the tracer of choice in the diagnostic work-up of FUO. The number of Ga-67-scans contributing to the final diagnosis was found to be higher outside Germany than it has been reported for labeled WBCs. F-l 8-2’-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) has been used extensively for tumor imaging with PET. Inflammatory processes accumulate the tracer by similar mechanisms. First results of FDG imaging demonstrated, that FDG may be superior to other nuclear medicine imaging modalities which may be explained by the preferable tracer kinetics of the small F-l 8-FDG molecule and by a better spatial resolution of coincidence imaging in comparison to a conventional gamma camera.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document