Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article I will talk about fever of unknown etiology.
Sometimes people think that they have a high body temperature for some unknown reason. This is a known issue. In medicine, it is called a fever of unknown etiology.
To reassure someone right away, I will list three classic signs of such a fever:
- body temperature above 38.3 degrees, which was intended several times;
- the duration of the temperature is not less than 3 weeks;
- the patient spent a week in the hospital, and the diagnosis was never sorted out.
These signs are classic because they were proposed back in 1961. Over time, the signs were revised. Now they believe that you can forget about the examination in the hospital, because a huge number of people are examined on an outpatient basis.
Causes
There are also three main reasons for fever of unknown origin:
- infections;
- oncology;
- systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Who has it and when
Science and technology are constantly developing, and we, doctors, use it. True, then sometimes we find ourselves disappointed.
Sometime in the 30s of the last century, 75% of such fevers were left without an accurate diagnosis. Then, by the age of 50, this case very quickly decreased to 10%. It would seem that there is nothing further to look for. But that was not the case... Since then, the proportion of unidentified diagnoses has been steadily growing.
Previously, little was known about rheumatic diseases. But now we have studied everything in detail. Now the patient will undergo a tomogram of everything that is possible, and so they can find the cause of the high temperature. People even began to cut their bellies to the right and to the left in order to dig deep there and find out the reason. Previously, one could die from this.
In fact, fever of unknown origin is less common than commonly believed. At the beginning of the 2000s, a study was conducted in Holland, in which there were half the number of incomprehensible cases than was initially thought.
This is said to be due to the widespread use of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Doctors perked up to suppress the problem at the root, not figuring out the exact cause.
From all these freaks in hospitals there was a selection of such evil microbes, which then ate sick people for months with impunity.
And people began to ride airplanes all over the world and then bring home an exotic infection, which manifests itself only after a few months.
Who has it
It is even noticeable here with the naked eye. In children, they often find some kind of viral infection, lymph nodes in the neck or mesentery, which torment parents and pediatricians for several months, and then disappear.
Or take some elderly people. After 65 years of age, they have all sorts of tumors and arthritis that will have to survive.
And then there is the sea of HIV-infected or people who have spoiled their immunity with drugs.
What you need to pay attention to
Not every doctor has a list of reasons for prolonged fever under their nose. If you have any of the following, then do not hesitate to tell about it. Otherwise, you can then literally turn inside out for the sake of a diagnosis.
You need to pay attention to this:
- Travels. There are so many exotic contagions in the world that not every specialist in tropical medicine can understand it.
- Animals. We catch many different infections from cattle and pets. They can roam our bodies for months and spoil everything in their path.
- Something that suppresses immunity. This is anything for arthritis or chemotherapy. From them, the usual infection can brutalize and attack in unusual places in our body.
- Medicines and toxins. The antibiotics themselves sometimes cause an increase in body temperature. Chemical poisoning at work or from natural sources can also damage health for a long time.
In short, don't lie about your adventures. Do not treat yourself "trial". I have several examples when people swallowed antibiotics for months, and they ended up with an abscess that just needed to be opened. If you suspect something, then be sure to consult with your doctor.
Read my article about temperature.
