When trying to diagnose malaria, for instance, one needs to be aware that there are various other causes of fever and without a lab test, one might make the wrong diagnosis from common symptoms.
The present study aimed to develop and evaluate a simple diagnostic model that could aid physicians to discriminate between infectious and non-infectious causes of fever of unknown origin (FUO).
Duke's research on the causes of fever is on the leading edge of addressing emerging infections in the developing world.
All patients with persistent fever, with or without clinical deterioration, should be investigated for noninfectious causes of fever (Table 4).
Using only a drop of blood, it appears that we will be able to distinguish a bacterial infection from other causes of fever or inflammation in the future.
Major causes of fever were found to be pneumonia, urinary tract infection, dialysis catheter infection, and skin and soft tissue infection (Table 1).
Common but often overlooked causes of fever include invasive bacterial infections such as typhoid fever, HIV-associated conditions like cryptococcal disease and tuberculosis, animal-related infections like leptospirosis, as well as arboviruses like dengue and chikungunya.
When presenting to the emergency department (ED) with fever, it remains a diagnostic challenge to distinguish patients with potentially life-threatening bacterial infections from those with less significant causes of fever.
It is associated with retinal whitening, which may be a useful clinical sign in distinguishing malaria from other causes of fever.
Mild malaria was defined as fever associated with a positive thick smear and without other obvious causes of fever.
The diagnosis of cerebral malaria in children is clinically challenging since the syndrome may be confused with other causes of fever and altered consciousness.
