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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,630
Registered: ‎08-19-2014

 DH & I have a friend who was admitted to the hospital 3 days ago for an unexplained fever that has gone as high as 104!

   They have run every test imaginable & taken all sorts of cultures & they have all come back negative. The doctors have told him that he appears very healthy. He's 50 years old & has no other symptoms.

  An infectious disease doctor has been part of his medical team.They have no idea why he keeps spiking fevers. One doctor suggested that he may have some sort of virus.

   Has anybody heard of anything like this before? Any ideas that maybe the doctors missed? I would really appreciate any input. DH & I are very concerned about our friend.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,242
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

So sorry.  "Virus" is a term that can be used for "unidentified" sickness as well for a strain of sickness going around.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,610
Registered: ‎03-19-2016

Possibly diverticulitis?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,382
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

I only know I wouldn't go visit him until he's diagnosed as non-infectious.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,415
Registered: ‎11-25-2011

@NicksmomESQ 

Wow....that scary!

I've always said if I'm in the hospital with my family surrounding me...

only 3 words left in me to eek out, they won't be "I Love You" but

"CHECK FOR PARASITES!"

 

I've seen too many of those 'Monsters Inside Me' shows where

the patient was sick & in pain for years only to realize it was a

parasite they innocently picked up.

Did they travel out of the country?

Do they have wildlife around their home?

If he has an infectious doctor on his medical team...surely they

considered parasites, yes? 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,519
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

@NicksmomESQ 

I have learned thru my kids, and my husband that sometimes the answer is simply viral, or febrile illness.  

 

My husband was in the hospital for such as this last spring.   He was running a fever and was slightly out of it when I took him to ER.  His temperature there was 101, and I was addressed by the nurse and Dr as if there was no reason to be so concerned.  

 

I raised my tone to remind these people of the multiple meds prescribed by their clinic, that my husband takes in maximum daily dosages, that have analgesic properties!   The only time you can get a true and accurate temperature on my husband is immediately after he gets out of bed.  There was clearly that “duh” moment with those providers when my words registered.

 

I insisted on admission, and requested multiple cultures, none of which grew anything.  It was not Influenza, and was documented as febrile illness.   

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎05-28-2011

My husband had the same problem off and on for six months to a year.  He had every test and saw every specialist and they couldn't figure it out.  One doctor came in and looked at what medications he was taking and saw that he took Actos.  The doctor said he had seen it before where that drug caused high fevers in another gentleman he was treating.  His doctor stopped the Actos and the fevers went away.  If your friend is taking Actos, tell him he should stop it immediately.  If he is on any other medications and all his tests were negative, one of his drugs might have fevers as a side effect.  Actos does not have fever as a side effect, but that was the cause of his fevers.

 

Good luck!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 54,410
Registered: ‎03-29-2012

@NicksmomESQ 

Have they looked at UTI?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 30,916
Registered: ‎05-10-2010

It happens, I've seen in my work.  It's called "fever of unknown origin" or FUO.  I'm sure they have tested him for all the known viruses.  There's nothing they can do except treat the symptoms if his fever gets too high.  He's active, healthy, strong so they'll wait to see if something develops but more likely, his fever will just go away.  

Contributor
Posts: 71
Registered: ‎10-06-2012

Hello,

 

I have a nursing background in critical care (including ICU).  In situations like your friends, a team of physicians will start with the obvious causes and move to other more rare possibilities.

 

This is a bad analogy, but think of a broken automobile and the repair facility will start with the most basic and obvious cause.  It isn't bad that things are being ruled out at this point.  Not finding certain causes do help them put together a whole picture. 

 

The cause could be viral or bacterial or there are other possibilties.  Not having much information to go on, it sounds like you have concern for a dear friend, but he sounds stable from what you have written.

 

They will watch labwork, vital signs, symptoms and look for pattern changes in these areas.  I hope he is in the largest teaching hospital in your area.  All hospitals have  specialties.  To alleviate some of your concern, you could investigate how this facility and the particular physician rates in infectious disease.

 

I wish you and your friend all the best and hope the cause is found and addressed quickly by the medical team.