"Cotton fever": a benign febrile syndrome in intravenous drug abusers.
Cotton fever is a benign, self-limited syndrome that may mimic sepsis in intravenous drug addicts. We present an illustrative case and a review of the literature. Serious illness such as pneumonia and infectious endocarditis must always be considered in febrile addicts. However, trivial illness accounts for 16% to 26% of such fevers. Recent evidence suggests that emergency physicians are able to diagnose trivial illness with 93% specificity in febrile adult drug addicts. Short-term observation units may be an alternative to hospital admission for febrile drug users with a presumptive diagnosis of trivial illness and in those in whom the diagnosis of cotton fever is entertained.
Harrison
D W
DW
Department of Emergency Medicine, Vancouver General Hospital, British Columbia, Canada.
Walls
R M
RM
D000328:Adult; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005374:Filtration; D003368:Gossypium / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*