[Acute infectious emergencies in adults in medical practice].
Infectious diseases belong to the most frequent reasons to seek emergency care. Life-threatening infectious emergencies, which require rapid diagnosis and hospitalisation, are, however, rare. Leading signs and symptoms are high fever combined with rapidly deteriorating general conditions, hypotonia, tachycardia, tachypnea, dyspnea, confusion, headache, or petechia or information about asplenia, immunosuppression or recent travel to the tropics. Life threatening situations, such as suspicion of invasive meningococcal infection or bacterial infection in an asplenic patient, septic-toxic shock, and acute bacterial meningitis with delayed hospitalisation require rapid start of empiric antibiotic therapy in the outpatient practice. In addition, acute infectious emergencies comprise situation for which post exposure prophylaxis is indicated.
Klinik und Poliklinik für Infektionskrankheiten, Universitätsspital Bern, Bern.
J
J
Evison
M G
MG
Täuber
K
K
Mühlemann
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013557:Switzerland