[Fever without a source. Diagnostic difficulties in invasive bacterial diseases in children observed on bacterial meningitis model].
Acute infection of the central nervous system is the most common cause of fever associated with signs and symptoms of CNS disease in children. Unfortunately most of these symptoms are non-specific. Specific signs appear very often late in the course of illness. 761 cases of bacterial meningitis in children above 1 month of life were investigated. Only 46.1% of cases were correctly diagnosed during the first doctor's exam. We found that correct diagnosis depends on time between the first symptoms of illness and the first physician visit. If this period of time is below 16 hours the risk of wrong diagnosis is very high due to lack of specific signs of CNS infection. In many cases only fever is present then.
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Oddział Neuroinfekcji i Neurologii Dzieciecej, Krakowski Szpital Specjalistyczny im. Jana Pawta II, 31-202 Kraków, ul. Pradnicka 80. rkonior@szpitaljp2.krakow.pl
D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis*