title: [Fever of unknown origin: a challenge for the pediatric infectious diseases specialist].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prolonged febrile syndrome (PFS) is defined as fever 7-10 days, with initial study does not allow etiologic diagnosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the main causes of the PFS and its temporal behavior in Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit Outpatient Care of Complejo Asistencial Dr. Sótero del Río (CASR).
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive, prospective study between january 2007-december 2012, about 153 patients from 6 weeks to 14 years 11 months old, diagnosed with PFS, tab completing clinical and laboratory monitoring.
  
  
  RESULTS
  etiology was obtained in 67.9%, the causes were infection (88.4%), neoplasms (4.8%), rheumatological (4.8%) and Kawasaki disease (2.8%). The most important infectious causes were enteric fevers (typhoid and paratyphoid) (18.4%), urinary tract infection (11.9%), Bartonella henselae infections and adenovirus (8.7%) each one and Epstein Barr virus (7.6%). Ninety eight percent of patients had complete resolution, 60.7% did not require hospitalization and mortality was 0%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As in previous pediatric clinical series the infections were the most frequent causes. Enteric fever persists as principal cause, however, the epidemiological evidence is oscillating in time endorsing the local statistics can count over the years to improve the diagnostic and therapeutic approach.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sandoval
authors.forename: Constanza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pinochet
authors.forename: Anamaría
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peña
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rabello
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Viviani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000175:diagnosis