title: Correlation Between Body Temperature and Survival Rate in Patients With Hospital-Acquired Bacteremia: A Prospective Observational Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fever is a complex and major sign of a patient's acute response to infection. However, analysis of the risks and benefits associated with the change in body temperature of an infected host remains controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between the intensity of the change in body temperature and the mortality of patients with hospital-acquired bacteremia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were hospitalized adult patients who developed clinical signs of infection 48 hr or more after admission and had documented bacterial growth in blood culture. The maximum body temperature (maxTe) during the early period of infection measurements (i.e., the day before, the day of, and 2 days after the day of blood culture) was used to indicate the intensity of the body temperature response. Patients were categorized as discharged alive or died in hospital. Cox regression analysis was employed to analyze the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cohort consisted of 502 subjects. The mean maxTe of subjects was 38.6°C, and 14.9% had a maxTe lower than 38.0°C. The in-hospital mortality rate was 18.9%. The highest in-hospital mortality was found in subjects with a maxTe lower than 38°C (30.7%). Multivariate Cox regression analysis determined that the maxTe and the severity of comorbidity are the two variables associated with in-hospital mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lack of a robust febrile response may be associated with greater risk of mortality in patients with bacteremia. Clinicians must be vigilant in identifying patients at risk for a blunted febrile response to bacteremia for more intensive monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Tzu
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan Department of Nursing, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan shuhwa.lui@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shu-Hua
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yee-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Je
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Ko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D001831:Body Temperature; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
keywords: fever; hospital-acquired bacteremia; maximum body temperature; mortality