Abstract
Introduction. Infectious diseases may present with atypical presentations in the geriatric patients. While fever is an important finding of infections, it may also be a sign of noninfectious etiology. Methods. Geriatric patients who were hospitalized for acute fever in our infectious diseases unit were included. Acute fever was defined as presentation within the first week of fever above 37.3°C. Results. 185 patients were included (82 males and 103 females). Mean age was 69.7 ± 7.5 years. The cause of fever was an infectious disease in 135 and noninfectious disease in 32 and unknown in 18 of the patients. The most common infectious etiologies were respiratory tract infections (n = 46), urinary tract infections (n = 26), and skin and soft tissue infections (n = 23). Noninfectious causes of fever were rheumatic diseases (n = 8), solid tumors (n = 7), hematological diseases (n = 10), and vasculitis (n = 7). A noninfectious cause of fever was present in one patient with no underlying diseases and in 31 of 130 patients with underlying diseases. Conclusion. Geriatric patients with no underlying diseases generally had infectious causes of fever while noninfectious causes were responsible from fever in an important proportion of patients with underlying diseases.
Highlights
Infectious diseases may present with atypical presentations in the geriatric patients
Geriatric patients hospitalized at the Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease department of Istanbul Faculty of Medicine between 1999 and 2007 with the complaints of high fever and waning general health status were enrolled in this study
Patients referring to the clinic within the first seven days of fever which was measured to be above 37.3◦C were accepted to have acute fever [7]
Summary
Infectious diseases may present with atypical presentations in the geriatric patients. While fever is an important finding of infections, it may be a sign of noninfectious etiology. Geriatric patients who were hospitalized for acute fever in our infectious diseases unit were included. The cause of fever was an infectious disease in 135 and noninfectious disease in 32 and unknown in 18 of the patients. A noninfectious cause of fever was present in one patient with no underlying diseases and in 31 of 130 patients with underlying diseases. Geriatric patients with no underlying diseases generally had infectious causes of fever while noninfectious causes were responsible from fever in an important proportion of patients with underlying diseases. Both morbidity and mortality for many infections may be several-fold higher in the elderly with respect to the young. Prevention is the most effective measure to reduce morbidity, mortality, and the expense of infections in the elderly, the prompt diagnosis and initiation of appropriate supportive and antimicrobial therapy is a critical strategy for the management of infection in the geriatric patient
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
