[Febrile syndrome in hospitalized patients]

This study was designed to ascertain if certain characteristics of febrile patients could help to identify infectious or bacteremic conditions. Patients with axillary temperature higher than 37,4 degrees C visiting the emergency room and requiring hospitalization were included in the study. The sample included 345 patients. Infections made up 89% of the causes of fever. The most frequent site of infection was the respiratory system (39%). 13% of hemocultures were positive. Gram negative germs were the most frequent agents. Infectious FS was related with the presence of predisposing factors, duration of fever, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and hemoglobin. Bacteremia was associated to treatment prior hospitalization, average temperature, hemoglobin, AST and urinary sediment. We may conclude that infections are the most frequent cause of FS. We could not found any clinical or analytical parameters that, used together, could help us to identify infectious or bacteremic FS.