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Overheating in neonates in Saudi Arabia
1Department of Child Health College of Medicine King Saud University, Abha Branch Abha, Saudi Arabia.
East African Medical Journal
|December 1, 1994
Summary
Overheating caused fever in 77% of babies admitted during summer in Saudi Arabia. While recovery was uneventful, physicians must rule out infection before attributing fever solely to overheating.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Environmental Health
Background:
- Fever in infants is a common concern.
- Environmental factors, like overheating, can cause pyrexia in babies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the incidence of fever due to overheating in infants in Southwestern Saudi Arabia.
- To differentiate the symptomatology of overheating from infection in infants.
- To alert physicians to the potential severity of overheating and the importance of differential diagnosis.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of pediatric admissions during summer months (1992-1993).
- Analysis of cases presenting with fever, specifically noting environmental overheating as a potential cause.
- Comparison of clinical presentation between infants with fever due to overheating and those with infection.
Main Results:
- Twenty infants were admitted for fever attributed to overheating, constituting 77% of pyrexia cases from environmental overheating and infection.
- Infants with fever due to overheating exhibited distinct symptoms compared to infected infants.
- All infants in the overheating group recovered without complications.
Conclusions:
- Environmental overheating is a significant cause of fever in infants in hot climates.
- Clinical presentation can help differentiate overheating from infection, but infection must be excluded.
- Physicians in similar regions should consider overheating as a potential diagnosis for infant fever.