What may increase your risk for problems from a fever
Many conditions, lifestyle choices, medicines, and diseases interfere with your body's ability to heal or fight infection. You may be at risk for a more serious problem from your symptoms if you have any of the following. Be sure to tell your health professional.
Conditions
- Pregnancy
- Age older than 60. Fever in older adults is more likely to mean a serious health problem.
- History of a recent head injury
- History of surgery to remove the spleen
- An invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedure within the past 2 weeks
- Indwelling medical devices, such as artificial joints, artificial heart valves, synthetic grafts, tubes to drain body fluids (catheters), or invasive intravenous (IV) lines
- Recent exposure to an infection, such as an insect or tick bite in the past 6 weeks
- Recent heat exposure
- Recent immunization
- Surgery within the past 2 weeks
- Travel outside the country or exposure to immigrants or nonnative people
- Exposure to an untreated water source
- Exposure to raw or undercooked meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish
Lifestyle choices
- Alcohol abuse or withdrawal
- Drug abuse or withdrawal
- Smoking or other tobacco use
- Exposure to farm animals or birds
Medicines
- New medicine (within the past 3 weeks).
- Blood-thinning medicines, such as warfarin, heparin, and aspirin
- Corticosteroids, such as prednisone
- Medicines to prevent organ transplant rejection
- Medicines used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
- Radiation therapy
Diseases
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Gonorrhea
- Gout
- Hemophilia
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
- Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
- Inherited bone disease
- Kidney disease
- Lupus
- Lyme disease
- Malnutrition or an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia
- Multiple sclerosis
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteomyelitis
- Osteoporosis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Septic arthritis
- Septic bursitis
- Sickle cell disease
| Author: | Jan Nissl, RN, BS | Last Updated: April 24, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine Andrew Swan, MD, CCFP, FCFP - Family Medicine | |
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