Abstract

MOLLO, Fiorella  and  GUTIERREZ, Stella. Fiebre por antibióticos. Arch. Pediatr. Urug. [online]. 2006, vol.77, n.3, pp.273-278. ISSN 1688-1249.

Drug induced fever is an adverse reaction that ceases with no consequences when the drug involved is discontinued. Antibiotics are the leading cause of such reactions. Objective: to describe the prevalence of antibiotic induced fever in hospitalized children and determine the clinical characteristics and course of such episodes. Methodology: a descriptive study was performed in all children admitted at the ¨Clinic A Department¨of the Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell with the diagnosis of antibiotic induced fever from August 1, 2000 until October 1, 2003. The following characteristics were recorded: patients´clinical characteristics, nature of the fever, time taken to make the diagnosis, treatment and outcomes. The percentage of disease in patients on antibiotic therapy and its 95% confidence interval was calculated. Medians were used as measurements of central trends. Results: the diagnosis was made in eight patients, accounting for 0.26% of the population (95% CI 0,10 - 0,49). Fever had two forms of onset: while six children presented fever peaks after afebrile periods of variable duration, the other two continued having fever despite their good clinical and radiological course. Temperature curves did not follow any specific pattern. Maximum temperatures varied, being over 39 in five of them. Median time for diagnosis was 3,5 days. The antibiotic involved was replaced by another one and fever resolved in 1 to 6 days in all patients. Diagnosis and management of this adverse reaction can be made clinically when a patient that has been treated with an antibiotic continues having fever despite their good health.

Keywords : ANTI-BACTERIAL AGENTS      -adverse effects; FEVER.

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