What Should Be Done For Bacterial Infection With A Untraced Focus Or Sepsis?

Posted on Sat, 25 Jan 2014

Question: My daughter (age 37) underwent an emerg. appy. at the beginning of Sept. and has had an ongoing fever ranging from 99+ degrees to 103 degrees daily with a rash at the nape of her neck. The surgeon attempted a laparscopic approach but needed to perform a laparotomy - the appendix was 'oozing' at that point. She has taken multiple antibiotic courses and CT scans that indicate only an ovarian cyst - no abscess. Currently she is being seen by an Atl. infectious disease dr. who informs us that she needs to be without antibiotics for awhile to better determine the bacterial (if any) cause of the ongoing fever. She has had a number of blood cultures drawn without diagnosis. I traveled from St. XXXXXXX to Atl. to visit her dr. with her because I am a retired anesthetist. She is physically and emotionally spent at this point. No EKG has been done - just blood work. What are we missing at this point. THank you.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (4 hours later)

Brief Answer: repeat cultures after some time Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for your query. It is very clear that your daughter is suffering from post of bacterial infection with a untraced focus or sepsis. The cultures may be negative due to the antibiotics she was on soon after the surgery. Once the effect of the antibiotics is nill then cultures may start showing growth. also recommend fungal cultures. She is on right course now. Withdrawal of antibiotics for some time is a better option to identify the agent causing the symptoms. regards,

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar