ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the common causes of a new fever in a CCU patient and presents an approach for evaluating the patient with the new fever. In hyperthermia, the patient produces a heat load that it is unable to handle with inherent physiologic cooling mechanisms, thus, the “set point” remains normal; the ability to regulate body temperature is lost. Conversely, negative factors attributed to fever include increased metabolism, increased endotoxin activity at higher body temperatures, and clinical deterioration in patients with fever and infections caused by certain clostridial, streptococcal, and pneumococcal organisms compared to afebrile patients with similar infections. Common factors that increase the risks of nosocomial infection have been identified and include patient factors and external factors.
