ABSTRACT
Fever without focus (FWF) is as an acute febrile illness without apparent source that lasts for less than a week, with the history and physical examination having failed to find the cause. Prolonged fever of unknown origin (PUO) is a fever without localising signs that persists for 1 week during which evaluation in the hospital fails to detect the cause. Early postoperative fever is often caused by the trauma of the surgery. Periodic fever (PF) and relapsing fever (ReF) are characterised by episodes of fever recurring at regular or irregular intervals; each episode is followed by one to several days, weeks or months of normal temperature. RF is recurrent fever caused by numerous species of Borrelia and transmitted by lice or ticks. Recurrent infections are a source of great concern to parents and primary care clinicians, and a common reason to bring children for medical advice.
