What causes fever of unknown origin?

That might sound like “Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?” or “When was the war of 1812?” but it’s actually a really good question.
First, a definition. Before you can officially “diagnose” someone with FUO, you have to meet a few criteria. The original criteria (back in 1961) were:

1. A fever of 101º F or more on several occasions
2. …persisting for over three weeks
3. …with no diagnosis despite a week-long, in-hospital investigation.

These days, we don’t keep people in the hospital for a week just to “investigate” things, unless they are really sick. Plus, things have changed a bit with the emergence of HIV, and with the development of new chemotherapeutic and immune-modulating drugs.

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What causes fever of unknown origin?

Source: Pathology Student
Image credits: Bionuclear

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