Authors : Chirag Mittal, Bhupesh Jain*, Suresh Goyal
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijmpo.2023.003
Volume : 9
Issue : 1
Year : 2023
Page No : 13-18
Introduction: Acute Undifferentiated Febrile Illness (AUFI) is a common cause of patients seeking healthcare in India. Appropriate diagnosis is essential for proper management of children, since failure to identify the nature of the causative pathogen results in increased morbidity and mortality due to diseases either being untreated or treated with inappropriate antimicrobials, Also there is waste of medicines and increased resistance to antimicrobials, which has a major public health threat worldwide.
Aims and Objectives: To study clinical profile of children admitted with AUFI and to find out common causes of AUFI in Children (2 months to 18 years of age) and their seasonal trends.
Materials and Methods: A prospective study was carried out over 200 children of age 2 months to 18 months admitted in Balchikitsalaya MBGH Hospital with Acute Undifferentiated Febrile Illness of less than 7 days duration over a period of 12 months from November 2021 to October 2022.
Results : Majority of the patients were in the age group of 10-15 years (32.5%). Out of 200 AUFI patients, majority had undifferentiated illness (53%) followed by Malaria (16.5%), UTI (12.5%), Dengue(11%), Scrub Typhus(5%) and Enteric Fever(2.5%). Higher incidence of AUFI was seen from August to November.
Conclusion: More than 50% cases of Acute Febrile Illness were due to Undifferentiated Illnesses, hence it can be concluded that provided the cause of undifferentiated illness is found, the irrational use of antibiotics and antimalarial should be prevented.
Keywords: Acute undifferentiated febrile illness, Fever with short duration, Fever without focus