ddcrook Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I'm a frequent reader but infrequent poster on this forum. It seems to me that you ladies have seen it all, so I'm hoping someone has some advice for me. My 13-year-old dd has had a fever for 8 days now. Her temp will range from 101-104 degrees with an occasional reprieve. Her throat is a little sore, she coughs occasionally, and she is fatigued. Her strep culture came back negative, so they ran blood tests. Everything they tested for came back negative. She does not have mono, does not appear to have a bacterial or a viral infection, and her kidneys and liver are fine. Urine culture was fine also. Her sodium was a little off (not unexpected since she hasn't been eating or drinking enough) and the markers for inflammation were a little high (not unexpected because she has a fever). Because her doctor was away, she saw the np twice. The np is stumped. We were both convinced that she had mono. The doctor is back, so now I'm waiting to see what we do next. Do any of you have any experiences like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 Prolonged fevers tend to be caused by viral infections (even when tests are neg). Medical definitions of fever are usually 101 or higher. Carefully keep track. Expect the pediatrician to order more tests. Some kids get hospitalized to get a more thorough work up or treatments. Sorry she's sick :( 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 This happened to my DD last summer. She had a fever, lethargy, no appetite, and sore throat for about 11 days. I kept taking her back to the doctor becuase she had never been sick for that long. I was convinced she must have mono but they told me that mono would not test positive for a couple weeks even if that was what she had. Then she got better. Well, sort of. That virus triggered PANS which we did not know about until the winter, but that is another story. The short version is that her immunologist who started treating her in March reviewed her file and believes that the virus she has last summer was coxsackievirus. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I also want to add, I have a friend who is a physician that I called last summer for advice because I was so worried. She assured me that the big thing to make sure of is that they did not miss a bacterial infection. We had her cultured more than once and it did seem viral so I waited it out a little longer and then she got better. The only other thing you might want to look into is Lyme. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddcrook Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Dr sent her in for a chest xray this evening. If the xray is clear and she still has a fever, they will probably turn her over to infectious diseases. Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddcrook Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 This happened to my DD last summer. She had a fever, lethargy, no appetite, and sore throat for about 11 days. I kept taking her back to the doctor becuase she had never been sick for that long. I was convinced she must have mono but they told me that mono would not test positive for a couple weeks even if that was what she had. Then she got better. Well, sort of. That virus triggered PANS which we did not know about until the winter, but that is another story. The short version is that her immunologist who started treating her in March reviewed her file and believes that the virus she has last summer was coxsackievirus.So sorry to hear about your dd. PANS is scary stuff! My dd rarely gets sick and always recovers so quickly. This has been so weird. Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 Babesiosis. To test, they check for B. Microti and B. Duncani (or WA-1). There are more strains but those are the only two for which there are tests. My son had it last summer. 101 - 104 fevers for 6 weeks. That's how long it took us to get answers. His temp topped out at 105, when he was hallucinating, but mostly stayed at 104. We alternated Tylenol and Motrin every few hours most of the time. He has asthma and had breathing issues so we did nebulizer treatments every four hours. He saw doc after doc. Even an emergency appt set up at a national children's hospital, with infectious disease. No one figured it out. :( I finally called my own doc. She nailed it. The irony: I had babesiosis years ago. I should have realized he might. It's treated with antimalarials and specific antibiotics, together. It's a cousin of malaria. It's tick borne and peaks in summer. My son never saw a tick. Tick borne diseases were NOT on our radar, because he'd had no ticks. But it's easy to miss a tickbite so I should have thought of it. I don't know if your DD has it, but it's another box you could check off. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddcrook Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Babesiosis. To test, they check for B. Microti and B. Duncani (or WA-1). There are more strains but those are the only two for which there are tests. My son had it last summer. 101 - 104 fevers for 6 weeks. That's how long it took us to get answers. His temp topped out at 105, when he was hallucinating, but mostly stayed at 104. We alternated Tylenol and Motrin every few hours most of the time. He has asthma and had breathing issues so we did nebulizer treatments every four hours. He saw doc after doc. Even an emergency appt set up at a national children's hospital, with infectious disease. No one figured it out. :( I finally called my own doc. She nailed it. The irony: I had babesiosis years ago. I should have realized he might. It's treated with antimalarials and specific antibiotics, together. It's a cousin of malaria. It's tick borne and peaks in summer. My son never saw a tick. Tick borne diseases were NOT on our radar, because he'd had no ticks. But it's easy to miss a tickbite so I should have thought of it. I don't know if your DD has it, but it's another box you could check off. Good grief! That sounds awful! She did go to camp a few weeks ago, so tick-borne diseases are a possibility. We're in Texas and it looks like babesiosis is more in the north. My kids reminded me tonight that we went to a water park two days before the fever began. The water was quite warm and full of people. I'll need to let the dr know about both camp and the water park. Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddcrook Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Well, what do you know? She has pneumonia in her left lower lobe. I really did not expect that, but I am sure happy that we have an answer and a solution! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 so glad you got an answer and have something treatable to deal with! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 I hope she's improving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddcrook Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 I hope she's improving!Thanks! Yesterday doctor added a z-pack to her other antibiotic and today was her first fever free day. Yay! She is still tired but is definitely improving. Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Even when the infection is gone, she can still be exhausted for weeks or even months. It really did a number on me, and my temp didn't even hit 101. I was hospitalized 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 So glad to hear she is doing better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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