Fever Spike? Look at the Food Tray.

Fever in hospitalized patients is a nonspecific finding that can have many causes including infection, inflammatory diseases, malignancy, thromboembolism, endocrine disorders, and drug reactions. Predicting the presence of bacteremia based on clinical examination is unreliable, so evaluation typically involves blood cultures, which have relatively low yield and a high false-positive rate from bacterial contamination. Might food consumption be a useful adjunct for predicting bacteremia?

Researchers in Japan performed an observational study in approximately 1200 consecutive patients (age, ≥6 years) who underwent blood cultures primarily for evaluation of fever (axillary temperature >37.5–38.0°C). Patients who were not on regular diets and thos…