Hyperpyrexia in children. Eight-year emergency room experience

P. L. McCarthy and T. F. Dolan Jr

In an eight-year period, 100 children were seen in a pediatric emergency room with a temperature of 41.1 C or higher, hereafter called hyperpyrexia. There was a significantly greater occurrence of bacterial meningitis in the hyperpyrexia group, compared to a group of 264 children with temperatures of 40.5 to 41.0 C. Bacteremia and seizures were also more common. Children with hyperpyrexia require careful evaluation, especially of the central nervous system.

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