TY - JOUR T1 - Fever, rigors and sweats in an immunocompromised male JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 176 LP - 178 DO - 10.1183/09031936.03.00030703 VL - 23 IS - 1 AU - G.E. Kapotsis AU - Z. Daniil AU - Z. Sardelis AU - K. Stavrakaki AU - G. Saroglou AU - V. Pappa AU - C. Roussos AU - S.A. Papiris Y1 - 2004/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/23/1/176.abstract N2 - This work was supported by a grant from the Thorax Foundation, Athens, Greece. A 63‐yr-old male presented with a 20‐day history of fever with chills, rigors, sweats and fatigue. He resided in the countryside and there was no history of recent travel to other countries. He had a past medical history of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (usual interstitial pneumonia confirmed by surgical biopsy) and the last 2 yrs he was taking daily azathioprine 100 mg per os and methylprednisolone (actually) 12 mg per os. On physical examination he was pale, with a body temperature of 39.5°C, blood pressure 130/90 mmHg, pulse rate 90 beats per min and respiratory rate 24 breaths per min. There were no skin rashes, petechiae or ecchymoses. The abdomen was soft, without tenderness or rigidity and the spleen was enlarged 3 cm below the costal margin. The auscultation revealed “velcro” rales at the lower lung fields bilaterally. There were no heart murmurs. Laboratory investigations revealed the following values: haemoglobin 1.271 mM (78 g·L−1); total leukocyte count 1.54×109·L−1, with differential count 56% polymorphonuclears, 39% lymphocytes and 4% monocytes, and 57×109·L−1 platelets. The prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were within normal range. The blood urea was … ER -