PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ashley Michelle Zerr
AU  - Kimberly Ku
AU  - Areeba Kara
TI  - Cotton Fever: A Condition Self-Diagnosed by IV Drug Users
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2016.02.150267
DP  - 2016 Mar 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - 276--279
VI  - 29
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/29/2/276.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/29/2/276.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2016 Mar 01; 29
AB  - The presentation of fever in an intravenous drug user prompts diagnostic testing targeted at identifying infectious etiologies. However, an alternate diagnosis exists in “cotton fever.” While few reports describe this phenomenon in the peer-reviewed literature, the diagnosis is well recognized among the intravenous drug user community. Although its etiology is not well understood, cotton fever seems to be a self-limited, febrile response to the intravenous administration of a drug filtered through cotton. Educating clinicians regarding cotton fever may limit unnecessary hospital admissions and improve our ability to care for this population.