Beware of the Zebra: Nine-year-old with Fever

Clin Pract Cases Emerg Med. 2019 Jul 1;3(3):185-190. doi: 10.5811/cpcem.2019.5.42119. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Abstract

An otherwise healthy nine-year-old female who spoke only French presented with abdominal pain, vomiting, intermittent fevers, fatigue, and headache. She then quickly became febrile and altered requiring intubation. When treating a healthy child, the physician may initially develop a differential that includes common illnesses. Yet, as emergency medicine providers, we must be thinking about the "zebras" in order to not miss potentially deadly, curable diseases.