Fever Attribution in the SARS Outbreak

YS Tan, PY Cheong
Correspondence: Dr Y S Tan, tan_yewseng@pacific.net.sg

ABSTRACT
Fever as a somatised symptom is not commonly described. We report a patient who complained of recurrent unexplained "fevers" during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Singapore. The presentation, while likely to be peculiar to the outbreak, posed challenges and difficulties to the primary care doctors. Investigations did little to allay her anxiety. Instead, appreciating the psychosocial backdrop and how the SARS outbreak affects patient and doctor may be useful.

Keywords: Somatisation, unexplained fever, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, depression, primary care
Singapore Med J 2003; 44(11): 590-594