There are four classic ones:
Sustained or continued (little variability from day to day): This used to be the pattern of lobar pneumonia,
steady until abruptly resolving by either crisis or death. Nowadays, a sustained pattern is mostly seen
in gram-negative sepsis, but also in central nervous system (CNS) diseases.
Intermittent: With complete resolution between episodes (see later)
Remittent: Abating every day, but still not completely resolving. This used to be the pattern of
typhoid fever.
Relapsing: With a series of febrile attacks, each lasting several days, and all separated by afebrile
intervals of about the same length. A relapsing fever is usually infectious (brucellosis, borreliosis, or
relapsing typhoid, but also tuberculosis [TB]), but can occur in Hodgkin’s, too, or familial
Mediterranean fever.
Sustained or continued (little variability from day to day): This used to be the pattern of lobar pneumonia,
steady until abruptly resolving by either crisis or death. Nowadays, a sustained pattern is mostly seen
in gram-negative sepsis, but also in central nervous system (CNS) diseases.
Intermittent: With complete resolution between episodes (see later)
Remittent: Abating every day, but still not completely resolving. This used to be the pattern of
typhoid fever.
Relapsing: With a series of febrile attacks, each lasting several days, and all separated by afebrile
intervals of about the same length. A relapsing fever is usually infectious (brucellosis, borreliosis, or
relapsing typhoid, but also tuberculosis [TB]), but can occur in Hodgkin’s, too, or familial
Mediterranean fever.