Can chemotherapy cause febrile neutropenia?

It is a medical emergency because an infection may worsen quickly when the body's usual immune response is reduced.

Neutrophils are white blood cells that help control bacterial and fungal infections. Some chemotherapy medicines temporarily suppress the bone marrow, so the neutrophil count can fall between treatment cycles. Febrile neutropenia means that a fever occurs during this period of low neutrophils.

A person may have few localising symptoms because inflammation can be muted. Fever, chills, unusual weakness, a sore throat, cough, breathlessness, burning when passing urine, diarrhoea, or redness around a wound or line can all matter during treatment.

Keep the oncology team's daytime and out-of-hours contact numbers accessible. Use a working thermometer if you feel hot, cold, shivery, or suddenly unwell, and follow the temperature threshold in your treatment instructions. Contact the oncology team before taking medicine to lower a fever because it can mask a reading they need to assess.

Do not start leftover antibiotics. Assessment may include an examination, blood counts, cultures, and prompt treatment chosen for the suspected infection. Your team may also adjust future chemotherapy or use medicine that supports white blood cell recovery when appropriate.

Call your oncology emergency number immediately if your temperature reaches the threshold your team provided, or if you feel acutely unwell even without a high reading. Shaking chills, confusion, trouble breathing, faintness, severe weakness, or very little urine need emergency assessment. Tell the receiving team that you are having chemotherapy.

Ask which temperature requires an immediate call, when your neutrophil count is expected to be lowest, whom to contact overnight, and whether your regimen calls for white blood cell support. Confirm what to do if you cannot reach the oncology unit promptly.