Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Fever…that four letter “F” word that parents dread. The word comes with visions of emergency room visits, calls to the doctor, and the dreaded brain injury or convulsions. But what is a fever? Has it been hyped, or is it something to really be concerned about?
Let’s begin with what a fever is. A fever is a rise in body temperature that is short term and is a response of the body’s immune system. Typically, an oral temperature of 100 degrees or above is considered a fever.
There are two types of fever. One is a fever caused by a bacterial or viral infection. The other is a fever that is a result of a poison, heat, or other environmental factors. In this article we will be focusing on fever because of infection.
When it comes to a bacterial or viral infection, the fever helps to increase the activity of leukocytes, macrophages, and T-lymphocytes. This increase in temperature helps to stop the replication of viruses because these viruses stop replicating when the body temperature reaches 100.4-105.8 degrees.
The symptoms that go along with fever are really not fun. They include headache, chills, sweating, muscle aches, and weakness. These symptoms are so unenjoyable that many people will do whatever it takes to get rid of them. People have been led to believe that the cause of the symptoms is the fever and that they need to eliminate the fever to feel better. However, no randomized controlled studies have been done to find whether eliminating a fever makes one feel better and at what degree that happens…not to mention whether or not people recover faster by not having a fever or removing the symptoms.
All signs point to the fact that the fever is the body’s NORMAL response to infection and your body knows what it needs to do to eliminate the offending pathogens. Interfering with this process can be detrimental to your health. Many studies have found that treating fevers with antipyretics (fever reducing drugs) can actually extend the length of disease and exacerbate other symptoms.
If it's your child that has the fever, many parents can't help themselves (understandably so) and feel like they have to use a wet, cold washcloth to make the child more comfortable. This treatment really does nothing for the relief of symptoms and can actually cause more discomfort. If you must do it, reduction of the fever is caused by evaporation, not the temp of the water, so use room temp water.
This same idea goes for chills. Chills does not mean you or your child is cold. It is the body’s response to the rapid rise in temperature. If you cover yourself or them with blankets, you can cause the temperature to rise even more rapidly.
Here’s how the fever process works according to Dr. Robert Mendelsohn:
· Your develops an infection.
· Your body responds by manufacturing additional white blood cells called leucocytes.
· Leucocytes destroy bacteria and viruses, remove damaged tissue and irritating materials from the body.
· The white blood cells also increase their activity, and they move more rapidly to the site of the infections.
· This is called leucotaxis and is stimulated by the release of the pyrogens that raise body temperature...hence the fever. A rising body temperature simply tells you that healing is speeding up. It is something to be excited about!
· Iron which many germs need in order to thrive, is being removed from the blood and stored in the liver. This reduces the rate at which the bacteria multiply.
· The action of interferon, a disease-fighting substance produced naturally in the body, also becomes more effective.
According to Dr Mendelsohn, unless fever last for more than three days, there really is no cause for alarm.
So how do you know a fever is serious?
1. If your child is less than two months of age and his temp exceeds 100 degrees call doc – may be infection prenatal in origin or delivery related.
2. For older children, you should call a doctor if the fever doesn’t go away within 3 days or other symptoms like vomiting respiratory distress, persistent cough lasts several days or there are other major symptoms.
What should you do if your child has a fever?
1. Rest! Just because you have a fever does not mean you are contagious. But, it does mean that your body is fighting something. Although you were most likely contagious before the fever started, once it’s over then most likely it means your body has overcome the pathogen. It’s a good rule of thumb to stay at home and rest if you or your child has a fever in order to support the body.
2. Go to the doctor if the reason for the fever is heat or poison
3. Nutrition is important. The fever uses up the body’s supply of carbs, proteins, and fat and should be replaced.
4. Drink lots of water or liquids.
I hope this helps to give you a sense of calm when it comes to fevers. Your body is absolutely amazing and you can work with your body to heal and recover quickly.
----------
Yamaya M, Nishimura H, Lusamba Kalonji N, et al. Effects of high temperature on pandemic and seasonal human influenza viral replication and infection-induced damage in primary human tracheal epithelial cell cultures. Heliyon. 2019;5(2):e01149. Published 2019 Feb 5. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01149
Schulman CI, et al. The effect of antipyretic therapy upon outcomes in critically ill patients: a randomized, prospective study. Surg Infect (Larchmt) 2005;6:369–375.
Newman J. Evaluation of sponging to reduce body temperature in febrile children. Can Med Assoc J. 1985;132(6):641-642
Sharber J. The efficacy of tepid sponge bathing to reduce fever in young children. Am J Emerg Med. 1997;15(2):188-192. doi:10.1016/s0735-6757(97)90099-1
El-Radhi AS. Fever management: Evidence vs current practice. World J Clin Pediatr. 2012;1(4):29-33. Published 2012 Dec 8. doi:10.5409/wjcp.v1.i4.29