When you or your children aren't feeling well, one of the first things you probably do is check for a fever. Although a fever isn't an illness itself, it's usually a sign that something's going on in your body. Yet fevers aren't necessarily bad. In fact, they seem to play a key role in helping your body fight off a number of bacterial and viral infections. A fever occurs when your temperature rises above its normal range. What's normal for you may be a little higher or lower than the average temperature of 98.6 F. That's why it's hard to say just what a fever is. But a "significant" fever is usually defined as an oral temperature of 102 F or a rectal temperature of 103 F. If you're an adult, a fever may be uncomfortable, but it usually isn't dangerous unless it rises above 103 F. For very young children and infants, however, even slightly elevated temperatures may indicate a serious infection. In newborns, a subnormal temperature — rather than a fever — may be a sign of serious illness. Other signs and symptoms can often help identify what's causing your fever. If you have nausea and vomiting with a fever, you may have gastroenteritis, for instance. A fever with a cough that produces thick, yellow or green phlegm might be pneumonia. If you don't know why you have a fever, don't automatically try to lower your temperature. This may only mask your symptoms and make it harder to determine the cause. In addition, some experts think that aggressively treating all fevers can actually interfere with your body's immune response. That's because the viruses that cause colds and other respiratory infections like cool temperatures. By producing a low-grade fever your body may actually be helping eliminate the virus. Furthermore, most fevers go away in a relatively short time — usually within a few days.
Causes of Fever, How To Reduce
Even when you're well, your body temperature varies throughout the day — It's lower in the morning and higher in the late afternoon and evening. In fact, your normal temperature can range from about 97 F to 99 F. Although most people consider 98.6 F a healthy body temperature, yours may vary by a degree or more. Your body temperature is set by your hypothalamus, an area at the base of your brain that acts as a thermostat for your whole system. When something's wrong, your normal temperature is simply set a few points higher. The new set-point, for example, may be 102 F instead of 97 F or 98 F. When a fever starts and your body tries to elevate its temperature, you feel chilly and may shiver to generate heat. At this point, you probably wrap yourself in your thickest blanket and turn up the heating pad. But eventually, as your body reaches its new set-point, you likely feel hot. And when your temperature finally begins to return to normal, you may sweat profusely, which is your body's way of dissipating the excess heat. A fever usually means your body is responding to a viral or bacterial infection. Sometimes heat exhaustion or an extreme sunburn or certain inflammatory conditions such as temporal arteritis — inflammation of an artery in your head — may cause fever as well. Some medications such as antibiotics and drugs used to treat hypertension or seizures may do the same. In rare instances a malignant tumor or some forms of kidney cancer may cause a fever. Viral infections, strep throat and ear infections (otitis media) are the most common causes of fevers in children. Some infants and children develop fevers after receiving routine immunizations, such as the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) or pneumococcal vaccines. Sometimes it's not possible to identify the cause of a fever. If you have a temperature higher than 100.5 F for more than 3 weeks, and your doctor isn't able to find the cause after extensive evaluation, the diagnosis may be fever of unknown origin (FUO). In most cases, though, the reason for your fever can be found and treated.
Signs and Symptoms of Fever, How To Reduce
Depending on what's causing your fever, your symptoms may include: Sweating Shivering Headache Muscle aches Lack of appetite Dehydration General weakness Very high fevers between 103 F and 106 F may cause hallucinations, confusion, irritability and even convulsions. Approximately 2 percent to 5 percent of children under age 5 have fever-induced seizures (febrile seizures). The symptoms of febrile seizures, which occur when a child's temperature rises or falls rapidly, include a brief loss of consciousness and convulsions. Although these symptoms can be extremely alarming, most children have no lasting effects. Febrile seizures are often triggered by a fever from a common childhood illness such as roseola, a viral infection that causes a high fever, swollen glands and a rash.
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Medical Content Last Updated on 07/12/2008
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