11 Facts About Fever

Fever, referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point.

Fever can be caused by many medical conditions ranging from non-serious to life-threatening.

Fever is often viewed with greater concern by parents and healthcare professionals than is usually deserved, a phenomenon known as fever phobia.

Fever is usually accompanied by sickness behavior, which consists of lethargy, depression, loss of appetite, sleepiness, hyperalgesia, dehydration, and the inability to concentrate.

Fever is generally agreed to be present if the elevated temperature is caused by a raised set point and:.

Fever is thought to contribute to host defense, as the reproduction of pathogens with strict temperature requirements can be hindered, and the rates of some important immunological reactions are increased by temperature.

Fever has been described in teaching texts as assisting the healing process in various ways, including:.

Fever can be differentiated from hyperthermia by the circumstances surrounding it and its response to anti-pyretic medications.

Fever signals sent to the DMH and rRPa lead to stimulation of the sympathetic output system, which evokes non-shivering thermogenesis to produce body heat and skin vasoconstriction to decrease heat loss from the body surface.

Fever is an important metric for the diagnosis of disease in domestic animals.

Fever can be behaviorally induced by invertebrates that do not have immune-system based fever.