Fever – an increase in body temperature over 37.2 ° C when measured in the armpit. Fever is not a disease. Usually, this is a sign of our body’s struggle with an infection, or fever can occur as a symptom of a non-infectious disease (for example, cancer, myocardial infarction, an autoimmune process). So in this article, we will give a complete guide about the symptoms of a fever.
Also, a febrile condition can occur after taking drugs such as contraceptives, antibiotics, and drugs to treat arterial hypertension. So this condition occurs with heatstroke. Normal body temperature in humans varies and depends on factors such as food, exercise, sleep, and time of day. So the high temperature is reached around 6 pm, and the maximum temperature drops around 3 am. So, the difference between morning and evening temperatures in healthy people does not exceed 0.6 ° C.
According to the degree of the increase in body temperature is:
- subfebrile (37.2 – 37.9 ° C);
- febrile (38.0 – 38.9 ° C);
- high or pyretic (39.0 – 40.9 ° C);
- excessive or hyperpyretic (41 ° C and above).
Subfebrile temperature does not require medication; taking medications at temperatures up to 38.0 ° C is recommended only when subjective sensations bring discomfort. In other cases, when the temperature rises above 38.0 ° C, it is necessary to prescribe drugs, the action of which is aimed at normalizing the temperature. Because it is important to remember that fever can be a symptom of a cold and many other serious illnesses. Therefore, even if you managed to lower the temperature yourself at home, you still need to consult a doctor to determine the reason for the feverish state’s development.
Symptoms of a Fever
Often, a person does not feel a slight temperature rise. However, at temperatures above 38.0 ° C, a clinic appears most often. There is reddening of the skin (mainly the face) and increased sweating, due to which a person begins to feel thirsty. Also, symptoms of a fever may be accompanied by a headache, a feeling of aching bones. So, respiratory rate increases, appetite decreases, confusion may occur. However, a person becomes lethargic, inactive, drowsiness arises. Children need to distinguish between “red” and “white” fever, as there are different treatment approaches.
In the first type, the child’s condition and behaviour are slightly disturbed. So, the skin is pink, moist, hot. The limbs are warm. However, symptoms of fever are more common in children and are more benign. However, the second type is characterized by a severe general condition of the child. Because the behaviour is disturbed, lethargy, moodiness, chills, pallor and dry skin, acrocyanosis (a bluish tint of lips and nails), increased heart rate, and blood pressure appear. So, against its background, such formidable complications as febrile seizures and toxic encephalopathy may appear, which require urgent medical attention.
Increase in body temperature above normal (36.4 – 37.2 degrees). About the temperature rise, we speak of:
- Low fever: if the fever does not exceed 38 ° C;
- Mild fever: temperature between 38-38.5 ° C;
- Moderate fever: 38.5-39 ° C;
- High fever: 39-39.5 ° C;
- Hyperpyrexia: 39.5 ° -41 ° C.
- Possible Causes * of Fever
Possible Causes symptoms of a fever part:1
Look for another symptom associated with Fever to narrow down the list of possible causes:
- AIDS
- Amoebiasis
- Hemolytic Anemia
- Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia
- Brain aneurysm
- Anisakiasis
- Anthrax
- Giant cell arteritis
- Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
- Reactive arthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Gingival abscess
- Perianal abscess
- Pulmonary abscess
- Aspergillosis
- Babesiosis
- Bronchiectasis
- Bronchiolitis
- Brucellosis
- Liver stones
- Gallbladder stones
- Kidney stones
- Headache
- Infectious Cellulite
- Chikungunya
- Bartholin’s cyst
- Cystitis
- Cystopyelitis
- Sclerosing cholangitis
- Cholecystitis
- Alitalia cholecystitis
- Cholera
- Ischemic colitis
- Heatstroke
- Chondrocalcinosis
- Corpus Luteum Hemorrhagic
- Cryptococcosis
- Croup
- Dacryocystitis
- Dengue
- Traveller’s diarrhoea
- Diphtheria
- Diverticulitis
- Meckel’s diverticulum
- Sickle cell disease
- Ebola
- Echinococcosis
- Ductal ectasia
- Pulmonary embolism
- Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
- Encephalitis
- Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)
- Japanese encephalitis
- Infectious endocarditis
- Non-infectious endocarditis
- Enteritis
- Hepatitis
- Hepatitis A
- Epididymitis
- Erysipelas
- Sunburn
- Pharyngitis
- Pharyngotonsillitis
- Lassa fever
- Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
- Marburg hemorrhagic fever
- Yellow fever
- Rheumatic fever
- Progressive Ossifying Fibrodysplasia
- Cystic fibrosis
- Anal fistula
- The fire of Saint Anthony
- Gastroenteritis
- Viral gastroenteritis
- Giardiasis
- Finger
- Gout
- Genital herpes
- Herpes zoster oticus
- Hydronephrosis
- Impetigo
- Intestinal infarction
- Pulmonary infarction
- West Nile virus infection
- Influence
- Adrenal insufficiency
- Hyperemesis gravidarum
- Histoplasmosis
- Labyrinthitis
- Laryngitis
- Leprosy
- Legionellosis
- Leishmaniasis
- Leptospirosis
- Leukaemia
- Venereal lymphogranuloma
- Lymphoma
- Listeriosis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Malaria
- Cat scratch disease
- Chagas disease
- Kawasaki disease
- Lyme disease
- Whipple’s disease
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Hand-foot-and-mouth disease
- Mastitis
- Mastoiditis
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Possible Causes symptoms of a fever part: 2
- Toxic megacolon
- Meningitis
- Pleural mesothelioma
- Myelofibrosis
- Myocarditis
- Myringitis
- Myxoma
- Contagious mollusc
- Mononucleosis
- Cooley’s disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Neuroblastoma
- Bowel obstruction
- Omphalitis
- Orchitis
- Sty
- Osteitis
- Osteomyelitis
- Ear infection
- Pancreatitis
- Panniculitis
- Paronychia
- Mumps
- Pericarditis
- Peritonitis
- PFAPA
- Pyelonephritis
- Pleurisy
- True polycythemia
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Polymyositis
- Poliomyelitis
- Pneumonia
- Pneumonia ab ingestis
- Porphyria
- Practice
- Prostatitis
- Anger
- Cold
- Rhinitis
- Rubella
- Salmonella
- Salpingitis
- Scarlet fever
- Schistosomiasis
- Sialadenitis
- Tuberous sclerosis
- Sepsis
- Sixth disease
- Spherocytosis
- Shigellosis
- Septic shock
- Syphilis
- Silicosis
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Reiter’s syndrome
- So, Hemolytic-uremic syndrome
- Serotonin Syndrome
- Parainfluenza Syndromes
- Sinusitis
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Tropical sprue
- Tetanus
- Typhus
- Thymoma
- Subacute thyroiditis
- Adnexal torsion
- Testicular torsion
- Toxoplasmosis
- Tracheitis
- Trichinosis
- African trypanosomiasis
- Tuberculosis
- Wilms tumour
- Cardiac tumours
- Smallpox
- Chickenpox
- Zika virus
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The symptom – Fever – is typical of diseases, conditions and ailments highlighted in bold. So by clicking on your interest pathology, you can read more information on its origins and the symptoms that characterize it. Fever can also be a typical symptom of other diseases, not included in our database and therefore not listed.
Diagnostics: Symptoms Of A Fever
Temperature measurement makes it possible to identify a febrile condition and is of great importance for diagnosis. So, the measurement is carried out with a medical thermometer, which can be mercury and digital. Before measuring, you should knock down the mercury column of the thermometer to 35 – 35.5 ° C, check the condition of the armpit (it must be dry and without damage), and also assess the condition of the thermometer itself (its integrity, serviceability). In weak patients and children, it is necessary to hold the hand during the measurement.
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It is better to purchase a special thermometer for this purpose to measure rectal temperature, whose end will not be sharp but rounded. So, It is not always possible to measure rectal temperature. There are also contraindications. In the case of intestinal disorders, stool retention, inflammatory processes in the rectum, the presence of haemorrhoids and anal fissures (during the period of their exacerbation), this is contraindicated.
However, the patient’s position is lying on its side with the knees brought to the chest. So, a layer of petroleum jelly is applied to the thermometer’s end to prevent rectum trauma. If the thermometer when measuring rectal temperature shows 37.1-37.9 ° C, this is normal. However, sometimes the temperature is measured in the mouth (by mouth). In this case, for the safety of measurements, it is better to use an electronic thermometer. So do not take the temperature orally if there is damage in the mouth. The normal temperature under the tongue is 36.7 -37.4 ° C.
Because fever is a symptom and not a disease in its own right, it is worth seeing a doctor for a diagnosis.
Treatment
Since during the temperature rise, metabolic disorders occur, as a result of which general weakness and depletion of the body appear, bed rest is recommended. You should also pay special attention to nutrition. So, food should be digestible and high in calories. However, anyone with a fever should drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration and speed up, eliminating toxins from the body.
So, if the temperature rises above 38 ° C, antipyretic drugs are prescribed. So these include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This group of drugs helps to reduce temperatures and eliminate pain and also has an anti-inflammatory effect. If the temperature does not reach 38 ° C, you should not resort to drugs since the body can fight with such fever figures on its own without disturbing the general condition of the person.
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If a bacterial infection causes the fever, the doctor will prescribe antibiotics. So their action aims to eliminate the immediate cause of the disease, the symptoms of which are fever. Therefore, in the case of a competent selection of an antibiotic, a decrease in temperature should occur during the first 3 days of starting the drug intake. Therefore it is necessary to replace it with one of the representatives of another group of antibiotics.
If the increase in body temperature is caused by heatstroke, taking NSAIDs is not rational. In this case, the main task is to cool the body to a normal temperature to prevent damage to the brain and other vital organs. You can also spray the victim’s body with water to enhance the evaporation process, which will lead to a decrease in temperature.
Medicines
However, in the fever treatment, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used, which have antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. So, reduce the temperature, preference is given to drugs with a pronounced antipyretic effect.
These include:
- A drug with a pronounced antipyretic effect, due to which the temperature decreases. Well tolerated by both children and adults, it is often prescribed for the treatment of fever. But it is important to remember that long-term use of paracetamol in large doses has a toxic effect on the liver. Therefore, before taking the drug, you must consult your doctor and avoid exceeding the maximum recommended dose. So, Paracetamol is part of many powders (Theraflu, ORVICold, Forex, etc.).
- Until now, it does not lose its relevance due to its cheapness and low toxicity. But it is important to remember that aspirin is contraindicated in children under 12 years of age due to the possibility of Reye’s syndrome.
- So, available in the form of tablets, syrup, suspension, rectal suppositories. However, it has mild antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. So there is evidence that ibuprofen can stimulate the immune system and increase the body’s protective properties by influencing endogenous interferon production. So, in the treatment of fever, it is inferior to paracetamol. Therefore it is a second-line drug.
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Since all NSAIDs are more or less capable of affecting the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract with the further development of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease, it is recommended to take drugs of this group exclusively after meals.
Folk remedies
Treatment of fever with folk remedies can be carried out at home. However, it is important to remember that an increase in body temperature often accompanies severe and dangerous diseases requiring immediate medical attention. Therefore, to diagnose and prescribe the necessary treatment, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible.
However, drinking warm and plentiful drinks helps bring down the temperature and get a good sweat in the cold. When sweat is released, natural thermoregulation occurs: the sweat begins to evaporate, and the body’s surface cools. So, the means that give this effect are berry compotes and fruit drinks, which are recommended to be consumed warm. However, the preparation of such drinks, cranberries, raspberries, lingonberries, rose hips, and red currants are suitable. Moreover, fruit drinks and infusions from these berries are a means of increasing perspiration. They are also rich in vitamin C.
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An infusion of lilac leaves also saves from fever because it is necessary to prepare 20 leaves in advance for its preparation, poured with boiling water and infused for two hours. So, after straining, the infusion is taken 2 times a day, 100 ml. So, the duration of the course is 10 days. You can also use antipyretic medicinal plants and herbs, such as nettles, flowers, leaves of a lamb, elderberries, rose hips, rowan berries, and linden tea.
Folk remedies that work
Cranberry copes well with increased body temperature. So, it is a very effective anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, diuretic and tonic. But do not forget that cranberries can increase gastric juice’s acidity, so this remedy should be discarded for those who suffer from gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer. So, the most popular folk remedy for treating fever is raspberry, popularly called natural aspirin. So it is noteworthy that after brewing raspberries with boiling water, all of their beneficial properties are only enhanced. That is why we are used to drinking tea with raspberries for colds.
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However, the room where there is a person with a high body temperature must be systematically ventilated. It is also necessary to frequently change bedding and underwear, especially if the patient is sweating. As long as the temperature remains high, bed rest must be observed. Remember that in no case should you self-medicate, but you should consult a doctor!
