Are fevers dangerous?
It is hard to imagine that something our bodies do so naturally could be as dangerous as we are led to believe. Are fevers dangerous? What does the research say? And what are the guidelines from major health agencies?
Humans evolved with bacteria and viruses – and along with infection came fever. Fevers are nothing new. So how is it that fevers have become so feared? Are fevers dangerous?
What do different health agencies say about treating fevers?
The advice from various health agencies seems to vary. But more often now you will find the advice that you only need to treat a fever ‘if uncomfortable’ but not ‘yes, you MUST treat a high fever, always’.
The Mayo Clinic, for example, has a chart that says even high fevers don’t automatically need treatment, only “if uncomfortable”.
The CS Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan also explains that fevers don’t always need treatment, and “because the brain has a thermostat, fevers from infection usually top out at 103°F to 104°F (39.4°C to 40°C).”
However, it is still quite common to see advice that says to always treat a high fever. But is this because fevers are dangerous? Or for comfort?
“Let fever do its job”
If we look at recent research published on treating fevers in covid patients, we actually see the opposite – it isn’t fever that is dangerous, it is treating a fever that can be dangerous! The authors highlight in the paper:
- “In two studies of sepsis and severe infection in Sweden and Denmark, each involving more than 2000 patients, fever was associated with lower mortality, and those with the highest body temperatures had the best survival [54, 55].”
- “Young et al. [56] showed that lower temperatures were associated with higher mortality among a cohort of 269,078 ICU patients with infection in New Zealand and Australia, and the same result was seen in a cohort numbering 366, 973 in the UK.”
- “There is no evidence that taking an antipyretic will prevent the occurrence of a febrile seizure [43].”
So how did we come to fear fever? And why do so many immediately jump to medication to lower fever? It is hard know, especially since fevers are well understood to fight off infection. Shouldn’t we fear getting in the way of the body’s natural process to fight infection?
Our common sense takeaway: are fevers dangerous?
Common sense should always come before data. It is interesting to look at research like the paper above to help inform our beliefs and actions, or to give us confidence in our decisions. But if all the papers and research disappeared tomorrow – and all we had left to rely on was our common sense and intuition – what would we do? In the case of fever, the answer is clear to me – I would “let fever do its job”!
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