Fever, good or bad?
Normal body temperature, 36 – 37oC (96.8 – 98.6oF)
Fever reduces illness severity and length
Sharon S. Evans, Professor of Oncology and Immunology, N.Y.
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Fever acts to mobilize multiple arms on the immune system, a function that is remarkably well conserved across many, many species — both warm-blooded and coldblooded
Fever affects every aspect of the immune system to make it work better
Fever and the thermal regulation of immunity: the immune system feels the heat
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Conserved in warm and cold-blooded vertebrates
Desert iguana, blue-finned tuna and leech, antipyretic drugs
Common biochemical pathways
Integrated physiological and neuronal circuitry
Confers a survival benefit during infection
Fever stimulates innate and adaptive immune responses
May reduce inflammation
Pyrogenic cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6)
Mounting evidence that the increase of 1 to 4°C in core body temperature …
is associated with improved survival and resolution of many infections
Use of antipyretic drugs, correlates with a 5% increase in mortality, in influenza
Negatively affects patient outcomes in the intensive care unit
Uncontrolled fever is associated with worse outcomes in sepsis or neurological injuries
Dr. Paul Offit, Vaccinologist, University of Pennsylvania
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Treating fever can prolong or worsen illness
Fever enhances survival
That accounts for its persistence throughout animal evolution,
even though it exacts a significant metabolic cost.
A 1°C rise in body temperature requires a 10–12.5% increase in metabolic rate
Immunity, both innate and adaptive, works better at higher temperatures
