Question

Is having a fever beneficial? give examples

Answer 1

Evidence supports a beneficial effect of an elevated temperature as well as a possible adverse effect of fever on the clinical outcome of an infection.

Most mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish experience an elevated core temperature during an infection, suggesting that fever is part of an adaptive host defense response. The metabolically expensive increase in body temperature that accompanies an infection seems unlikely to have evolved unless fever benefits the host. Perhaps some physiological alterations that occur during a febrile response may be responsible for increased resistance to infection.

Certain observations suggest a beneficial relationship between elevated temperature and outcome of an infection. Microbes may replicate less efficiently at an elevated temperature than at a normal temperature. Certain immune responses such as leukocyte migration may be enhanced at higher temperatures. However, treatment of fever is based on the assumption that fever has a harmful effect and that reducing an elevated temperature will be beneficial.

Available evidence does not provide a clear understanding as to whether fever impairs or enhances the host’s immune response to infection.

Antipyretic therapy often is prescribed for febrile children based on the understanding that suppressing fever will reduce the unpleasant effects (headache, myalgia, arthralgia) and will reduce the risk of undesirable side effects such as a febrile seizure, particularly in children younger than 6 years of age. However, most studies have failed to demonstrate that use of an antipyretic will prevent febrile seizures.