Why it is better to give a person with a high fever a sponge bath with alcohol and water rather than just with

Question

water?

Answer 1

because alcohol boils at a much lower temp. then water thereby drawing the heat from the body much more rapidly then just plain water and the water acts like a shiel keeping the ambient temp. down or not letting it return to the body as quickly

Answer 2

cold sponge alcohol works better than water for a high fever. I had a friend once that had a fever of 102.4 F. He was so sick. He was just heating and heating. So finally he had a cold sponge alcohol shower and it worked wonders for him. Cool him right down after an hour. He did the sponge bath for 10 minutes at a time and every hour he'd have one. After 5 hours his fever became mild and slowly returned to normal after he slept.

Answer 3

Cooling is achieved by the energy consumed by the evaporation of the liquid. Alcohol has a lower point of evaporation, so it uses up your heat faster than just water.