What's the relation between infections and fever?

Answer 1

Fever is one of the reactions of the body's natural or immune defense when there is an infection setting in. As the reaction of the immune sytem against the invading microorganisms, there are certain CHEMICALS called CYTOKINES that are released on the bloodstream to fight against those "invading organisms". Presence of such chemicals also send signal of alert to the brain that there is a DANGER.

As one of the responses, the thermoregulatory system sets the temperature higher in an attempt to slow down or INHIBIT the growth or replication of microorganisms. It is also believed as a way of speeding up the chemical reactions that will help the body's cells repair processes. As an increased body temperature increases the HEART RATE, it would also make some changes in blood circulation which could speed up the "travel time" of white blood cells to reach the sites of infection.

Answer 2

Fever is a positive feedback reaction to fight infection by stopping the said infection - bacterial or otherwise, from multiplying further and also increase the rate of reaction for your own antibodies, however a fever CAN be come too severe and antibodies start to denature.

Answer 3

A fever is usually a reaction to an infection. So basically you can have one without the other, e.g.

infection without fever - where you have the disease, but no symptoms (think typhoid Mary)

fever without the right infection - where the infection everyone else has isn't causing what you've got, or what you've got is psychosomatic.

Answer 4

I have just spent the last three weeks in hospital, recovering from Septicaemia.......... Blood Poisoning to the layperson......

Since the strain of Gram-negative bacterium was drug resistant, I got to know the mechanics of fever extremely well.

There are two control factors for body temperature: Core control and surface control. The normal control, we encounter is the surface control, in which we sweat, when hot and shiver when cold. The Core control is much more fundamental.

Our core temperature control kicks in when something disturbs our temperature equilibrium. This may be an infection, trauma, or it can be drug induced. The immediate effect is an increase in heart rate and a subsequent increase in temperature, due to the dissipation of the extra energy subsequently generated.

Energy dissipation most often manifests itself as heat.

Now it may be assumed that such an increase in core temperature will induce sweating. That is not the case. To dissipate the heat through the skin and outer layers of body tissue, we need to be active, so the control reaction is to induce deep "rigour"......... or uncontrollable shaking.

This can actually compound the overheating problem and can lead to severe exhaustion and death.

Where the shivering does promote sufficient heat dissipation, it is common for the process to overrun and cause a reduction in body temperature. The anomalous result of such a loss in temperature is for the body to sweat.

The sweating cools the body even more, inducing the core temperature control to produce more heat, elevating the body temperature to levels where rigour again sets in.

I can assure everybody that, after a couple of weeks of this, you will be suffering extreme exhaustion!

There is, fortunately, a simple solution. Paracetamol, in quite low doseage, reduces core temperature quite quickly, so the patient can then wrap up in warm clothes and fairly easily exert control over his/her temperature.

N.B. If you suffer dehydration through fever, DO NOT drink cold fluids. Drink clear warm fuids, like consommé, or tea.

Answer 5

Infections attack...fevers defend the attacks.

Answer 6

Fever is your bodies immune system coming out fighting..

Answer 7

to put it simply, a fever is your body's way of fighting off the virus that causes the virus.