Fever: Friend, Foe or Both?

by Ralph K. Campbell, MD, with Robert G. Smith, PhD

As a young parent, even though I had just finished filling my head full of medical facts, I felt alarm when my infant daughter ran a fever. The first thing I had to do was to measure her temperature. Grandmas' method of touching the baby's forehead against her own was an OK way of measuring a moderate to high fever but certainly did not meet the standard of accuracy demanded by this young doctor. The current method of sticking the end of an electronic gadget in her ear, instead of using a conventional thermometer, didn't exist. So horrors, all we had for infants was the rectal thermometer. Since our little ones can't express what is causing their distress, we feel a greater sense of urgency. Thus the modern infrared thermometer ameliorates a real safety concern besides allowing a quick decision on fever.

Fever is usually helpful

On the friendly side, fever generated in response to infection turns on several biological mechanisms that help to fight the cause of infection: mobilize leukocytes and phagocytes, decrease the effects of endotoxins, and increase proliferation of T-cells. In more understandable terms---leukocytes are white blood cells, and phagocytes are more specialized cells that gobble up bacteria. An endotoxin is produced by certain bacteria and can cause muscle aches or headache. Fever is elevated in response to the endotoxin and attenuates its harmful effects. The more T-cells the better as they are the real killers of the bad guys, whether bacteria or viruses. Long before we had this knowledge, medical professionals knew from personal experience with influenza that one feels much better in the cooler recovery stage after the fever breaks than during the febrile stage.

Harm from fever can vary..