High Fever

High fever has always been a phrase that struck fear into populations all over the world.

In the early days, high fever resulting in death was very common. Nowadays are different.

Due to the developments in antibiotics and vaccines, most of the diseases that caused fevers to be high are either treatable or preventable.

Not only that. Research is now finding fever not always to be the enemy. It also seems to be an important part of the body's defence against whatever infection is invading the body. Having a fever indicates that a battle is going on, and that it is actually on your side.

Though agreed that 98.6°F (37°C) is considered the “normal core body temperature”, this value can vary by 1-2 degrees depending on the person, the time of day, the amount of physical activity, emotion, eating, drinking, clothing, and the ambient temperature and humidity in the surrounding environment.

It is found that most bacteria and viruses causing infections in humans thrive at normal body temperature (98.6°F, 37°C). Raising the body’s temperature by a few degrees can therefore give the body an advantage over the infectious agent by making conditions less suitable for its survival and reproduction. A fever also activates the body's immune system defences, accelerating the production of white blood cells, antibodies, and other infection-fighting agents.

Complications from high fever

Some serious, but rare complications can however occur from it.
Brain damage is one example that can occur. However, this can only happen if the body temperature remains above (107.6°F, 42°C) for an extended period of time.

It can also cause seizures in rare cases. This happens in less than 5% of children with fever. These fever induced seizures are called febrile seizures, and are caused by a rapid increase in body temperature and possibly also by the height of the temperature.  If a child's fever is already high, a febrile seizure is unlikely to occur.
 
Febrile seizures are harmless, but they can cause great alarm in parents, particularly those who have never witnessed them before. 

The best way to deal with this is to consult your doctor as soon as you can in order to find out what the cause of the fever being high is.

• Symptoms of high fever
  symptoms of high fever really depend on the underlying disease causing it
  
  
• Treatment for fever
  treatment for fever is by bring the temperature between about 100 and 102
  
  
• Prevention of high fever
  prevention of high fever is by precenting the underlying disease causing it