Fevers
Fevers
A fever is a temporary rise in body temperature. It's one part of an overall response from the body's immune system. A fever is usually caused by an infection.
For most children and adults, a fever may be uncomfortable. But it usually isn't a cause for concern. For infants, however, even a low fever may mean there's a serious infection.
Fevers generally go away within a few days. A number of over-the-counter medications lower a fever. But you don't necessarily need to treat a fever if it's not causing discomfort.
Symptoms
Body temperatures vary slightly from person to person and at different times of day. The average temperature has traditionally been defined as 98.6 F (37 C). A temperature taken using a mouth thermometer (oral temperature) that's 100 F (37.8 C) or higher is generally considered to be a fever.
Depending on what's causing a fever, other fever signs and symptoms may include:
- Sweating
- Chills and shivering
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Loss of appetite
- Irritability
- Dehydration
- General weakness
Taking a temperature
To take a temperature, you can choose from several types of thermometers, including oral, rectal, ear (tympanic) and forehead (temporal artery) thermometers.
Oral and rectal thermometers generally provide the most accurate measurement of core body temperature. Ear or forehead thermometers, although convenient, provide less accurate temperature measurements.
In infants, a rectal temperature, if doable, is somewhat more accurate. When reporting a temperature to your health care provider, give both the reading and the type of thermometer used.