What Is a Fever?
While a fever can make you feel sweaty and uncomfortable, it’s actually your body’s way of trying to kill invading viruses or bacteria. These invaders do not survive as well at higher body temperatures, so your body raises your temperature to fight them. Fever also triggers your immune system to take action.
The average normal body temperature is about 98.6 degrees F. A fever is present when your body temperature is at 100.4 degrees F or higher. When your body’s defense system detects a foreign invader like a virus, an area of your brain called the hypothalamus is alerted to raise your body temperature, like turning up the thermostat in your home.
That increase in the thermostat requires energy from your body’s furnace, called your metabolism, says Oscar Morey Vargas, MD, an endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic. “Body temperature has an effect on the number of calories you burn,” Dr. Vargas says. “Fever, for example, has links to higher metabolic requirements.” So when you have a fever, your body is working harder.
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