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Comment by nikolay

18 hours ago

Well, most humans (unlike me) take Tylenol even with a "fever" of just 38°C/100.5°F, so what difference does it make?

12 comments

nikolay

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cpncrunch  17 hours ago

Unlike us, the virus will replicate much more quickly in their bodies. It wont kill them, but will likely make the infection last longer.

Havent had a fever in many years, since taking flu and covid shots each year.

  • nikolay  16 hours ago

    Well, if you let your innate immune system do its job, fever can actually kill many pathogens and also ramp up your immune system response. It's fascinating that human cells can survive at slightly higher temperatures than most pathogens, giving us an advantage. It's not comfortable to have a high fever, and there's a slight chance of kids getting febrile seizures (although most are not actually that bad), but we do more harm ot ourselves for little comfort or a complete lack of soicism.

    I get headaches sometimes. I know 200mg of ibuprofen can help me, but I chose not to. Pain is part of reality. If we mask it, we have little incentive to address the root cause.

    I had COVID-19 in August this year. I had a 39.5°C fever for 2 days, then it subsided for 7-8 more days - I didn't take any antipyretic. You know, you can actually tolerate it if you accept it as something normal. And it's also a great experience to actually learn to know when you have a fever - you don't need a thermometer even.

    • Tor3  16 hours ago

      Pyrotherapy. The idea of fighting untreatable (at the time) illnesses by inducing a fever in the patient. There's actually a Wikipedia article about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrotherapy As in deliberately infect a syphilis patient with malaria, which can give you a very high fever. The first time I heard about that one was in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, turns out it was one of the non-fictional parts of the books (which were a mix of historical facts and fiction).

      Quote: "In general, the body temperature was maintained at 41 °C (105 °F).[1] Many diseases were treated by this method in the first half of the 20th century."

      The malaria variant was not the common variant, that was saved for extreme cases, apparently (e.g. Syphilis). Mostly it was hot baths and the like.

      I, for one, will stick to my near-daily sauna sessions.

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pkulak  17 hours ago

Unlike you?

  • nikolay  16 hours ago

    I don't take any antipyretics, nor have I given to my kids, unless the fever is 39-39.5°C and climbing. Otherwise, you're sabotaging your own innate immune system!

    • sph  13 hours ago

      I do the same. Fever is a feature, unless the infection is so pervasive the fever itself becomes a health hazard (at which point you need to see a doctor ASAP, not lower your fever)

      Taking an antipyretic for a regular flu completely defeats the purpose. Let your immune system do its thing, it is pretty good at it.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever#Management

    • xorcist  12 hours ago

      Sabotaging is much too strong a word. The fever is not essential to the immune system. If taking down the fever makes it easier to cook food or do something else that is important to you, go ahead.

      We have had fever suppressors for so long now that we know they are not harmful to the immune system in any meaningful way.

      A fever should be temporary. If you go several days with 39 C then something is wrong and you should absolutely seek medical help. People used to die from simple bacterial infections before we had antibiotics.

      And be mindful of the children! Small children are wired somewhat differently and you should be much more careful with them. 39 C in a newborn can be life threatening.

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