Fever of unknown cause

Fever caused by unknown reasons is actually very scary. If you continue to cool down your body physically without understanding the cause, but there is no effect, you should be sent to the hospital for treatment in time. Do not delay treating the disease, because the continuous high temperature of the body has a great impact on the cell activity of the internal environment.

Causes of high fever

Fever is caused by the action of fever activators on the body, which in turn leads to the production of endogenous pyrogens (EP) and enters the brain to act on the body temperature regulation center, which in turn leads to the release of fever center mediators, which in turn causes a change in the set point and ultimately causes fever.

Common fever activators include exogenous pyrogens from outside the body: bacteria, viruses, fungi, spirochetes, malarial parasites, etc.; and those from inside the body: antigen-antibody complexes, steroids, etc.

Endogenous pyrogens (EP) come from EP-producing cells in the body, and their main types include: interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interferon (IFN), interleukin-6 (IL-6), etc. EP acts on the body temperature regulation center located in the POAH, resulting in the production of positive and negative regulatory mediators. The latter may cause a change in the set point and ultimately lead to the generation of heat.

Fever itself is not a disease, but a symptom. In fact, it is one of the body's mechanisms for fighting infection.

Fever may even have its uses: shortening the duration of illness, enhancing the effectiveness of antibiotics, and making infections less contagious. These abilities should offset the discomfort experienced when having a fever.

Causes of fever of unknown origin

It is a global problem. Nearly 10% of unexplained fever cases remain undiagnosed. Fever itself can be caused by many types of diseases, such as infection, tumors, autoimmune diseases and blood diseases, and cannot be clearly classified.

In the past, such patients were usually diagnosed and treated by internal medicine physicians, and in most hospitals with more specialized specialties, they were mainly treated by respiratory physicians.

Currently, many hospitals have opened infectious disease departments, and fever of unknown cause is classified as such for diagnosis and treatment. This specialized management is an improvement and can improve the level of diagnosis and treatment.

There is an accurate definition of fever of unknown cause, which includes three key points: ① the fever lasts for more than 3 weeks; ② the body temperature is higher than 38.3℃ for many times; ③ the diagnosis cannot be confirmed after more than 1 week of complete medical history, physical examination and routine laboratory tests. It can be seen that although unexplained fever itself is a symptom diagnosis rather than a disease diagnosis, the diagnostic requirements are very strict. If any of the above situations occur, go to the hospital for treatment immediately.