Table 2.

Fever: misconceptions and facts

Misconception	Fact
Fever is a cause of illness	Fever is a response to illness
Fever is maladaptive	Fever is an adaptive systemic response to immune stimuli
Fever is solely an elevation body temperature	Fever is part of the coordinated acute phase response and includes autonomic, behavioural, and neuroendocrine responses
There is an absolute temperature at which fever is defined (usually above 100·4°F)	There is no universal temperature at which fever is defined. It is based on the individual's normal diurnal body temperature
Fever requires medical or nursing intervention to prevent negative consequences	Fever is self-limiting and generally requires no intervention