8 surprising culprits behind your fever

Fever is not a disease. It is only the symptom of a disease. While a rise in body temperature is most commonly triggered by flu and other viruses, it may sometimes be caused by factors, you didn't know about.

Editorial Team | Published: January 2, 2019 6:48 pm

Did you know exposure to animals and stress can also lead to fever?©Shutterstock.

Winter is the peak season for fever, cough and cold. A rise in your body temperature can be the result of bacteria or viruses which thrive in particular whether or climatic condition. However, a few lesser known diseases and conditions can also cause fever. In most of these cases, the infection is self-limiting and the body temperature dips within a few days or a week. However, if the fever persists beyond a week, it could be an indicator of some other serious underlying condition that needs immediate attention. Even if the fever is low-grade, it consults a doctor at the without delay. Here is a low-down on some triggers behind fever which you are not aware of.

Stress:
Yes, anxiety can lead to low-grade fever. It is a psychosomatic condition that manifests itself in elevated body temperature. Also known as a psychogenic fever, the link between stress and body temperature is yet to be found out.

Exposure to animals:
Animals house a host of bacteria that can be detrimental to human health and cause fever. These bacterial organisms are known to survive for a long duration as they are highly resistant to heat and disinfectants. The infected person can develop hepatitis and pneumonia. If you stay close to animals, then you may be affected by a bacterium Coxiella burnetii which is likely to trigger Q fever. Query or Q found in cattle, sheep and goats can be resulted after inhaling contaminated air infected by animals. In extreme cases, the condition can persist for 6 months. It is marked by symptoms such as clay coloured stool, chest pain while breathing, cough, chills or sweat, abdominal pain, jaundice, muscle pain, diarrhoea, nausea, headache and sometimes a rash. If someone has cardiac issues related to the valve, then he or she may suffer from endocarditis, a condition that results from Q-fever

Medications:
Some drugs such as isoniazid, quinidine, procainamide, diphenylhydantoin, alpha methyldopa and a few antibiotics result in a fever. Drug-induced fever indicates the possibility that an individual is allergic to any specific component present in the medicine.

Lung problems:
There are a few lung diseases which can lead to fever. A pulmonary emboli disease is characterized by clots in the blood vessels that supply blood to the lungs. This can cause fever. Another lung disease, known as silicosis, also leads to fever and is commonly found to affect people working in an environment containing silica dust.

Chronic inflammatory diseases:
Diseases and conditions which lead to long-term inflammation of the tissues can also be the culprit behind fever. Conditions such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus erythematosus, gout, arteritis, and vasculitis cause the inner walls of the blood vessels to swell for long and result in fever.

Drug abuse:
Adults and children diagnosed with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder are prescribed amphetamines to stimulate their central nervous system. Overuse of this prescribed medicine can experience fever.

Withdrawal syndrome:
When people with regular drinking habit try to abstain from alcohol, they may suffer from fever. Delirium tremens, a severe type of alcohol withdrawal syndrome, found in people who have been regular with their alcohol consumption for more than 10 years is one such condition that can result in fever.

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI):
UTI is the infection of the urinary system, kidneys, bladder or urethra, and is marked by high fever and body ache in the affected individual.

Published: January 2, 2019 6:48 pm

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