eli5: If fever is our body’s response to kill an infection, then why do we take medicines like paracetamol that control the fever?

Question

Also, I get that the fever can get really high at some point, which causes other effects, but why is our body not able to control its response to the infection so as to not do more harm with the fever?

In: 59

Answer 1

You can survive the fever, we just take medicine because we’d rather be sick longer, but feel slightly better than be feverish and sweaty for the time needed. Your body’s natural reaction to infection and causing a fever will _almost_ never be dangerous, you dont suffer brain damage until around 108, and your body isnt going to go that high. That type of harm is usually only when youre body is someplace it can not effectively regulate your body temperature, like in a hot car.

I should also add, for things like an infection, people are often prescribed anti-biotics which do a pretty good job of killing infections quickly. So instead of being miserable a long time with a fever, we take medication to kill the infection and medication to lessen the fever and feel slightly better