If the human body uses fever to kill infections, why can’t a limb be heated up, say, in a container of water, to eliminate an infection?
In: Biology
The heat from the fever is to help kill bacterial viruses that intrude on the body. An infection in your limb isn’t the same as a virus. When you get a cut on your arm or something and it gets infected, it’s because a substance such as dirt got into it and the resulting infection is your body trying to get rid of it. Which is why its so important to keep cuts clean
Wow, there are some… Interesting answers here. The heat doesn’t kill bacteria/viruses/fungi/whatever is infecting you, it just makes your body less hospitable to growth. For example, if you were trying to… umm… reproduce (this may not be appropriate for 5 year olds) would you rather do it in a nice, cool room, or a room with the heater turned all the way up in the middle of summer? This isn’t a perfect example, but you would definitely be happier in an air conditioned room. In order to get to temperature that would be killing bacteria, you’d also be killing you.
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