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?

Question

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

Answer 1

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.