Viral fever refers to a wide range of conditions caused by viral infections of the body. These infections lead to an elevation of body temperature, along with a variety of other symptoms such as headaches, body aches, chills and skin rashes. Viral fever can affect people of all age groups and may even be highly contagious if it is not contained and treated.


What causes viral fever?
Viral fever is caused by the infestation of viruses that spread through various avenues. These viruses enter the body and multiply at a specific site, leading to an infection that manifests itself as the symptoms of fever. This fever may be chronic or acute, depending on the nature of the infection and can easily spread from one person to another.


Some of the ways in which viral fever spreads are as follows:
Aerial transmission (coughing and sneezing).
Sexual transmission.
Consumption of contaminated food and water.
Contact with contaminated surfaces.
Contact with infected animals.


The symptoms of viral fever begin to show after an incubation period during which the virus multiplies within the body. The nature and duration of the illness varies from case to case. The most common symptoms of viral fever that accompany high body temperatures include the following:
Muscle soreness
Fatigue
Nasal congestion
Running nose
Redness of the eyes
Headaches
Coughs
Inflammation of the throat
Skin rashes
Vomiting
Diarrhoea


How is viral fever treated?
A case of viral fever can be quite easily treated if there is an absence of complications. For this, the illness simply needs to be diagnosed early. The use of antibiotics and steroids for treatment is advised against unless the infections have escalated beyond a certain extent. Some of the ways to treat viral fever are:
Prescription of antiviral medication
Adequate bed rest
Ample fluid intake
Administration of nasal decongestants


In most cases, the illness gets treated within the span of a few days. However, if the symptoms persist any longer, it is advisable to consult a specialist to check for underlying problems or complications.

Have Viral Fever? Know the Reasons Behind It!

Fever is not a disease! It's a known fact that normal human body temperature is 98.6 F (37 C). If temperature goes beyond that, then it's called fever. But one must not worry every time if there is a rise in the temperature. 

Why?
The reason is that immune system is designed to raise temperature as a defence mechanism, if there is any attack by a foreign body (such as bacteria). So body temperature may fluctuate between 97 and 100.4. But there is no need to worry.

When to Consider Checking?
Routine check up is unnecessary. You may consider to check when:
- You feel the warmth while you touch
- You feel very tired, dizzy and lose appetite
- You feel nauseated, see rashes on the body, experience loose motion, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, etc.

Is it Time to Worry?
Normally, fever is not dangerous. However, if you see the following conditions, then it's time to worry and call a doctor. 
- If the body temperature is more than 103 degree F 
-,If fever lasts for more than five days
- If you feel difficulty in breathing
- If there is severe vomiting or diarrhoea
- If you feel stiffness in the neck and have headache
- If you feel excessively sleepy and lethargic
- If you see redness in skin, rashes or blood in stool.

If the condition worsens, it is time to rush to a hospital. There could be following:

- Meningitis is life threatening and highly transmissible in case of bacterial infection. A combination of a fever, extreme headache and stiffness in the neck is an indication that you must rush to the emergency department of a hospital near you.

- Difficulty in breathing or chest pain along with fever should prompt you to call for emergency medical assistance.

- If someone has fever along with blood in stool, urine or mucus, it's one of the reasons to seek for emergency medical help.

- If one has fever and is quite disturbed or puzzled unnecessarily, then the person should be taken to the emergency department.

- A person with low immune responses (such as one who is suffering from cancer or AIDS) needs doctor's help in case of fever development.

- Hyperthermia: it's a condition of very high fever, i.e., more than 104 degree F. The person seems to be confused and may not respond to verbal stimuli or commands. It's time for medical emergency.

What should You Do?
For mild fever, even home remedies can help. Aspirin shouldn't be the first choice and an absolute no for individuals less than 18 years. Other drugs that people usually tend to consume are ibuprofen or acetaminophen. One should also drink plenty of water. In case of a heat stroke, body needs to be cooled.
Other severe causes such as viral infection should lead you to a doctor.

Fever - When To Check, When To Worry, What To Do

Best Way To Treat Fever In Children

Let us imagine a scenario: It is 4 in the morning. You are fast asleep and suddenly you hear the discomforting cries of your child. You sense that something is wrong and you immediately rush to the other room. As soon as you touch him, you realize that the child's body is burning up like a furnace? You immediately rush to get your thermometer and the figures on it do not make for a good reading - 102 degrees F. Panic dulls your response rate. Your first reaction is to call the doctor. It might be the right thing to do in some rare cases, but in most cases experts advise differently.

Stay Calm

The most important thing is for you to stay calm and relax and realize that it is still well within your hand to take care of the child. First things first, fever is not your enemy. Rather, it is body's way of telling you that your immune system is fighting alien elements in your body. Children of the age group 0 to 3 almost always face high temperatures at some point in their nascent lives.

The Need of the Hour

How you should go about it depends on your child's age and thermometer's readings. If your child is a newborn or is less than 3 months old and reading is above 100.4 degrees, then you must call the doctor at once.

Between 3 to 6 months, temperature threshold is 101 degrees F, while 103 degrees F is usually the limit for children older than 6 months. But, if the child is showing alarming symptoms such as body ache, fatigue, and diarrhoea, along with the high temperature of 101 degrees F or 102 degrees F, then you should consider calling the doctor on a priority basis.

Take the Hints - Be Wary of the Symptoms

Keeping an eye out on the symptoms is extremely important. If your child has a running nose and low-grade fever (99-100 degrees F), then he might be suffering from a bout of common cold. Vomiting and diarrhoea usually indicate stomach virus. For children with weak immune system or at higher risk than others, it is advisable to consult a doctor.

A 24 hours rest is generally advised in flu, till the patient is fever free without taking any antibiotics. Ailments like an earache, sore throat or discomfort in peeing should be brought to the notice of doctor as it might indicate soar throat, UTI or ear infection, all of which require antibiotic treatments. Certain signs warrant an immediate medical attention. Discomfort in breathing along with constant crying, difficulty in walking, unusual rashes and purple looking spots demand that he be taken to the E.R. right away.

The most important thing is to complete the treatment course diligently and let the fever run its course as it may actually aid the body in building immunity against the fever causing germs and fight them. One must remember that being calm and relaxed at taxing times go a long way in helping you take right decisions and treating fever in children is all about patience and right decisions.

Best Way To Treat Fever In Children

The mosquito may seem a very small creature, but can be deadly as they spread quite a few severe infections, with chikungunya being one of them. The disease got its name from an African language, which means to walk bent over.

Chikungunya is a viral disease that is carried by specific varieties of infected mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus). It was originally confused for dengue, which is another mosquito-transmitted infection, but then called out as a separate disease. Both diseases start off with non-diagnostic symptoms including fever, rashes, fatigue, anaemia and headache. Dengue could be distinguished by the lowered platelet count, while the persistent joint pains and eye pain could be the distinguishing factor for the chikungunya.

The mosquito is the vector, which picks up the virus from one infected person and spreads it to another person. The virus does not spread directly from one person to the other. Once it reaches the blood stream, it multiplies in the body, and over a period of 1 to 12 days, the symptoms begin to appear.

Symptoms: The symptoms of chikungunya are listed below, which reflect the effects on the body.
The symptoms are generally nondiagnostic and generic including fever, rashes, joint pain, muscle aches, eye pain, fatigue, tiredness, lethargy, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. The eye pain which occurs behind the eyes and the joint pains are the indicative symptoms, which point to chikungunya. In fact, the joint pains make the patient assume a stooped posture, and that is where the name chikungunya was originally derived from.

Most of the above symptoms subside over a period of 10 to 15 days but the joint pain continues. In fact, in many, it can continue to exist for months and even years and eventually develop into rheumatoid arthritis.
Though chikungunya is not a fatal disease by itself, it can produce long-term symptoms which can be severely disabling and affect the quality of life.

Anybody who is bitten by the infected mosquito can develop the disease, but there are some groups of people at a higher risk. These include newborns, the elderly people, and people with chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and chronic heart disease.

However, once infected, the person develops immunity and future infections do not happen unless their immunity is severely compromised.

Treatment: There is no specific treatment, and symptom relief is provided through rest, hydration, pain killers for joint and muscle, antipyretics for fever, and avoiding aspirin.
While there is no vaccine for chikungunya, preventing exposure to mosquito bites when you are travelling and preventing mosquito breeding and reducing exposure to mosquitoes by using repellents and nets are advisable.

Chikungunya  - How It Affects Your Body?

Typhoid fever is a bacterial disease caused by a bacteria Salmonella typhi. It spreads through consuming food or water that has been contaminated by stool of an infected person. The bacteria spread rapidly through your blood and causes a range of ailments.

It can cause bleeding in the intestine and perforations. This results in stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, and sepsis. Repair of intestinal damage may require surgery. In less frequent cases, typhoid can result in inflammation of muscles, linings, and valves of the heart. It can also cause pneumonia, meningitis, kidney infection, bladder infection, and inflammation of the pancreas. It may also result in delirium.



Symptoms-

The symptoms of typhoid infection start appearing within 1 to 3 weeks depending upon the virulence of the infection. The common symptoms are-

  High fever
  A headache
  Weakness
  Confusion
  Agitation
  Loss of appetite
  Red spotting on skin

Vaccination-

Vaccination is the most effective measure to prevent typhoid. There are two methods of vaccination- inactivated typhoid vaccine shot and an oral dose of live typhoid vaccine. One dose of inactivated typhoid vaccine is enough to protect you against the infection. A booster dose may be required every 2 years. You must consume four doses of live vaccine every alternate day. The capsule must be consumed orally, at least one hour before a meal. A booster may be required every 5 years.

What to know before immunisation-

  The inactivated vaccine should not be used in children below 2 years. The live vaccine is not recommended for use in children below 6 years.
  You should wait to get live typhoid vaccine if you are suffering from a pre-existing fever or infection. If you are on antibiotics, you must not take the oral vaccine until 3 days of discontinuing the medicine.
  People with immunodeficiency diseases such as AIDS should take inactivated typhoid vaccine shots instead of the live vaccine.
  Anti-malarial medicines should not be used until 10 days of a typhoid shot.
  Extremely serious side effects resulting from typhoid fever vaccine are very rare. It is generally safe for use.
  The inactivated vaccine may cause fever in 1 person in 100. It can also cause a mild headache, stomach pain, rashes in a person. Although serious allergic reactions are extremely rare, notify the doctor as soon as possible.

Typhoid affects 21 million people worldwide and causes 2,20,000 deaths annually. It can be fatal if it goes untreated. Therefore, it is crucial for people living in a typhoid prone zone to be immunised.

Typhoid Fever Vaccine - All You Should Be Aware Of!

According to Ayurveda,  Jwara  or fever refers to the irregularities of body temperature. In majority of the cases, there is reduced heat in the GIT (gastrointestinal tract) and an increased temperature in the external body. Fever might be a symptom of a disease or can be a disease in itself. According to Ayurveda, fever happens because of an imbalance in the following doshas:
1. Vata
2. Aghantuja
3. Pitta
4. Kapha
5. Vata-Kapha
6. Vata-Pitta
7. Vata-Pitta-Kapha
8. Pitta-Kapha

Fever Management Rules
Light food or fasting is advised at the early stage of fever. This helps in drawing away heat from the external parts nd shifts it to the center. You should drink warm water in all fevers, except Pitta fever. Doing so balances the stomach heat. Warm liquid foods that include sago or barley should be consumed. Vegetable soup help as well, but astringent foods should be avoided at the early stages of the fever. During the early fever stages, antipyretic medications are to be avoided. These medicines reduce the stomach s temperature and by doing so, render the Ayurvedic treatment redundant as the GIT s heat is lowered.

General fever treatment therapies

Sudarshana Choorna should be taken twice daily and about 2 grams should suffice. This  Choorna  can be taken along with any of the above mentioned treatments.
Vasaka leaf is another simple remedy for treating fever. It should be mixed with  Shukti Bhasma  (10%) and should be taken twice daily in 2 gram doses.
Ginger tea is another remedy that always turns out to be comforting and is of great value. Consume a concoction made by adding half a teaspoon of fennel seeds, cinnamon, ginger powder and a little clove to a hot cup of water helps. The herbs should be soaked for about 10 minutes. They should be filtered afterwards before drinking the tea. It should be kept in mind that both ginger and aspirin dilute the blood. Thus, ginger tea should be avoided for two hours after consuming aspirin.
Fasting for about a day is advised for fever without any other symptom as the body gets rid of toxins. A strict diet regimen should be followed after consulting a doctor. Steamed vegetables without spices are recommended.

Suffering from Fever? Try these Ayurvedic Remedies

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