Here in this blogpost today we will discuss various types of fever. Hope it will be useful for patients, medical students, and healthcare workers too.
Fever is a response to inflammation or infection or dehydration in your body that causes rise in body temperature more than normal range.
Depending on temperature rise
| Mild | 100.4 F – 102.2 F (38 – 39 C) |
| Moderate | 102.3 F – 104 F (39.1 – 40 C) |
| High grade | 104 F and above (> 40 C) |
| Hyperpyrexia | 106 F and above (41.1 C) |
Depending on occurrence can be classified as
| Acute | If duration is less than 7 days |
| Subacute | If duration is 7-14 days |
| Chronic or persistent | If duration is >14 days |
Depending on occurrence of fever:
| Quotidian Fever | Occurring daily |
| Tertian fever | Occurring alternate day |
| Quartan fever | Occurring on every third day |
Depending on nature of fever
| Continuous fever | Fever remains for 24 hours with only upto 1 F fluctuations. The body temperature does not touch the baseline. |
| Intermittent fever | Fever remains for a short span and intermittently body temperature comes to normal. |
| Remittent fever | Fever remains for a longer period of time but body temperature fluctuates more than 1 F intermittently but does not come to baseline normal body temperature. |
Causes of fever
| Infections | Bacterial infections Viral infections Fungal infections Parasitic infections |
| Malignancies | Leukaemias Lymphomas Malignancies of brain Other malignancies |
| Allergies | Insect bites Food allergies Allergies to medicines Hay fever Urticaria Other allergies |
| Homeostasis | Dehydration Electrolyte imbalance Calcium homeostasis imbalance Heat stroke |
| Poisoning and toxicities | Atropinic drugs Other drugs |
Home remedies for fever
| Drink a lot water and fluids |
| Take adequate food |
| Sponging with water and wet cloth |
| Medicines |
As we have seen in the above table there are multiple possible causes of fever. The causes can be mild disease like flu or very severe life threatening diseases like dengue. So when you have a fever you should consult your doctor as soon as possible. Home remedies for fever can provide you temporary relief. You can try following home remedies for fever till you visit your doctor.
Drink a lot of water
Drink a lot of water 
Fruits and juices
First home remedy for fever is drinking water. Fever can cause increased demand for water in your body. If you do not drink water you may get dehydrated. With ongoing illness, dehydration may produce more difficulty for you.
Dehydration may present like fatigue, feeling thirsty, in small children lethargy and irritability. Additionally the mucosa of mouth, tongue and eyes may appear dry.
You should drink a lot of water. Oral rehydration solutions may help in hydrating you. Fruit juices may help and also coconut water. Do not add too much sugar and salt to these fluids, or they may themselves cause dehydration.
Soups like tomato soup, rice water soup, chicken soup may help in dehydration.
Avoid carbonated drinks like soda and coke. They may cause more dehydration.
Adequate food
Next important home remedy for fever is adequate food intake. In many types of fever appetite reduces and you don’t feel like eating. The taste buds on your tongue may work differently and you can not enjoy even very yummy food. Smell sensation may change in some diseases making you dislike food.
You should try to eat as much as possible. If you can not eat normally you should have small amounts of food more frequently.
Try to eat foods that are easily digestible. You may eat rice, Idli, dosa, citrus fruits like oranges and puppy fruits like bananas and mangoes. You can eat boiled potatoes and eggs too.
Avoid very spicy food and junk foods. Avoid foods that are excessively fried and contain added salts in large amounts.
Sponging with water
Next best home remedy for fever is sponging skin with water. When you or your family member have fever you should take a wet cloth and rub on his/her skin. Water at room temperature should be used for wet cloth. This helps to reduce the fever quickly.
Sponging with water and wet cloth helps your body mechanism to reduce the body temperature.
If you have high grade fever you can fill a tub with water at room temperature and may sit in it.
Avoid sponging if you have chills that are shivering along with fever. Applying wet cloth may increase shivering and may increase body temperature.
Medicine
Next home remedy for fever is taking over the counter medicine. OTC medicines are those that you can buy without a prescription.
These drugs include paracetamol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen. These are usually safe at recommended dosages. The dose depends upon your age and weight. You should confirm the dose from your pharmacist and take them till you see your doctor.
Take rest
Next home remedy for fever is taking rest. You should take a rest if you have a fever. In fever there is a feeling of fatigue and body pain. You may feel dizzy and have a headache.
Taking rest at home and not going outside may help you. You should avoid going in hot or cold temperatures outside your house. If possible stay in your bed till the fever is reduced and body temperature comes to normal.
Taking rest helps you to recover fastly from underlying illness too.