What is a Fever?

Video Transcript

"DR. SUSAN JEWELL: Hello. My name is Dr. Susan Jewell, and on behalf of Expert Village, today, I'm going to talk to you about how to treat fevers. Now, in this clip, we're going to talk about the definition of fevers, and the many different origins of the cause of fevers. Now, when we have a fever, it's a natural body's way of telling us it's an early warning sign that something is not correct with our body, and therefore we should take note and follow up on that. Now, the normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and you can normally take a body temperature by using a thermometer, which we will discuss later how to use a thermometer correctly. So, fevers have many different causes. You can get fevers from bacterial infection, from viruses like colds and flus, are very common causes of fever, but fevers can also be caused by certain medical conditions so you can get, for example, if you suffer from seizures, you can get a--called a febrile seizure, which is seizure accompanied by high fevers. Also, certain drugs and medication can induce fevers like drugs for cancer, for people with. like I said, seizures too. So, you have to very, very careful when you take medication, especially prescribed medication, that you always follow the exact recommendation on the dosage, and also, you know, that is being prescribed by a professional medical doctor. So, like I said, we would talk in the next series of clips on how to treat the fevers, and first on how to address the symptoms of fevers."