Viral fever

Fever is a body's natural defense mechanism, an inflammatory process on exposure to pathogens. The body increases the core temperature to destroy any pathogen and keep it from multiplying. The fever is not a disease but a symptom of underlying infection. The infection can be present in any part, any organ of the body, intestine, lungs, urinary system, respiratory system, etc.

Viral fever is simply a spike in body temperature when the body is trying to fight off any bacteria, virus or an infection. It is categorized with symptoms like high-grade fever, headaches, skin rashes, and achy body. The signs of viral fever vary from a common cold to the flu. It is prevalent in children and older adults with low immunity that can be easily compromised. Viral fever is very common and mostly not a huge cause of concern. It is very easy to differentiate a simple viral fever from other severe variety of fevers like dengue, typhoid, and malaria.

Viral fever is caused by a group of the viruses. It can be air born or water born and can be contagious which spread from one person to another, whereas dengue and malaria are mosquito- born.

Symptoms Of Viral Fever:

• High fever
• Decreased appetite
• Body pains
• Joint pains
• Headache
• Restlessness and anxiety
• Lethargy
• Stiff neck
• Chills
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Burning sensation in eyes
• Runny nose
• Chest congestion
• Vomiting 

Normally, viral fever takes up to 4 days to even a week for symptoms to pass by. The high-grade fever subsides within 3 days and the weakness takes up to a week to resolve. If the temperature does not drop it could be a severe infection that needs medical supervision.

Who is susceptible to viral fever?

• Babies, toddlers and elderly are quite susceptible to viral fever as their bodily defense system is low.
• Exposure to an infected person
• Unprotected sex
• Any recent travel history to an infection-prone area
• Sharing needles of intravenous drugs
• Being around infected animals
• Recent surgeries
• Underlying medical illnesses
• The building you are living in is infested with rats
• Allergies

How to diagnose?

A very detailed physical examination needs to be done to find the underlying cause of the fever. After taking the complete history and performing a physical examination, it’s easy to identify the reason. Certain tests should be performed to make the diagnosis to rule out the possibilities of other fevers like dengue, malaria, typhoid, etc.

• Complete Blood culture
• A blood test to check the white blood cell count
• Sputum sample
• Urine culture
• Stool sample
• Spinal tap (lumbar puncture)
• X-ray films or CT scan
• Liver function tests
• Thyroid function tests

Complications of a Viral Fever:

Arbovirus causing viral fever leads to manifestation like bleeding from internal organs, mouth, eyes, ears or skin. Severe cases of viral fever may lead to complications which can be fatal if not attended on time like:

• Dehydration
• Delirium and hallucinations
• Shock
• Sepsis
• Nervous system malfunctions
• Coma
• Seizures
• Kidney failure
• Liver failure
• Respiratory fever

Treatment:

There are no antibiotics prescribed in viral fever. Alpha-CF tablets are effective in controlling viral fevers with associated symptoms like body pains, cough, coryza, sneezing, soreness of chest, headache and malaise. Improving the generalized wellbeing of the person is helpful.