In article <5F5872381C at whio.lincoln.ac.nz> MCFARLAN at WHIO.LINCOLN.AC.NZ ("McFarlane, Rob G") writes:
>Path: magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!lerc.nasa.gov!purdue!oitnews.harvard.edu!hpngsv01.mgh.harvard.edu!biosci!WHIO.LINCOLN.AC.NZ!MCFARLAN
>From: MCFARLAN at WHIO.LINCOLN.AC.NZ ("McFarlane, Rob G")
>Newsgroups: bionet.immunology
>Subject: Re: Fever
>Date: 23 Apr 1996 16:26:32 -0700
>Organization: Lincoln University
>Lines: 61
>Sender: daemon at net.bio.net>Distribution: world
>Message-ID: <5F5872381C at whio.lincoln.ac.nz>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net
>I think that your question is a good one and you have probably
>noted how the approaches to treating pyrexia have changed and have
>been argued about over time (reviewed in a book edited by El-Radhi
>and Carroll in 1994). There seems to be substantial support for some
>immunological advantages following an upward shift of the
>thermostatic set-point but I sometimes have difficulty convincing my
>families pediatrician as he reaches for the Panadol. Robin.
>On 23 Apr 96 at 10:19, Michelle L. Leonce wrote:
>> Could someone direct me to a resource to answer this question: what is
>> the body trying to accomplish by causing fever as part of the immune
>> response? Is it in any way linked to inflammation as there is often a
>> raise in temperature at the site of infection too, such as a cut on the
>> finger? Thanks for any help at all.
In bacterial diseases there is the thought that since with fever one sees a
decrease in the iron available to the bacteria, this reduces their ability
to multiply.
A. Ottolenghi (aottolen at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)