Therapeutic target
- Lowering body temperature
Therapy recommendations
Fever in adults: Antipyretics (antipyretic drugs) from 39.0 °C and severe impairment.
Fever in children: Antipyretics (antipyretic drugs, preferably acetaminophen) if:
- Very high fever (≥ 40 °C).
- Severe impairment
- These only very little liquid to take (per °C is to be expected with a liquid loss 10-15%)
- These are in a special situations: eg shock, diseases with increased energy turnover; chronic heart and lung diseases.
Other notes
- In a meta-analysis, short-term treatment of fever or pain in children younger than 2 years with ibuprofen compared with acetaminophen showed that less pain and lower temperatures occurred with ibuprofen.
- See also under “Other Therapy.”
Tumor fever
The following symptoms and complaints may indicate tumor fever:
- Daily fever > 38.3 °C
- Persistent fever lasting longer than two weeks despite empiric antibiotic therapy for five to seven days
- Absence of signs of infection in comprehensive diagnostics.
- Lack of evidence of an allergic reaction (transfusion, medication).
Very specific for tumor fever is the “naproxen test” (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, NSAID). If the patient develops fever within 36 hours with twice-daily administration of 250 mg of naproxen, this clearly indicates tumor fever.
