What do you do with a fever ?

As my friends know, I'm seriously concerned about unintended negative health effects arising from vaccination ; especially the multiple, often mandatory vaccinations our children receive today.

It's never enough though to just be against something - and infectious illnesses should not be taken lightly. We need to take active concern for our health - for knowing the conservative measures to prevent the spread of these illnesses ; for learning how to build UP our health, and strengthen the marvelous organism of our human immune system ; for all the excellent natural, traditional and holistic measures available to reduce susceptibility, and safely treat these illnesses if we do get them. No one should avoid their conventional doctor, but we need to become much more responsible for taking care of ourselves.

To add something to this picture I hardly ever hear people talk about : I'm especially concerned about the overuse of fever suppressing medications in relation to the flu, and other infectious and febrile illnesses.

It’s scientifically well established that fever is the body’s first and key reaction to viral illnesses ; that viruses thrive in a low body temperature ; that they progressively lose their ability to reproduce as body temperature increases ; and that fever in fact kills them. I also learned, already many years ago, that fever suppression can make viral infections worse - especially in their effects on the respiratory and nervous systems.

Systematic public education on these facts, on safe conservative management of fevers, with sober scientific cautions concerning antipyretics, should be a central piece in our strategy against infectious disease. Inappropriate suppression of fever, in the meantime, can do significant - and almost completely unrecognized - harm. Correcting gaps in public understanding  in this regard must become an urgent priority - both for health officials and for doctors !

Jeff Smith RN 

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