Should I cover myself with a blanket when I have a fever in summer?

Whether or not to cover yourself with a blanket when you have a fever, or whether to wear more clothes than usual, seems to have always been a controversial topic. People who think that you should cover yourself with a quilt believe that the body feels cold when you have a fever and you should keep warm. However, people who think that you should not cover yourself with a quilt believe that covering yourself with a quilt is not conducive to heat dissipation and may make the condition worse. So should you cover yourself with a blanket when you have a fever in summer?

1. Do I need to cover myself with a blanket when I have a fever in summer?

Sweating is a process of heat dissipation. Therefore, if you cover yourself with a quilt to prevent sweating when you have a fever, it will be harmful whether you sweat or not. If you don't sweat, your body temperature will be "covered" higher and higher. The rise in body temperature will cause a great burden on organs such as the heart, and in severe cases it may even be life-threatening. If you sweat, the evaporation of a large amount of sweat will take away water and inorganic salts in the body, causing physical weakness and collapse.

You can’t “cover up” when you have a fever, “dissipating heat” is the fundamental way. When the body temperature is below 38.5℃, you can use physical methods such as warm water bath to cool down, and drink small amounts of hot water frequently to help the body dissipate heat. While taking a two-pronged approach of hydration and physical cooling, use antipyretic drugs appropriately as prescribed by your doctor to achieve the purpose of cooling down.

2. What is a fever?

Medical term, also known as fever. The regulated increase in body temperature (more than 0.5°C) caused by the upward shift of the body temperature set point due to the action of pyrogens is called fever. Each person's normal body temperature is slightly different and is affected by many factors (time, season, environment, menstruation, etc.). Therefore, to determine whether you have a fever, it is best to compare your body temperature with your usual body temperature under the same conditions. If you do not know your original body temperature, an axillary temperature (tested for 10 minutes) exceeding 37.4℃ can be considered a fever.

3. How to care for fever?

Let the patient rest in bed to reduce the patient's physical exertion. When the body temperature is too high (above 39°C), the fever should be reduced. Apply a cold towel to your forehead or place a cold water bag on the back of your neck; use warm water to wipe your armpits, neck, and thighs. Use antipyretics under the guidance of a doctor. Measure the body temperature after 1 hour and record the temperature changes for the doctor's reference. For elderly and weak patients, fever should not be reduced suddenly to prevent collapse. If you encounter someone sweating profusely, with cold hands and feet, a weak pulse, or rapid breathing, you should report to a doctor immediately.

For patients with fever, the body's metabolism increases, the decomposition and metabolism of sugar, fat and protein increase, the calorie consumption increases, and the water loss increases. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement the nutrition of patients with fever in time, such as porridge, noodles and other light foods. Patients should be encouraged to drink more water, which can not only help reduce fever, but also facilitate the excretion of metabolic products and toxins in the body. Patients who sweat a lot should also drink some salt-containing drinks to prevent dehydration.