Types of Viral Fever – Causes & Treatments

A viral infection that is produced and caused by climate change and other environmental exposures leads to viral fever during the monsoon season. Your body’s natural temperature increases when you have the flu, a cold, and viral fever. Viral infection also results in viral fever, which is another condition that is not a disease. Viral fever is usually misdiagnosed and neglected, which causes it to worsen and become a chronic, dangerous illness.

Your body’s immunological reaction to germs and viruses that cause sickness, indicates fever. When your immune system notices the presence of such foreign bodies inside your body, it sets off an immunological reaction that raises your body’s temperature. The majority of viral fever duration is 3 to 4 days, although others only last 1 day, or others like the fever brought on by dengue fever, can persist up to 10 days or more.

We measure the temperatures in the mouth, axilla, and rectum,  in both adults and children.

 

Types of Viral Fever

Viral fevers can be categorized into the following groups according to the region they affect:

Respiratory Viral Fever: 

A respiratory viral illness occurs when a virus infects your respiratory tract, either its upper or lower section. Some typical viral respiratory infections include:

• Influenza and the common cold – the common fever.
• Laryngitis with viral bronchitis
• Tonsillitis
• Adenovirus and rhinovirus infection
• Infection with other respiratory virus
• COVID-19

This includes the viral outbreak that is presently wreaking havoc throughout the globe, SARS-Cov-19, which was brought on by a new coronavirus.

Viral Enteritis:

Your digestive tract is infected by this virus infection. Stomach flu is another name for gastro-intestinal viral fever. Gastroenteritis, a medical ailment, is frequently the result.

Some typical gastrointestinal viral infections include the infection with rotavirus, adenovirus, Norovirus, and Astrovirus.

Exanthemata Viral Fever:

Exanthematous viral infections are those that not only cause a fever but also have dermatological symptoms. These infections frequently result in rashes and apparent skin eruptions that remain for days until they go away and mend through the production of scabs. Although they are not just confined to children, these illnesses primarily affect them.

Haemorrhagic Viral Fever: 

Haemorrhagic viruses are a class of viruses that can induce circumstances that are potentially fatal by causing bleeding. They often cause your body temperature to increase significantly. Your blood arteries are impacted by this sort of illness, and platelets cause internal bleeding. like dengue fever.

Neurologic Viral Fever

Neurotropic viruses are those that target the central nervous system particularly and cause neurological illnesses. The virus often enters your circulation before traveling to your brain or spinal cord. Viral infections that are acute and persistent are further divided into neurological viral disorders.

These were the major viral fever types, now let us get to the symptoms of the same.

Viral Fever Symptoms

The following are some viral fever symptoms that you should be aware of:

• Joint and muscle pains
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Throat pain
• Clogged nose
• A rise in body temperature of roughly 104 degrees.
• Facial swelling
• Dehydration
• Recurring chills
• Having red eyes
• Rash skin
• Lack of appetite

Causes of Viral Fevers

You get a fever when your body’s immune system responds to outside infections. Your body’s immune system feels the need to respond to the dangerous organisms like bacteria and viruses that enter your body. When this activity causes the same, the body’s temperature surges. However, these are the primary causes of viral fever:

• Inhalation of Air Droplets: By conversing, sneezing, or coughing close to you without covering their face, an infected individual can distribute airborne droplets of their virus. It can cause an infection if breathed in.
• Intake of Food: If you ingest tainted food, you run the risk of getting sick. Foods can carry viruses, therefore eating them puts you at risk of contracting them.
• Mosquito Bite: Infestations of illnesses like malaria and dengue occur during the monsoon because this is the period of the year when mosquitoes spawn on standing water and proliferate. Additionally, mosquito bites might result in viral fevers.
• Exchange of Bodily Fluids: Blood transfusions and getting pricked by an infected needle can both lead to the acquisition of infections such as viral fever, hepatitis B, and HIV. Additionally, they may be sexually transmitted.

Treatment for Viral Fevers

Viral fevers often don’t need any special medical attention. They are not responsive to antibiotics, as opposed to bacterial illnesses. To find out if you have a bacterial infection, your doctor can advise having a test done on your throat. If the tests are negative, they could advise doing more tests before starting viral fever medication, such as blood, sputum, or urine.

The kind of viral infection and the severity of the symptoms affect viral fever therapy. For low-grade viral fever, physicians often try to recommend medications. Treatments for muscular pains, weariness, diarrhea, etc. include taking lukewarm baths and consuming electrolyte solutions.

• Your healthcare practitioner may suggest nonprescription medicine if you have a high fever or a temperature that is uncomfortable. Take these medications as prescribed by your doctor. Be cautious and do not consume these in excessive amounts. Acute overdoses can be life-threatening, and high doses or prolonged usage of these medications may harm the liver or kidneys.
• Never administer aspirin to youngsters since it may induce Reye’s syndrome, which is a rare yet potentially life-threatening illness.
• You may still have a moderate fever even though these drugs typically reduce your body temperature. The drug may take up to two hours to start working. Your doctor may advise you to take various drugs as per your condition.
• The signs and symptoms, including fever, may be minimized by treating the underlying cause. For testing and treatment, infants, especially those under two months old, might be admitted to the healthcare facility or hospital. When a baby is this young, a fever may be a sign of a dangerous illness that needs intravenous (IV) treatment and constant observation.
• A fever of unknown origin is often referred to when it persists for longer than three weeks, whether continuously or intermittently, and has no obvious explanation. For additional examinations and testing in these situations, you might need to consult a specialist in one or more surgical fields.

Being clean and following hygienic habits is the most crucial preventative step to ward against viral fever. Usually, a slight fever is nothing to panic about, but if you experience issues like a persistent high fever as well as other related viral fever symptoms, visit your doctor without any delay.