News: If Fever Helps Fight Infection, Should... (The New York Times) - Behind the headlines
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If Fever Helps Fight Infection, Should I Avoid Fever-Reducing Drugs? (Published 2018)
The best evidence suggests that there is neither harm nor benefit to treating a fever with fever-reducing medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
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Research findings and data from the National Library of Medicine
PubMed articles
Fever and the thermal regulation of immunity: the immune system feels the heat
Fever is a cardinal response to infection that has been conserved in warm-blooded and cold-blooded vertebrates for more than 600 million years of evolution. The fever res …
Effects of physiologic variations in temperature on the rate of antibiotic-induced bacterial killing
The effects of physiologic temperature variations on antibiotic-induced killing of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus faecalis, and Streptococcus pne …
Extreme pyrexia
Twenty-eight cases of extreme pyrexia seen in a five-year period were analyzed retrospectively. All of the patients had temperatures between 41.1 C (106 F) and 42.2 C (10 …
The effects of ibuprofen on the physiology and survival of patients with sepsis. The Ibuprofen in Sepsis Study Group
In patients with sepsis, treatment with ibuprofen reduces levels of prostacyclin and thromboxane and decreases fever, tachycardia, oxygen consumption, and lactic acidosis …
Acetaminophen for Fever in Critically Ill Patients with Suspected Infection
Early administration of acetaminophen to treat fever due to probable infection did not affect the number of ICU-free days. (Funded by the Health Research Council of New Z …
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Ibuprofen vs. Acetaminophen for Pain and Fever in Infants
Both drugs appear to be effective for relief of fever and pain in children under 2, though ibuprofen may offer some marginal benefits.
Acetaminophen shows promise in warding off acute respiratory distress syndrome, organ injury in patients with sepsis
Findings from NIH-supported clinical trial suggests the drug has the greatest benefit in the sickest patients.
There's no good reason to avoid ibuprofen if you're infected with the coronavirus
Ibuprofen is not linked to a higher risk of COVID-19 infection, nor has it been linked to complications in those infected with the novel coronavirus.