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Encyclopedia entry: fever
- Article from:
- The Oxford Companion to the Body
- Author:
Copyright© The Oxford Companion to the Body 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information)
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fever
a term derived from the Latin
febris
, refers to an elevation of body temperature due to disease or injury. Man is a
homeotherm
, meaning that body temperature is kept within narrow limits by complex control mechanisms. This is distinct from
poikilotherms
, such as reptiles and amphibians, whose body temperature is just above the ambient temperature, and varies with it. Measured in the mouth, body temperature is close to 37°C (98.6°F), and does not usually vary by more than 1.5°C, although a rise up to 40°C can occur transiently in strenuous muscular exercise. In excessive
heat exposure
, normal
temperature regulation
is defeated, resulting in
heat stroke
. In other ...