Viral Fever: Symptoms, Complications, and Treatment

What is viral fever?

Viral fever is an umbrella term for a group of viral infections that affect the body and is characterized by high fever, burning in the eyes, headaches, body aches and sometimes nausea and vomiting.

Viral fever is common among children and older people as their immunity is lower. The fever by itself is not an illness, it is a symptom of an underlying cause, which is a viral infection. A viral infection can occur in any part of the body, intestines, lungs, air passages etc. The fever will occur as a result of the infection. The high fever is usually a sign of the immune system of the body, fighting against the intruding viruses and “burning them off”.

Many people tend to self-medicate, sometimes even by taking antibiotics, when they have an intermittent high fever with chills, which is a bad idea. Antibiotics cannot kill viruses. They kill harmful bacteria. Antibiotics, if taken unnecessarily can affect your stomach lining, kill the good gut bacteria, cause acidity and damage your liver and kidneys.

Who is prone to viral fever?

You could be at risk of getting infected with viral fever if:

• you are close to an infected person
• you travel to an area where a particular viral fever is prevalent
• you live in an area where particular strains of viral fevers are doing the rounds
• you are working with sick people
• you have unprotected sex
• you share needles for intravenous drugs
• you are near infected animals or are slaughtering them
• your building is infested with rats

Babies, small children and elderly people are also quite prone to viral fever since their immunity is low.

What are the symptoms of viral fever? How is viral fever diagnosed?

The symptoms of viral fever include:

• fever (which intermittently rises and falls)
• fatigue
• dizziness
• weakness
• chills
• headache
• muscle, body and joint pains
• inflammation of the pharynx
• painful tonsils
• running nose
• nasal congestion
• chest congestion
• sore throat
• burning sensation in eyes
• cough
• skin rashes
• diarrhea
• nausea
• vomiting