# Are many people not aware that they have a fever? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [May 3, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062 "2020-05-03T11:56:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/41 "2020-05-05T01:42:46Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > . . . BTW, get your shingles vaccine people! I’m 4 weeks into this, and still can’t sleep more than 3 hours before getting woken up by stabbing or pinprick like pain at random areas of my torso. I’d like to, but no pharmacy or doctor’s office that I call has any. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/42 "2020-05-05T01:50:41Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > … I checked after a fairly busy week, once, and noticed that my temp looked pretty random after the first two digits which stayed on 97. Suspiciously non bell curve distribution. It was an indoor job, mostly in three rooms. Made me suspicious about the medical significance of that third digit. We should be suspicious of even the first decimal point. The work to determine “normal” human body temperature was done in Celsius. 37’C was established as normal, because, considering the variation among healthy people, another significant figure was not warranted. Then 37C got converted to 98.6F, which suggests that “normal” is known to the first decimal point, when in fact the 1 sigma of normal is about 1F. This is why doctors don’t generally consider it a fever if it is under 100, but many new mothers worry if baby has a “fever” of 99.1. It would have been far more sensible to have called “normal” 99’F, and 1/2 a degree is plenty of precision from a diagnostic standpoint. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/43 "2020-05-05T01:52:00Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > …But If I touch another person’s face I can usually tell quite accurately what their temperature is. I’ve only been off once, by one degree. And there have been several times when I’ve shaken someone’s hand, or hugged them, or something and said “You all right? You’ve got a fever” and they thought I was crazy, but the thermometer proved me right. (One of those might have died if I hadn’t gotten her to the hospital.) I once read a study where someone had mothers and doctors feel the forehead of a child, and say whether they thought the kid had a fever. Then they took all the kids’ temperatures with accurate thermometers. What they found was that both mothers and doctors were extremely accurate in telling which kids had fever. Apparently, it’s pretty easy to tell is someone else is the wrong temperature. I think the temp of hands is more influenced by being out in the cold, or exercising and the body trying to dump heat. But I agree with you that I can tell from a hug if someone is too hot. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/44 "2020-05-05T17:22:44Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > 😕 > > Seems like you can tell when you have a fever – you’re hot, cold, shivering, and sweating. Exactly. But one of the aspects of fever is that it affects your brain function. If you have a fever, chances are good you’ll have trouble realizing it. The worse your fever is, the more dampened your cognition. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/45 "2020-05-05T17:40:37Z")
I guess, for very high fevers, but I haven’t heard this for run-of-the-mill ones, below, say, 104. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/46 "2020-05-05T18:10:08Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Years ago, I helped organize my mother’s 80th birthday party. And went to the party. And had a good time; feeling a little fuzzy, but I thought that was from lack of sleep. > > Afterwards, somebody, probably my mother, said I really looked a bit off and ought to take my temperature. Which I did. > > 102ºF.\* > > It’s very possible to have a fever and not know that you’ve got a fever. > > – if I am feeling wonky, I’ll usually take my temperature. Sometimes I’ve got a fever; sometimes I don’t. I can’t tell just from the way I feel. > > \*whatever it was that I had, IIRC nobody else caught it. > [@nelliebly](#): > > Huh? Most people feel at least intermittently hot when they run a significant fever. People might not recognize they have a _low grade_ fever because that they don’t have the general malaise and intermittent chills often associated with higher fevers. They ascribe feeling hot to an overheated room or the weather or hot flashes. Personally, I feel “icky” when I have a low fever, but once it is over about 101’F, I get so loopy, I don’t even know what a fever is. I once spent a day at school with a fever of 102+, and I was a kid who took any excuse to go to the nurse’s and try to finagle an early dismissal (back then, your parents were allowed to send a cab for you, and let you go home to an empty house, or even give permission over the phone for you to walk home, if that was how you normally got home). Anyway, I had such raging strep, the doctor decided that not only did I need an oral antibiotic, but I needed an injection of one, ASAP. I had another experience in the military where I went on sick call to get a cough medicine prescription for a nagging cough, and it turned out I had a fever over 102. The clinician who took my temp said to the others “Hey! We’ve got one who’s actually sick!” But there are lots of times I felt like I must have a real inferno, and it was 99, so technically, yes, I had a fever, but not one a doctor would have considered “sick.” Basically, I have no idea about fevers. I’m sure the reason is that the whole cause of a fever is that infections screw up your ability to maintain homeostasis, so it would make sense you can’t gauge your own temp-- along with the temperature of the room, etc. Additional data: when I get shaky chills, I test my blood sugar before my temp. Low blood sugar makes me cold and shaky. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/47 "2020-05-06T09:20:16Z")
For me, it’s that I can have the symptoms that I have with a fever without actually having one. Even the most characteristic symptoms–the chills with that pain feeling that shows you’re not just killed, can come on me for various reasons. Hell, I take medicines whose side effects can be “flu-like symptoms” and they seem to mean what I described. I’m actually back to having them now, after a few weeks of not having them, and am being very careful checking my temp to avoid hurting my mom. But I feel miserable, and would rather sleep. The reason I’m up is that I stay up in case she gets into a coughing fit and her oxygen levels start dropping. I watch her at night, while dad watches her during the day while I sleep. I also check to make sure she hasn’t lost her oxygen. It sucks when you have a chronic lung disease and some sort of respiratory infection, even if it doesn’t seem to be COVID-19. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/48 "2020-05-06T17:47:37Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > 😕 > > Seems like you can tell when you have a fever – you’re hot, cold, shivering, and sweating. Feeling cold, shivering, and sweating happen when your temperature is _changing_ rapidly. When your body is trying to heat up, you feel cold. When your body is trying to cool you down, you sweat. When it’s at a static (but high temperature), you won’t have chills or sweat. You’ll just be hotter than you normally are. But unless you’re in a perfectly climate-controlled space, you’re going to regularly feel hot or cold based on the environment. So those are pretty poor cues. I bet I only have a fever 1% of the time I sweat or feel cold. Even when I have other symptoms of being sick along with those, it’s rarely a fever. Sometimes houses are drafty! > [@TruCelt](#): > > Exactly. But one of the aspects of fever is that it affects your brain function. If you have a fever, chances are good you’ll have trouble realizing it. The worse your fever is, the more dampened your cognition. No, that’s not why you can’t tell if you have a fever. Brain function is not significantly impaired with a normal fever. It’s easy to tell if _someone else_ has a fever by feeling with your hand. Because they’ll feel hot. But you can’t tell because you don’t have any constant referent temperature to compare to. You can’t feel your own forehead with your hand because your hand is hotter too! The way to know if you have a fever is to measure your temperature. Ideally with a thermometer, but having someone else who doesn’t have a fever feel your forehead is also pretty effective. ---
**Author:** ![tokiyokeller11](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokiyokeller11/32/327_2.png) [@tokiyokeller11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tokiyokeller11)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/49 "2020-05-10T01:34:37Z")
I am not.! Sad! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062/50 "2020-05-10T20:44:38Z")
> [@thorny locust](#): > > Years ago, I helped organize my mother’s 80th birthday party. And went to the party. And had a good time; feeling a little fuzzy, but I thought that was from lack of sleep. > > Afterwards, somebody, probably my mother, said I really looked a bit off and ought to take my temperature. Which I did. > > 102ºF.\* > > It’s very possible to have a fever and not know that you’ve got a fever. Yes. Or maybe “not notice” or “deny” is a better way of describing it. Both my kids had strep throat. We took them to the doctor, she did the quick test - sure enough, both had strep, both had fevers. Then she looked at me, and asked I felt sick. I said No, I was fine. And I was, more or less - I am the daddy, I have to carry on, I don’t have time to be sick. The doctor took my temperature, and it was 102[sup]o[/sup]. Antibiotics for the whole family. “Sick” means I can’t get out of bed. That’s the metric. I got the lecture about infecting others, so I try to pay better attention, wash my hands, work from home, etc. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-many-people-not-aware-that-they-have-a-fever/853062.md?page=2)