Would you consider leaving fever untreated in patients with sepsis to potentially enhance immune responses and antimicrobial efficacy?

In light of the review article attached (Tilanus et al., PMID 41113323), there is some data reviewed supporting that fever is actually therapeutic. Four articles are of special interest in the review. Two are from the 70s, before sepsis was defined as it is today. Two are in the last 15 years, but o...

Medicine has a habit of forgetting its own history. I’ve never understood the reflexive need—beyond patient comfort—to suppress fever below 104°F (40°C).

The article begins, “Fever is widely regarded as harmful for the patient.” I’m not sure who this “widely” refers to. Fever is a conserved biologic...

Awaiting some direct evidence of clinical benefit. In the interim, I am well aware of clinical downsides in terms of cardiovascular stability, CNS function, and patient discomfort. Always good to challenge and rethink well-established practices, but in this instance, the evidence is simply not there...