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. 2021 Mar 31;8(6):ofab161.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab161. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Defining Fever

Philip A Mackowiak  1 , Frank A Chervenak  2 , Amos Grünebaum  2
Affiliations

Defining Fever

Philip A Mackowiak et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Although the term "fever" is used liberally in clinical publications, we provide evidence that it is rarely defined in terms of the minimum temperature used to qualify as a fever, the type of thermometer employed in measuring patients' temperatures, or the site at which temperatures are taken. We maintain that in the absence of such information, the term "fever" is meaningless.

Keywords: COVID-19; Wunderlich; fever; normal range; temperature; thermometer.

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