Acute Fever in Homeopathy

(written for the October 2021 Homeopathic Nurses Association Newsletter)

Pyrexia, or as it more commonly called, fever, is a defensive state in which the body temperature rises as a reaction to an infectious agent, such as a virus or bacteria, and is one of the distinguishing characteristics of an inflammatory response. A fever stimulates defense against pathogens or infections and helps restore the body to homeostasis. Fever is associated with increased metabolic rate, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, and demands on the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Without fever, there is no innate defense against infection.

The notion that the standard human body temperature is 98.6°F is attributed to a nineteenth-century German physician’s calculation of an average when he measured approximately 200 people. More recently, the generally accepted clinical view is that “normal” body temperature ranges from 97°F to 99°F. Officially, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention defines a person as ill with a fever of 100.4°F. (or higher).⁽⁵⁾ Mark Warner, M.D., an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, writes that a fever in an infant younger than three months is defined by a rectal temperature of 100.4°F. In children ages 3 to 36 months, a fever is defined as a rectal temperature of 100.4°F to 102.2°F. In older children and adults, a fever is defined by an oral temperature of 100.0°F to 103.0°F.⁽⁴⁾

Homeopathy has recognized that the development of disease is recognized by symptoms created by the vital force (VF). In 1810, Samuel Hahnemann wrote about the VF in the Organon of Medicine, Aphorisms 9–18.⁽⁶⁾ The VF is a complex energy system inside the body that protects itself from harmful internal or external factors. The VF becomes altered by disease, and the disease becomes known through the external signs and symptoms it creates.

Types of Fever

According to Petr Zacharias, a homeopath practicing in the Czech Republic, the four most common types of fevers are

Continual fever This presents as a high fever that remains the same day and night, with little variation in temperature. It can be serious, lasting hours or days, and can produce significant stress on the organism. Two remedies used in a continual fever are Aconite and Belladonna.
Remittent fever A variable body temperature distinguishes this fever. Usually the temperature is around 101.3°F in the morning, and as the day progresses, the fever increases. In the evening, a temperature around 104.0°F or higher continues through the first half of the night and gradually continues to decrease. In the morning, it is lower again, but not normal. The whole process might repeat itself. Remittent fever is common in acute infectious diseases. Some of the remedies used in remittent fever include Arsenicum and Bryonia.
Intermittent fever This is characterized attacks of high fever. In between the febrile episodes, the temperature returns to normal. For example, the body temperature is 101.8°F in the morning, but in the afternoon it returns to normal. Intermittent fever is uncommon in infectious diseases and is seen more frequently in patients with chronic subinflammatory states, such as Epstein-Barr virus, which is characterized by a persistent, infectious mononucleosis-like syndrome. Remedies that can treat intermittent fever include Calcarea carbonica, although many others have been indicated.
Periodic fever Common in people with malaria, periodic fever is also frequent in children with chronic PFAPA (periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, adenitis) syndrome, which usually presents between 2 and 5 years of age.⁽¹⁾ The remedies China and Natrum Muriaticum are two common remedies used in periodic fever.

To successfully treat a patient with an acute fever using homeopathy, broaden your focus wider than simply trying to reduce the fever. Take note of other changes that the patient had when and after the fever began. During an acute disease, the VF starts to produce strong, visible symptoms to protect the vital internal parts of the organism. Those symptoms indicate how the VF is working. Besides discerning the type of fever of the patient, a homeopath should evaluate mood, perspiration, thirst, temperature, timing, and other symptoms specific to the situation, such as rash, discharge, cough, and specific pains. A repertory analysis of the aggregated information will eventually indicate a pattern that leads to the correct remedy.

Knowing the speed of the fever—whether it developed quickly or slowly—is helpful in finding the correct remedy. In other words, there are groups of remedies that match a fast and sustained fever, while others match the presence of fever with other, slowly developing symptoms. Also, being aware of the specific etiology is critical to discovering the correct remedy. For example, exposure to a severely cold, dry wind, or a sudden fright followed by a very high continuous fever may lead a practitioner to prescribe the remedy Aconite.

Homeopaths see high fever as critical information because it helps one understand the patient’s level of health and more clearly predict the prognosis of the chronic case. George Vithoulkas’s theory of the levels of health explains that a person’s particular disposition toward wellness can be found in one of four groups, each divided into three levels, ranging from the most healthy (at Level 1) to the sickest (Level 12).⁽²⁾

A person in Level 1 is treated with one constitutional remedy for both acute and chronic conditions. (Vithoulkas observes that, worldwide, there are extremely few people in Level 1.) As the levels progress downward, the more difficult it is to find the correct remedy for a person in that level. People in Level 2 and lower require more than one remedy to treat either acute or chronic conditions. In people who are in Level 5 and Level 6, there are frequent acutes with high fever. When a person’s health is at Level 7, there are mild acutes with low fevers. People in the lower levels (Level 8 to Level 12) have no fevers at all. In people suffering from chronic diseases in these levels, the DM weakens and the remedy patterns become more chaotic.

Accordingly, if you have a patient with a high fever, you can deduce that she is in a Level 1 to Level 6 because her immune system is highly functioning. Knowing this information can help you determine a safe remedy potency.⁽⁸⁾

Suppression of Fever

Frequently, patients, and parents, and other caregivers decide to treat fever themselves, without consulting a health care provider. Many, if not most, people believe that fever is harmful and that an elevated temperature requires intervention regardless of its cause and effects. The effort of the immune system is suppressed by drugs (such as antipyretics, antibiotics, and steroids). Thus, the inflammatory response is interrupted. When symptoms are suppressed, the immune system moves the illness to a deeper part of the organism.⁽³⁾

In February 2021, Seema Mahesh, M.D., reported on the effects of suppression of inflammatory response⁽⁷⁾. She cites George Vithoulkas’s Continuum Theory of a Unified Theory of Disease. His theory proposes that continuous suppression of fever can have negative consequences, because the aim of inflammation is to neutralize the disease. At the end of an acute inflammation, markers (such as cytokines, prostaglandins, and tumor necrosis factor) are cleared and the organism returns to its previous state. Every time an inflammatory response is stunted, however, there is a remnant of the inflammatory response. If an inflammatory response in repeatedly suppressed, the body no longer attempts to defend itself and reacts to the suppression as a stress. Every time there is a stress, the body enters a newly compromised state: a constant, ineffectual inflammation, better known as subinflammation. It triggers chronic inflammation, leading to the chronic inflammatory disease to which one is predisposed.⁽³⁾

Once in my practice, a patient reported he that he had had a fever and nothing helped him feel better. Knowing he had a thermometer, I asked, “How high was the fever?” He answered, “The fever was high, but I actually never checked it.” Although I did not have an exact reading, I still asked him for details on the specifics of his fever.

A patient who has continual fever will often remark that it has been persistent. Ask what other accompanying symptoms there are (such as redness of the face, a congestive headache, and/or increased or decreased thirst). Getting a family member or caregiver to help with the observation can offer confirmation or further clarification. In another case I worked on, a patient told me, “The fever was high, but it’s down since I took acetaminophen.” In this scenario, it was difficult to assess the type of fever because it had been suppressed. Was it a continual fever but since suppression it is now remittent? What other symptoms might have been suppressed? I asked him what his symptoms were before he took acetaminophen. This led to a clearer picture of the initial symptoms and of the remedy.

If you are a nurse and a homeopath, you know that patient education is a common denominator in your work. Teach them about hydrotherapy, cold compresses, and drinking cold water as simple, initial treatment therapies for fever.⁽⁹⁾ Ensure that your patients know there are proper treatments from a homeopathic and a traditional Western medical point of view. A concise but specific explanation of fever, including its benefits and actions, will help them better understand what role it plays in the bigger picture of inflammation in acute and chronic disease, and in their health.

Petry Zacharias. From “High Fever in Children,” Mentoring Club, audio lecture 11. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
George Vithoulkas. Levels of Health, Third Revised Edition, Alonissos, 2019. p. 23.
Seema Mahesh, M.D., Research Head, International Academy Center for Homeopathy. From “Presentation on the Levels of Health and Continuum Theory,” online seminar broadcast February 6–7, 2021.
Mark Warner, M.D.“Fever in Infants and Children: Pathophysiology and Management.” www.uptodate.com/contents/fever-in-infants-and-children-pathophysiology-and-management. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
cdc.gov/quarantine/air/reporting-deaths-illness/definitions-symptoms-reportable-illnesses.html. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
Samuel Hahnemann. Organon of Medicine, Sixth Edition, B. Jain Publishers, New Dehli, 1983. pp. 97–106.
Seema Mahesh, M.D., Research Scholar, School of Medicine, Taylor’s University Malaysia. “A Novel Outlook on the Correlation between Acute and Chronic Inflammatory States, a Retrospective Observational Study.” October 14, 2020.
George Vithoulkas. Levels of Health, Third Revised Edition, Alonnisos, 2019. p. 52.
Susan M. Roberts, N.D. Naturopathic Pediatric Essentials, Fever. Healing Mountain Publishing, 2003. pp. 53–58