当你或者你的小孩感到不舒服的时候，也许你会做的第一件事情就是看看是否发烧了。尽管发烧本身不是病，它通常是你的身体发生了问题的一个迹象。然而发烧不一定是件坏事。事实上，发烧有可能是在帮助你的身体战胜数量众多的细菌和病毒的感染，而发烧在这个过程中起到了关键的作用。
If you're an adult, a fever may be uncomfortable, but it usually isn't dangerous unless it measures103 For higher. For very young children and infants, however, even slightly elevated temperatures may indicate a serious infection. In newborns, a subnormal temperature — rather than a fever — may be a sign of serious illness.
大约4%的小于5岁的小孩会发生因发烧导致的痉挛（发烧痉挛）。在小孩的温度迅速地升高或者降低的时候，痉挛的症状就发生了，包括暂时失去意识以及抽搐。尽管痉挛的症状很令人焦心，多数小孩的症状不会再持续。发烧痉挛通常由这些小孩子的疾病引发，诸如红疹，病毒感染，扁桃体发炎以及皮疹。
Causes
原因
Even when you're well, your body temperature varies throughout the day — it's lower in the morning and higher in the late afternoon and evening. In fact, your normal temperature can range from about 97 to99 F. Although most people consider98.6 Fa healthy body temperature, yours may vary by a degree or more.
肌肉酸疼
•Lack of appetite
缺乏食欲
•Dehydration
脱水
•General weakness
全身虚弱
Very high fevers, between 103 and106 F, may cause hallucinations, confusion, irritability and even convulsions.
Depending on what's causing your fever, additional signs and symptoms may include:
根据引起发烧的原因，其他迹象和症状也许还包括：
•Sweating
发汗
•Shivering
发抖
•Headache
头痛
•Muscle aches
很高温度的发烧（介于103华氏度（39.4摄氏度）到106华氏度（41.1摄氏度）之间）也许会引起幻觉，神智不清，亢奋甚至抽搐。
Approximately four percent of children younger than age 5 experience fever-induced seizures (febrile seizures). The signs of febrile seizures, which occur when a child's temperature rises or falls rapidly, include a brief loss of consciousness and convulsions. Although these seizures can be extremely alarming, most children don't experience any lasting effects. Febrile seizures are often triggered by a fever from a common childhood illness such as roseola, a viral infection that causes a high fever, swollen glands and a rash.
如果你不是大人的话，一次发烧也许会让你很不舒服，但是如果温度不达到103华氏度（约为39.4摄氏度）或者以上的话，一般是没有危险的。然而，对于很小的小孩以及婴儿来说，温度只要高那么一点点，也许就意味着严重的感染。对于新生的婴儿来说，不是发烧，而是低于正常温度，也许是严重疾病的一个迹象。
Because a fever can occur with many different conditions, other signs and symptoms can often help identify the cause. If you don't know why you have a fever, it's best not to try to lower your temperature. This may only mask your symptoms and make it harder to determine the cause. In addition, some experts think that aggressively treating all fevers actually interferes with your body's immune response. That's because the viruses that cause colds and other respiratory infections thrive at cool temperatures. By producing a low-grade fever, your body may actually be helping eliminate the virus. What's more, most fevers go away in a relatively short time — usually within a few days.
Signs and symptoms
迹象和症状
A fever occurs when your temperature rises above its normal range. What's normal for you may be a little higher or lower than the average temperature of98.6 F. That's why it's hard to say just what a fever is. But a "significant" fever is usually defined as an oral or ear temperature of102 For a rectal temperature of103 F. A rectal temperature reading is generally 1 degree Fahrenheit higher than an oral reading.
发烧时发生的情况
When a fever starts and your body tries to elevate its temperature, you feel chilly and may shiver to generate heat. At this point, you probably wrap yourself in your thickest blanket and turn up the heating pad. But eventually, as your body reaches its new set-point, you likely feel hot. And when your temperature finally begins to return to normal, you may sweat profusely, which is your body's way of dissipating the excess heat.
因为发烧能在不同情况下发生，其他迹象和症状通常都有助于辨识原因。如果你不知道自己为何发烧，最好不要试图降低体温。这样做只会掩盖你的症状，使得更难确定病因。除此而外，有些专家认为，强行降体温事实上会干扰身体的免疫反应。这是因为引起感冒和其他肺部感染的病毒在低温下繁殖得更快。事实上，身体会通过产生一个相对较低温度的发烧来帮助消灭病毒。除此而外，多数发烧通常时间较短，一般几天就没了。
在体温高于正常范围的时候，发烧就产生了。正常体温应该在37上下（上下可以稍微浮动一点）。这是为什么难以定义发烧的原因。但是一次“严重的”发烧通常可以定义为口腔或者耳朵温度为102华氏度（约为38.9摄氏度），或者直肠温度103华氏度（约为39.4摄氏度）。直肠温度的读数一般大于口腔温度1华氏度左右。
体温是由体丘下部来调节的，体丘下部在脑子的底部区域，在身体的整个系统里面担任了调温器的作用。当身体发生状况的时候，体温只是被调节得高几个点。新的体温也许是102华氏度（约为38.9摄氏度），而不是原来的97或者98华氏度（36.1，36.7摄氏度）。
What happens with a fever
如果有兴趣，还是读原文吧。我感觉跟中医的处理很像，只是他们没有中药。
老外的处理方式对普通人来说，还是蛮值得借鉴的，翻译一下，大家看看。
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Overview
综述
When you or your children aren't feeling well, one of the first things you may do is check for a fever. Although a fever isn't an illness itself, it's usually a sign that something's going on in your body. Yet fevers aren't necessarily bad. In fact, they seem to play a key role in helping your body fight off a number of bacterial and viral infections.