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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

How a fever helps the immune system to battle infection

One type of immune cell jumps into the fray after body temperature rises, according to experiments in mice.
Girl sick in bed with thermometer

The fever that accompanies many infections prompts production of heat-shock proteins, which protect cells from cold, heat and other stresses. Credit: Vicky Kasala Productions/Getty

A fever fights infection by helping immune cells to crawl along blood-vessel walls to attack invading microbes.

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Nature 565, 400 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00175-0

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