This term fell out of use in the early 20th century, and the symptoms it referred to are now thought to have been caused mainly by various minor viral respiratory infections. Society and culture
Mythology
Febris (fever in Latin) is the goddess of fever  in Roman mythology. People with fevers would visit her temples. Tertiana and Quartana are the goddesses of tertian and quartan fevers of malaria in Roman mythology. Jvarasura (fever-demon in Hindi) is the personification of fever and disease in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Paediatrics
Fever is often viewed with greater concern by parents and healthcare professionals than might be deserved, a phenomenon known as fever phobia, which is based in both caregivers and parents misconceptions about fever in children. Among them, many parents incorrectly believe that fever is a disease rather than a medical sign, that even low fevers are harmful, and that any temperature even briefly or slightly above the oversimplified "normal" number marked on a thermometer is a clinically significant fever. They are also afraid of harmless side effects like febrile seizures and dramatically overestimate the likelihood of permanent damage from typical fevers. The underlying problem, according to professor of pediatrics Barton D. Schmitt, is that "as parents we tend to suspect that our childrens brains may melt." As a result of these misconceptions parents are anxious, give the child fever-reducing medicine when the temperature is technically normal or only slightly elevated, and interfere with the childs sleep to give the child more medicine.
In contrast, hyperthermia involves body temperature rising above its set point due to outside factors. The high temperatures of hyperpyrexia are considered medical emergencies, as they may indicate a serious underlying condition or lead to severe morbidity (including permanent brain damage), or to death. A common cause of hyperpyrexia is an intracranial hemorrhage. Other causes in emergency room settings include sepsis, Kawasaki syndrome, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, drug overdose, serotonin syndrome, and thyroid storm. Differential diagnosis
Fever is a common symptom of many medical conditions:

Infectious disease, e.g., COVID-19, dengue, Ebola, gastroenteritis, HIV, influenza, Lyme disease, rocky mountain spotted fever, secondary syphilis, malaria, mononucleosis, as well as infections of the skin, e.g., abscesses and boils. Immunological diseases, e.g., relapsing polychondritis, autoimmune hepatitis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Horton disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, Kawasaki disease, lupus erythematosus, sarcoidosis, and Stills disease;
Tissue destruction, as a result of cerebral bleeding, crush syndrome, hemolysis, infarction, rhabdomyolysis, surgery, etc. ;
Cancers, particularly blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphomas;
Metabolic disorders, e.g., gout, and porphyria; and
Inherited metabolic disorder, e.g., Fabry disease.Adult and pediatric manifestations for the same disease may differ; for instance, in COVID-19, one metastudy describes 92.8% of adults versus 43.9% of children presenting with fever.In addition, fever can result from a reaction to an incompatible blood product.Teething is not a cause of fever. Function
Immune function
Fever is thought to contribute to host defense, as the reproduction of pathogens with strict temperature requirements can be hindered, and the rates of some important immunological reactions are increased by temperature.