“Madonna’s disease”: why some people’s temperature does not subside for months

The doctor told about the strangest patient

The famous singer Madonna was discharged from a hospital in New York after fainting, resuscitation and mechanical ventilation. But this does not mean that she is cured: Madonna does not get out of bed, private doctors look after her in her mansion. For more than a month she had a subfebrile (slightly elevated) temperature, which the artist ignored until she was taken to the hospital unconscious. The 64-year-old performer, according to media reports, almost said goodbye to her life. “MK” found out under what diseases an elevated body temperature can last for months.

Madonna was so careless about her health because she was so busy preparing for a new tour. But the disease did not doze all this time, and on June 24 the star ended up in the intensive care unit. The reason for the deterioration of health was a bacterial infection.

A temperature that does not subside for weeks and even months is not such a rare occurrence. Patients in social networks share their stories about this. For example, 35-year-old Natalya has already visited a dozen and a half doctors – but no one has been able to establish the cause of her ailment. She has had a subfebrile temperature for five months, which is accompanied by dizziness and weakness. The temperature does not go below 37.3. Doctors say they have never experienced anything like this. Of the diagnoses, so far there are only one assumptions, among which are asthenia and a failure in the body’s thermoregulation.

Maria writes, for example, that she has had a temperature of 37 and above for more than a year after suffering a coronavirus infection: “I was taught at a medical school that such a temperature can be both a sign of a sluggish inflammatory process and a symptom of vegetative-vascular dystonia. This happens sometimes after the flu. In Russia, this condition is called differently: asthenic syndrome, tired adrenal glands, pale sickness … but whatever you call it, only the symptoms do not disappear anywhere.

Another patient says that her subfebrile temperature after covid does not subside for 8 months: “At the same time, she constantly jumps: sometimes 36.2, then 37.4, then 37. I took blood tests, everything is normal.”

Some patients were still able to identify the cause of the persistent fever. For example, Alena’s temperature rose due to the Epstein-Barr virus “waking up” against the background of covid. And Svetlana said that her case turned out to be psychosomatic – the temperature was kept for 8 months due to depression. The doctor prescribed antidepressants – everything went away.

“Of course, any infection, not just covid, can become the starting point for launching a chronic infection dormant in the body. I have had many such patients, each situation needs to be sorted out. At the same time, it is women who most often complain about a prolonged increase in body temperature, which can be explained by their hormonal status. For example, in some women, the temperature sometimes rises to subfebrile values ​​​​during ovulation, ”Ilya Korneichuk, an immunologist, told MK.

He recalls his strangest patient: she suffered a severe ARVI that lasted more than a month back in 1998 at the age of 23. After that, she had subfebrile temperature for a month. And since then, any cold or SARS have a long temperature trail. “But Madonna, as they say, is more banal: the cause of the prolonged temperature was a bacterial infection, which she simply launched. So there is no mystery here. Health needs to be treated carefully, especially at her not so young age.

The expert says that foci of chronic infections can be activated against the background of a viral load and give a long temperature reaction. In addition, disorders in the vegetative sphere can be the cause of subfebrile temperature for a long time: “In fact, doctors rarely find the cause of this condition. Apparently, if only they are looking badly or looking in the wrong place. First of all, infections are excluded: colitis, pyelonephritis and others. The patient may then be referred to an immunologist or neurologist, depending on the situation. Treatment is prescribed individually: vitamins will help some, antidepressants others.