Fever isn't an illness itself; it's usually a sign that something's going on in the body. Fever is a good thing. Does that sound like an odd statement? Fever is part of our body's defense mechanism, body's natural response to fighting germs. When our bodies are fighting infections, our body temperature rises. But why? Fever is a symptom of an infection. Fever is a symptom of almost every disease known to man. When any pyrogen (e.g. microbial toxins, infectious agents etc.) enters into the body, our white blood cells rush to fight off infection. They increase in number, like an army to fight the germs, they go faster and faster attacking the germs, this causes our bodies to heat up, thus causing the fever or rise in body temperature. The hypothalamus in the brain, which is the body's heat regulating center, is affected by the pyrogens, or the white blood cells that are produced to fight the infection. In effect, we can say that the fever is what is fighting the infection. So, fever may be expressed as the "tip of the iceberg", a point at the tip representing a wide spectrum of diseases beneath the iceberg, giving us an opportunity to get prepared and be alert. This is the reason why fever is a blessing in disguise.