What is cotton fever?

Cotton fever is a fever that can develop in intravenous drug users who have filtered their medication through cotton before injecting it. It is a relatively harmless illness. Filtration helps in preventing particles to enter the bloodstream that didn’t dissolve. But if we use cotton balls as a filter, then it can cause cotton fibers to get into our blood. Cotton fever can also happen when we try to extract the leftover drug in the used cotton. Cotton fever usually strikes within 20 minutes of receiving medication via a cotton filter. It usually stays only lasts a day or two in most circumstances.

The following are the stages to contracting it:

·         Stage 1- Before the cotton plant is treated, the bacteria releases endotoxins.

·         In stage 2, before injecting the medications, the user filters them using cotton balls.

·         In stage 3, the drug is injected by the user.

·         Endotoxins are injected into the human body in stage 4.

·         The condition is known as a benign febrile syndrome or cotton fever that starts in stage 5.

Cotton fever has a challenging diagnosis. Because flu-like symptoms are shown in a variety of illnesses. Therefore, it should be properly checked beforehand if the fever is cotton fever or any other similar illness.

Symptoms of cotton fever

The condition of cotton fever is typically very symptomatic that we would expect from any common fever. It is typically a very harmless fever. Cotton fever symptom sare:

1.      High white blood cell count or leukocytosis

2.      Tachycardia or racing heart rate

3.      Headaches are made worse by a rise in body temperature.

4.      Vomiting

5.      Muscle aches (myalgia)

6.      abdominal discomfort

7.      discomfort in the chest

8.      Breathlessness

Causes of cotton fever

Cotton fever is thought to be caused by a variety of factors:

·         One is that certain people have cotton antibodies, which lead them to react to cotton fibers when they enter their bloodstream.

·         Another factor is that cotton contains pyrogenic compounds.

·         The endotoxin theory states that the cotton plant is home to bacteria called pantoeaagglomerans. A short-term fever is caused by an endotoxin released by these bacteria.