Is 99.7 considered a fever?

Have you ever taken your temperature and wondered if it is considered a fever? Maybe you’ve had the common cold, or something more severe like COVID-19, and are curious about whether that slightly higher temperature means anything. Well, don’t worry because we have all the information you need right here!

Understanding Body Temperature

Before we can answer whether 99.7 is considered a fever, let’s understand body temperature first. The average human body temperature ranges from 97.8 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit (36.5 to 37.2 Celsius). This range may differ depending on factors such as age or time of day.

If our body temperature goes outside this normal range for an extended period, it can indicate an underlying health issue; hence it’s monitored closely in healthcare settings.

So what’s in a fever?

Fever occurs when our core body temp elevates above its baseline level due to internal/external stimuli such as infection or inflammation post-injury/surgery/vaccinations etc.

The generally accepted setting point for classifying individuals with raised temperatures has been set at >100°F (for ages <3mnts – baby) and >100.4°F otherwise by most hospitals/researchers worldwide.

Therefore any adult individual whose sublingual/ oral TEMPERATURE reads over ~38°C (~101°F), axillary temps ~37°C (~98 f) might be said to have ‘low-grade’ FEVER (even statistics suggest only ≤20% likelihood of turn-severe)

Now that we know what constitutes a “fever,” let’s dive into the question at hand:

Is 99.7 Considered a Fever?

Well! not entirely!! This actually depends on how frequently hot/cold flashes occur amongst one’s lifetime / threshold build-up owing standard deviation prevalent among/between various populations.

In general terms, a temperature reading of 99.7 Fahrenheit falls within the range considered to be ‘normal body temperature’, thus technically not counted as Fever. 

So, if you measure your body temperature with an oral thermometer and get a reading of 99.7 F (37.6 C), don’t worry – you probably don’t have a fever.

When Should You Worry?

You should start worrying once your body temperatures shoot up to(or above) fever setting points or experience symptoms like:

  • Headache/ dizziness,
  • Visual blurring/ altered mental status
  • Generalized muscle pain/ non-resolving fatigue
  • Cardiovascular instabilities (Tachycardia/Hypotension)
  • Hemodynamic collapse(septicaemia Malaria Dengue etc)1

If left unchecked beyond reasonable limits, these might progress to multi-organ failure/skin lesions/Shock /Respiratory Distress Syndrome hence timely intervention may help avoid adverse complications in major foreshadowing scenarios!

What Causes Fevers?

Fevers are usually caused by infections such as bacterial/viral/fungal attacks on our immune system or triggering events like allergies/autoimmunity/cancers that require immediate medical attention where hyperthermia is becoming resistant-to-treatment 2.

Other reasons include –

Drug Reactions

Some medications or vaccines can also cause fevers as side effects; however, they’re mild compared to other causes!

(Wait …we go through all this trouble discussing whether96°f =97°F – 100°F counts for Naught?? Yup! pretty much… )

How To Check Your Body Temperature Effectively?

Checking your body temperature doesn’t have to be bothersome anymore! It’s essential during pandemics/mass gatherings that one follows social distancing norms when interacting with healthcare volunteers/admins/officers but how do we ensure consistent reliable readings?

Suppose you’re unsure about the accuracy of your reading or would like to confirm if there’s a fever or not. There are several different types of thermometers that exist in markets, including:

Regular Oral Thermometers

Oral body temperature readings can be taken using glass analogue mercury-based / Digital devices inserted under the tongue and held in place for 3-5 minutes without movement owing to salivary-isolation research suggests they’re more precise/reliable than axillary readings.

Infrared Thermometers

Infrared thermometers are quite popular nowadays since they provide contactless temperature measurements by targeting thermal radiation within ear/cranial/sublingual/augmented forehead, etc., that reflect off our skins surface (also available with multi-user memory support)

Wearable Smart Devices

Smart wearable techs such as smartwatches/disposable patches have also been developed with built-in TH sensors capable of detecting early warning signs once outside threshold values all automatically transmitted wirelessly hence beneficial for remote patient monitoring w/o compromising populace accessibility 4.

Wrap Up:

So now you know everything about temperatures – don’t forget there isn’t anything appealingly alarming attached to relatively lower-range temps anywhere between97°F – 99°F! Just stay hydrated/don’t exert too much simultaneously remaining self-aware/contacting medical professionals when uncertain.

N.B.: TAKE TIME TO READ THERMOMETER INSTRUCTIONS AND BOOK BACKED ACCURACY CLAIMS!

Stay Safe & Healthy.


  1. Kasper DL, Jameson JL, Fauci AS (2020). “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine” 

  2. Widmann FK (2016). “Fever”. Aminoff MJ Encyclopedia of Neurology Vol. 1 Chapter 28 

  3. Lee JB.(2002).” Clinical review: Measurement of core temperature using skin-derived equivalents.” Critical Care.^21(5):319-323 

  4. Kostov Y. (2020). “Wearable sensor systems for early detection and management of COVID-19 isolation”.Sensors.Abstr 20(16)(4547) 

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