What should you know about sudden body chills?

Chills are involuntary muscle contractions that generate heat. They may precede a fever, occur while the body responds to Influenza or another infection, or follow being in a cold environment. Kidney Infection and Urinary Tract Infection can cause chills alongside burning urine, frequent urination or pain in the back or side. Pneumonia may add cough, chest discomfort or breathlessness.

Dengue Fever and malaria are relevant after travel or mosquito exposure. Sepsis is a dangerous body-wide response to infection; chills become more concerning when combined with confusion, very fast breathing, faintness or rapidly worsening illness. Chills by themselves cannot tell you which cause is present.

Move to a comfortable warm environment, use a light blanket and sip fluids if you can. Check your temperature and note any cough, urinary symptoms, pain, rash or recent travel. Do not use very hot water or alcohol to warm yourself. If fever medicine is normally safe for you, follow the product directions and avoid doubling ingredients in combination cold remedies.

Call emergency services for confusion, collapse, severe breathing difficulty, blue lips, a seizure or skin that is cold and mottled with rapidly worsening illness. Seek same-day medical care for persistent shaking, high fever with severe headache or neck stiffness, flank pain with urinary symptoms, chest pain, or chills after travel to a malaria area. Do not wait for a temperature reading if you feel seriously unwell.

Share the start time, measured temperature, duration of each episode and whether shaking stops when you warm up. Mention urinary or breathing symptoms, rash, headache, recent procedures, pregnancy, immune conditions and travel. Ask whether urine testing, a respiratory test or blood tests are appropriate.