Vomiting, body aches and chills: what to know

Chills can happen when the body is responding to a fever or infection, while muscle aches may result from the body's inflammatory response. Influenza and COVID-19 can present with body aches, chills, nausea, or vomiting. Dengue fever and malaria can also cause fever with aches, chills, and vomiting; travel history and mosquito exposure help guide assessment. Brucellosis is another infection that can present with fever, sweats, tiredness, and aches. These symptoms may also have non-infectious causes, so a clinician may ask about medicines, pregnancy, existing conditions, and recent food or fluid intake.

A diagnosis depends on the full pattern: fever, diarrhoea, cough, headache, pain location, urine output, recent travel, and how long symptoms have lasted. Long COVID, fibromyalgia, and hypothyroidism can involve fatigue or aches, but sudden vomiting and chills deserve assessment in context rather than an assumption about the cause.

Take small, frequent sips of water or an oral rehydration drink. If drinking triggers vomiting, pause briefly and try again with a smaller amount. When nausea settles, choose light foods such as soup, rice, toast, or bananas, and avoid alcohol and foods that clearly worsen symptoms. Rest, keep the room comfortably cool, and wash your hands carefully after vomiting or using the bathroom.

Check your temperature if possible and note when vomiting began, how often it occurs, what you can keep down, and whether you are passing urine normally. Do not start antibiotics or take anti-vomiting or pain medicines without checking that they are suitable for you, particularly if you are pregnant, have kidney disease, take blood thinners, or might have dengue.

Seek urgent medical help for confusion, fainting, trouble breathing, a stiff neck, a severe or worsening headache, severe abdominal pain, a seizure, or vomit containing blood or material that looks like coffee grounds. Urgent assessment is also needed when you cannot keep fluids down, pass very little urine, have a very dry mouth, or feel markedly weak or dizzy.

Contact a clinician promptly if fever persists, vomiting continues, symptoms are worsening, or you have recently travelled to an area where malaria or dengue occurs. Get advice sooner for an infant, an older adult, pregnancy, diabetes, kidney disease, or a weakened immune system. In the UAE, call emergency services if symptoms are severe or you may be seriously dehydrated.

Ask: What causes fit my symptoms and recent exposures? Do I need testing for an infection? How much fluid should I try, and which medicines are safe for me? What signs mean I should return urgently? Mention every medicine or supplement you take, recent travel, insect bites, sick contacts, unusual food or water, pregnancy possibility, and any blood, pain, fever, diarrhoea, or change in urination.