Chills: causes, care and when to seek help

Chills are a feeling of cold with involuntary shivering that can occur during illness or temperature change.

You may shake, have goosebumps, chatter your teeth, or want extra layers even in a warm room. An episode can arrive before, during, or after a fever, but chills can also happen without a measured fever. Notice whether they are brief or recurring and whether you also have cough, pain when passing urine, rash, headache, vomiting, or breathlessness.

Seek urgent medical assessment for chills with confusion, difficulty breathing, chest pain, a stiff neck, a new widespread rash, fainting, or severe weakness. Get prompt care if you cannot keep fluids down, have very little urine, or feel rapidly worse. After recent travel, tell the clinician where you travelled and when symptoms began.

Chills can accompany infections and other changes that affect temperature control. The conditions listed here are arranged alphabetically, not by how often they explain chills. Influenza and pneumonia can involve respiratory symptoms. Kidney infection and urinary tract infection may bring urinary burning, urgency, back pain, or lower abdominal discomfort. Dengue fever and malaria may be relevant after exposure in areas where they occur. Sepsis is a serious body-wide response to infection that needs emergency care.

A clinician will ask when the shaking started, whether you recorded a temperature, recent travel, contact with unwell people, medicines, and accompanying symptoms. Examination may include temperature, pulse, blood pressure, breathing and checks of the chest, abdomen, throat, skin, and urinary area. Depending on the story, tests can include urine testing, blood tests, swabs, imaging, or tests for infections linked to travel.

Keep comfortably warm, rest, and sip fluids if you can drink safely. Treatment targets the underlying problem: a clinician may advise symptom relief for a viral illness, prescribe medicine for a confirmed bacterial infection, or arrange urgent hospital care if there are signs of severe infection. Do not use leftover antibiotics or take antimalarial medicines without professional guidance, as the right treatment depends on the diagnosis and travel history.

Wash hands after coughing, sneezing, or using the bathroom, and avoid sharing drinking containers when someone is unwell. Drink regularly during heat or illness unless you have been told to limit fluids. Food safety, mosquito-bite prevention when travelling, and keeping recommended vaccinations up to date can reduce some infection risks. If episodes recur, a symptom diary with temperature readings and timing can help a clinician identify a pattern.

Record fever, sweats, shaking intensity, cough, sore throat, diarrhoea, vomiting, rash, urinary changes, and pain location. This detail helps distinguish a short-lived illness from a problem needing tests. A thermometer reading is useful, but a normal reading does not replace assessment when red-flag symptoms are present.

Many episodes settle as the underlying trigger improves. Persistent or returning chills deserve review, particularly when paired with fever, localised pain, urinary symptoms, or a cough that is worsening. Early assessment can direct testing and treatment before dehydration or a serious infection develops.