Highest body survivable temperature ?

[Externet]

I know nearly nothing important about the subject.

Fever is a body defensive mechanism to kill germs AFAIK.

Heard something around 43C = 110F being fatal. ¿?

Read Saharan nomads live in it, daily.

Heard the brain is damaged first. Which are the next organs in danger by overtemperature ?

 

IF other organs can cope with -say 50C = 122F for at least some hours, like my attic in July.

 

If the brain was somehow kept cool by potent external neck-carothids and head cooling apparatus, say at ~35C = 95F and the rest of body in a 50C = 122F chamber...

 

Could that kill ebola virus ?

 

Or, reverse. Cooling the body artificially to a survivable near-limit ?

Edited October 14, 2014 by Externet

[CharonY]

Fever does not actually kill bacteria (and viruses are not getting denatured at this point, typically). The precise utility is actually somewhat unknown, and it has been speculated that it increases the speed of host biochemical reactions ore may reduce bacterial growth. To my knowledge this is still an unresolved question.

 

You also have to distinguish between core temperature and the exposure temperature. Typically thermoregulation works very well and provided you have access to liquids, sweating can take care of cooling down to non-fatal temps. But obviously, if you add heat e.g. by exerting yourself you can and will get heat strokes and it can be fatal. In other words, your core temp has to be sufficient low in order to avoid health effects. In neither case it is feasible to heat someone up to temps that would actively kill or inactivate pathogens. In case of ebola you would need to have about 60C for 30 mins. If you raise the core temp to that level, you will have killed your patient (much less maintaining it for that amount of time).

[Endy0816]

I've heard of the reverse being done in the case of Rabies. Not sure on how the Ebola virus would be impacted though.

[CharonY]

I have not heard about that as a treatment, but there have been attempts of inducing coma to allow antiviral therapies and immune responses to fight off rabies without damaging the brain (with mostly little success). I assume that if hypothermia was induced it was to protect the body, but it would not get rid off rabies or other viruses.