A 5-year-old boy has a severe sore throat, high fever, and cervical adenopathy.
-Before antibiotic therapy is initiated, the patient is given aspirin to reduce his fever. The mechanism of fever reduction by aspirin is

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

[Chapter 2, VI C 2]. By inhibiting cyclooxygenase, aspirin inhibits the production of prostaglandins and lowers the hypothalamic set-point temperature to its original value. After aspirin treatment, the hypothalamus "reads" the body temperature as being higher than the set-point temperature and activates heat-loss mechanisms, including sweating and vasodilation of skin blood vessels. This vasodilation shunts blood toward the surface skin. When heat is lost from the body by these mechanisms, body temperature is reduced.

A 5-Year-Old Boy Has a Severe Sore Throat, High Fever