Effect of a fever in viral infections — the ‘Goldilocks’ phenomenon?

Table 1 Examples of fever-causing viruses, categorised according to the Baltimore classification

Class	Type	Examples of virus	Examples of disease in humans
I	dsDNA virus	Adenoviruses	Bronchitis, pneumonia, gastroenteritis
		Herpesviruses	Herpes, chickenpox
II	ssDNA virus	Parvoviruses	‘Slapped cheek syndrome’, arthritis
III	dsRNA virus	Reoviruses	Gastroenteritis
IV	ssRNA virus	Coronaviruses	COVID-19, SARS, MERS
		Togaviruses	German measles, encephalitis
V	ssRNA virus	Orthomyxoviruses	Influenza
		Rhabdoviruses	Rabies
VI	ssRNA-RT virus	Retroviruses	AIDS, role in cancer
VII	dsDNA-RT virus	Hepadnaviruses	Hepatitis

ss: Single-stranded; ds: Double-stranded; RT: Reverse transcriptase; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; SARS: Severe acute respiratory syndrome; MERS: Middle East respiratory syndrome; AIDS: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.