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Fever: Blessing or Curse?
- Daniel B. Hrdy, MD, PhD
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
TO THE EDITOR:
Dr. Mackowiak [1] presents the interesting hypothesis that if “one accepts preservation of the species, rather than survival of the individual, as the essence of evolution, fever and its mediators might have evolved … for hastening the elimination of fulminantly infected individuals who pose a threat of epidemic disease to the species.”
This hypothesis uses the “species benefit fallacy” [2]. As evolutionary biologists have shown [3], natural selection can only act on the individual (or on groups of closely related kin), not on the species. Any individual who died to preserve the species would fail to leave his or her traits to subsequent generations. Individuals without the trait that led to early death would leave more offspring, and the trait would tend to disappear from the population. The “essence of evolution” rests in the fact that individuals leave different numbers of surviving offspring according to their individual evolutionary fitness. The current consensus is that a trait will not evolve to preserve the species [4].
Daniel B. Hrdy, MD, PhD
University of California, Davis, Medical Center; Sacramento, CA 95817
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
