What Is the Highest Fever Ever Recorded?

By Staff WriterLast Updated December 07, 2023

The highest fever ever recorded was 115.7 degrees Fahrenheit. This fever was reported in the Lawrence Journal-World, in July of 1980. A 51-year-old man named Willie Jones suffered heat stroke on July 10, 1980, when the temperature outside was 90 degrees Fahrenheit. He received treatment and survived the fever.

Any body temperature above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit when measured orally is considered to be a fever. Doctors do not consider fevers to be medically significant until they are above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Willie Jones’ fever was so high that his temperature exceeded the scale on the rectal thermometer used by the hospital. Doctors gave him the nickname “The Human Torch.”