Should the balance suddenly tip out of your favor, the pneumonia-causing germs could multiply and lead to disease. The white blood cells are smart enough to identify invaders in the body, whether they are viruses, bacteria, toxins, or parasites. When a germ overcomes the normal defenses of the skin or mucous membranes and invades the tissue, the body responds with a process known as inflammation. White blood cells are ushered to the site, where they gobble up substances recognized as foreign. Special chemicals also are released to help destroy the invader .
Fever often develops during an infection.
Although we generally think of fever as a bad thing, fever enhances the inflammatory response of the body, and certain components of the immune system work optimally at an increased body temperature. Also, fever helps to limit the growth of some germs that cannot grow well at higher temperatures . When a germ invades the body and an immune response is mounted, a Y-shaped antibody may be released to interact with the germ. Once bound, antibodies act like beacons to help immune cells recognize the foreign invader. Now, the immune cells can recognize and gobble up the antigens at a faster rate.