Thermoregulatory responses of febrile monkeys during microwave exposure.
We have examined experimentally the question of increased vulnerability to the thermalizing effects of MW exposure during febrile illness. In a controlled ambient temperature of 26 degrees C, autonomic mechanisms of heat production and heat loss were measured in febrile squirrel monkeys during 30-min exposures to 450 or 2450 MHz CW MW fields at different phases of the fever cycle (induction, plateau, defervescence). We have shown that MW energy absorbed during a febrile episode spares endogenous energy production, but may augment the fever if deposited deep in the body, as is the case during exposure at the resonant frequency. The fever may also be exacerbated if the MW exposure occurs late in the febrile episode, a condition that may put an organism at some risk, especially if the field strength exceeds safety guidelines.