Final answer:
A fever characterized by temperatures that come and go is often seen with relapsing fever or certain types of malaria, which are infectious diseases exhibiting cyclical fever patterns due to the life cycle of the pathogens involved.
Step-by-step explanation:
The type of fever characterized by temperatures that come and go is typically associated with certain types of infectious diseases. One example of such a fever is seen in relapsing fever, which is a chronic disease that usually presents as an acute febrile illness with temperatures often between 40-41 °C (104-105.8 °F), along with flu-like signs and symptoms that recur.
Relapsing fever is commonly caused by certain bacteria and is divided into louse-borne and tickborne types. After the initial exposure and bacteremia, a sudden high fever emerges, often ranging from 39-43 °C (102.2-109.4 °F), coupled with headache and muscle aches. After about three days, these symptoms typically remit for about a week before returning, and this cycle can repeat multiple times unless treated with antibiotics. Antigenic variation of the bacteria is responsible for the cyclical nature of the symptoms.
Other diseases such as malaria can also present with cyclical fever patterns, known specifically as tertian and quartan malaria based on the occurrence of fever every second or third day, respectively.