system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Do you burn more calories when you're sick?

When you're sick you can experience symptoms like increased mucous production and fever.  I imagine that since the body has to deal with these problems it would have to spend more energy.  Anybody able to expand on this idea?

Side question: when you have a cold, where the hell does all of that mucous come from?  It's non-stop!

**Edit:**  Thanks for all the info guys.  This subreddit is awesome!
gpt
Yes, baseline energy usage increases ~15% with each degree increase in temperature.

Inflammation dumps a lot of chemicals into your blood that fire up the breakdown of fat and glycogen stores. Basically you mobilize your body's stored energy so that it can be used to fight infection.

Side question: Your respiratory tract from the nose on down is filled with "goblet cells" that create mucous secretions. These secretions trap infectious particles, which are then carried out of the respiratory tract by a "mucociliary escalator" -- basically, the other cells in your lungs have little fingers on them that push the mucus out of your body...onto your handkerchief. 

The fluid for mucous production comes from your blood. Goblet cells synthesize a substance called mucin, mix it with water from blood, and pump it into your respiratory tract.