It has been hypothesised that physical cooling methods might be more effective in tropical climates, and although sponging as a treatment has been demonstrated to be effective, a study using sponging as a monotherapy has shown that although it initially led to a greater fall in temperature, at one hour paracetamol was a superior treatment. This suggests that even in hot, humid climates, although radiation and evaporation are important in the immediate loss of heat, this is only a short term effect and antipyretic drugs are more efficacious in the longer term.