There are many reasons for children’s fever. Infection, inflammation, tumor, metabolic immunity and other reasons can cause fever. Children of different ages have different causes and treatment measures for fever. For parents, it is difficult to judge the cause of children’s fever, and how to deal with it?
The age of that child is very important
If your child is less than three months old, As long as the body temperature is higher than 38 ℃, you should go to the hospital. Because at this age, especially during the neonatal period (0-28 days), more than 10% of fever is caused by serious infection, such as bacteremia, meningitis, pneumonia, etc., and the immune system of the newborn is not perfect, which is easy to lead to serious consequences. U.S. Guidelines recommend doctors to hospitalize the newborn with fever.
Children from January to March have fever, Most of them are caused by self-limited viral infections, However, a large proportion is also caused by bacterial infection. Also because the children are small and unsafe, it is difficult to identify them. Doctors need to do some examinations to screen out the children with lower risks. Parents cannot judge the risk at home. What they need to do is to send the children to the hospital in time.
Children over 3 months old, If you watch at home, It is very important to judge children’s mental state, If you are not in good spirits, you should also go to the hospital. Judging that the child is in good spirits, Relatively simple, If the child still has fun, Will interact with adults, That shows that the spirit is not bad. However, it is not so easy to judge the child’s spirit is not good. Fever will make many children sleepy. It is difficult to judge whether the child is really not good in spirit or has a fever that makes him sleepy. Doctors sometimes cannot judge correctly. What’s more, parents, if they are not sure, they should go to the hospital early and do not have fluky psychology.
Calm Face: Fever Is Good for Children’s Recovery,
If you choose to observe at home according to your own judgment, how should you treat fever? Fever can make the child uncomfortable, When parents saw their children drowsy, His face was flushed, When touching the child, he felt hot all over, Many are worried, I don’t know if what is seriously ill, Even if it is known that it is a self-healing virus infection, I will also worry about whether there will be a problem if the fever is severe. It is normal for parents to worry about their children’s fever. Pediatricians will also worry about their children’s fever. Anxiety and worry will also make many parents make irrational choices, such as giving their children antibiotics or running to the hospital to ask doctors to give their children injections.
In fact, although fever can make children uncomfortable, However, there is no evidence to prove that fever can cause harm to children, Nor will it burn out the brain, unless it is a rare febrile convulsion and heatstroke. On the contrary, a rise in body temperature can reduce the replication and reproduction of microorganisms in children’s bodies, and can also improve the inflammatory reaction of the human body, which is conducive to the removal of pathogenic microorganisms. Fever is beneficial to the recovery of children’s illness.
As you may also notice, Children have fever much more frequently than adults, The reason is that the child’s immune system is not perfect, Bacteria and viruses that have not been contacted are easy to cause infection, so they are easy to have a fever. Fever is a manifestation of the immune system. Children’s immune system is also constantly improving in the process of contact with germs. When children get older, the frequency of fever will become less and less, so fever is inevitable in the process of children’s growth.
Since fever is beneficial, don’t immediately think about reducing fever for your child as soon as you have a fever, and some viruses will burn for several days after infection. Antipyretic drugs can only reduce the temperature in a short period of time, and cannot prevent febrile convulsion or shorten the process of illness. You are anxious or not, and you will always burn for those days.
Strictly Control the Use Conditions of Antipyretics
What about antipyretics that have what effects? Is to improve the comfort of children. We adults have also had fever, When I started to prepare to write this article, I had a fever. Although it was an ordinary feeling, I felt that the world had become another world at 38 ℃. I had headache, weakness and didn’t want to say a word. However, children seemed to have stronger tolerance to fever than adults. My daughter could play at 39 ℃.
What about antipyretics for children in what? When the child feels very uncomfortable. But each child’s tolerance to fever is different. So the timing of medication can also be different, The Chinese guide recommends that it can be used at 38.5 ℃, U.S. Advice is that temperature above 39.0 ℃ can be used, However, such recommendations are not supported by what data, It’s just that experts feel that most children will feel uncomfortable at this temperature. You can take medicine, so the most important thing is to look at the child’s mental state. If my own child can eat, play and sleep, I will not give medicine at 39.5 ℃, but if she cries and fidgets when she has a fever, I will also give medicine at 38.5 ℃, which is not the temperature recommended by professionals according to the guidelines (39.0 ℃ recommended by individuals in the United States).
Because antipyretics can also have side effects, Therefore, it is not recommended to give drugs to children without other basic diseases below 38.5 ℃, However, for children with cardiopulmonary insufficiency, anemia, diabetes or hereditary metabolic diseases, Because fever will accelerate metabolism, also will increase oxygen consumption, produce more carbon dioxide, increase cardiac output, in order to avoid heart failure, metabolic instability and other conditions, can be used before 38.5 ℃. Fever is also easy to induce epileptic seizures, so children with epilepsy should also be given drugs earlier.
Use antipyretics that are relatively safer for children.
Whether WHO, The American Academy of Pediatrics, It is also China’s fever guide, Both ibuprofen and p-acetaminophenol are considered to be relatively safer antipyretics for children, Ibuprofen can only be used for children over 6 months old, Moreover, do not use it for children with frequent vomiting and dehydration to avoid kidney damage. Acetaminophenol can be used for children over 3 months old and suppositories can also be used for children with vomiting. Chinese guidelines believe that the two drugs can be used alternately for children with ultra-high fever, but neither the American Academy of Pediatrics nor the British NICE recommend alternating use.
Auxiliary means are indispensable.
Whether or not drugs are used, Children should be allowed to drink more water, Children who don’t want to drink water can also try lighter juice, You can also drink oral rehydration salts if you sweat too much. Wear light and thin clothes that can absorb sweat. The thickness is based on the comfort of the child. You can turn on the air conditioner, Children with fever cannot be covered with quilts. < < Nielsen Pediatrics > > thinks that warm water does not have much effect on wiping and bathing. NICE in the UK also does not recommend it, The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that if children are allergic to or intolerant to antipyretics, they can choose them. There is no harm in rubbing or soaking in a bath. Parents can choose whether to use or not. If they use it, the water temperature can be adjusted to about 30 ℃. If the child shivers, adjust the temperature a little. They cannot use cold water or alcohol to wipe the bath, nor do they give the child antibiotics at home.
The most important thing to deal with at home is to observe the child’s mental reaction. If you feel that your mental reaction is not good, you should go to the hospital. If the child has a fever accompanied by headache, hard neck, convulsions, sore throat, ear pain, rash or ecchymosis, Repeated vomiting, diarrhea and other accompanying symptoms should also go to the hospital. Children under the age of 2 should also go to the hospital if they have a fever for more than 24 hours, and children under the age of 2 and above should also go to the hospital if they have a fever for more than 3 days. They should also go to the hospital if their body temperature repeatedly exceeds 40 ℃ at any age, or if they are not sure.
Summary
Fever is beneficial to the child’s illness but can cause discomfort. To deal with fever, we should pay attention to the child’s mental reaction and let the child drink more water. When the temperature exceeds 39.0 ℃ and the child is uncomfortable, we can use antipyretic drugs. If something is wrong, we will go to the hospital if we are not sure. How can the child feel about other things?
Author: Pei Honggang
The article was reprinted by Clove Garden authorized by the author.