When your infant has a fever, the most important thing to ask yourself is “How sick is the baby?” If she will play, smile, and drink well, most likely she is not seriously ill. Sometimes the height of fever alone makes the baby fussy and listless.
Fever is a remarkably useful signal that alerts us to something amiss in the body, drawing our attention to the illness causing the fever. The degree of fever, however, does not always indicate the seriousness of the illness. Some children respond to a slight illness with considerable temperature elevation. On the other hand, certain dangerous illnesses, such as appendicitis, are often accompanied by very little fever. Therefore, while the presence of a high fever is a cause for concern, it is rarely a cause for alarm.
Not always. Fever is one of the members of the body’s defense team. It helps the physician follow the course of an illness to see if the infection is under control. Fever should ONLY be treated if it is causing undue discomfort to the child and preventing him from resting.
Fever does not cause brain damage. While it is true that certain children are susceptible to convulsions with fever, the convulsions usually appear suddenly in these susceptible children. Febrile convulsions (or seizures) usually occur at the beginning of an illness, often before the parents realize that the child is sick. In a child known to be subject to these episodes, proper advice for future illnesses will be given.
If you suspect your baby is running a fever, first take an axillary temperature.If you suspect your baby is running a fever, first take an axillary temperature.
Remember, fever is a symptom and not a disease . Therefore, fever is not cured by a shot or antibiotic unless it is caused by a treatable bacterial infection such as a strep throat, ear infection, or pneumonia. Most fevers are caused by viral infections, which are neither cured nor helped by antibiotics. Repeated unnecessary antibiotics may make your child resistant to the drug, thereby depriving him of its use when he may need it in the future.
Although teething is a source of irritability, it is not a cause of significant fever. It may cause a slight elevation of body temperature, but this usually is less than 100F.
The following are simple, but effective methods of controlling the irritability, discomfort, and fretfulness usually associated with fever:
Understanding the meaning of fever and practicing the few principles presented in this discussion will enable you to better care for this common symptom. However, your physician must be consulted so that the cause of the fever is determined and proper therapy initiated.
