Fevers!

FEVERS! 

Don't let fevers freak you out! If there is one take home message  - Fevers are good for you! Fever is definitely helping your child's immune system fight infection.

🌞 Fevers are temperatures 100.4 F (38 C) or higher. All those 99.somethings are actually normal.  

Here are some general guidelines:
🌡🤒 If your child is less than 3 months old and has a fever 100.4 or higher, then please have them seen immediately by their pediatrician or, if after hours, at the emergency room.  Be sure to confirm your infants temp with a rectal thermometer reading.  (Ask us how to do this.  It is safe and the most accurate fever measurement in infants.)  Children in this age group can have a serious illness starting and fever might be the only presenting symptom.  
🌡️🤒 Treat fevers with one fever medicine. Use either acetaminophen or ibuprofen, in the correct dosage. Why? Both are not needed.
🌡️🤒 Medicine may not bring the temperature to normal. It might come down "some".  It will often go right back up when the medicine wears off (4 hours for acetaminophen and 6 hours for ibuprofen)
🌡🤒 Do not give acetaminophen (Tylenol) to a child with fever less than 3mo without discussing it with your pediatrician first. 
🌡🤒 Do not give ibuprofen (Advil, motrin) to infants less than 6mo. 

Use a thermometer if you think your child has fever. Why?
🌡️🌡️ If your child is well and feels warm to touch, they probably don't have a fever. Playing hard, crying hard, getting out of a warm bed, being overdressed, or hot weather can make kids feel hot. They are "giving off heat."  Skin temperature usually normalizes 20 minutes after exercise.
🌡️🌡️  If your child acts sick and feels warm to touch, they might have a fever. To be sure, take their temperature. But  don't keep taking it.
💊 Only treat a fever if it is making your child uncomfortable. If they are "blah" but otherwise comfortable, let the fever works its magic with their immune system and fight the germs!
🤯 Fevers don't cause brain damage until about 108 degrees. And that only happens when heat is applied to children such as getting locked in a car. Not from infection.
🤯 Seizures from fever are rare but do happen. While super scary, they do Not cause any brain damage if shorter than 5-15 minutes. Febrile seizures are almost always <5 minutes
📆 Once an illness is causing fever, it is common for that fever to last 3 days. So don't be surprised



Thanks Barton D. Schmitt, MD, Paul A. Offit, MD and Contemporary Pediatrics

Gratefully,
Lalitha Vadlamani-Simmers, MD