Fever in Children: What to Do When Your Kid Has a Fever?

In this video SimpliHealth expert Pediatrics, Dr. Sunny Narula is talking about Fever in Children and also he answered some very common questions that people usually ask like:

• What to do when your kid has a fever?
• How do we know if the child has a fever?
• Whether all fevers can be treated with Paracetamol or any other related medicine? 
• What is the most commonly used medicine for fever at home?

How do we know if the child has a fever?

The Thumb rule says that if the child is checked with a thermometer in the armpit or axilla and has a temperature of 100 or more than 100, our experts say that the child has a fever. Like the child sometimes feels hot to us, it can also be a fever, but it can happen, if our hands are cold, the child’s body may feel hot. so it is always better to check the temperature if it is touching a hundred, it is fever. 

Parents always ask if all fevers are harmful to children. Doctors say no, not all fevers are harmful to the child.Now you have to understand the reason for children getting a fever. And these reasons can also be different in every child, such as, urinary infection, throat infection, viral infection, or if there is typhoid fever, these can be a reason that causes fever in the child. Treatment should be according to these reasons of fever. To treat general fever, it’s a common protocol for what medicines to use in a fever. There is another myth in the parents’ minds that if the fever is more than 103 or 104 degrees, it may cause brain damage. It is not like that. Every child tends to get sick.

If two children have the same illness, then one child will have a low fever and another child will have a high fever. If so, every time, he will have a high fever. But that doesn’t mean it will cause permanent harm to that child. Another thing commonly asked by parents is whether any fever triggers seizures.It is a common occurrence, two or three children out of 100 experience seizures. But it is not that every child can have seizures, the tendency of seizures in children is two to three percent. It is more common in children from the age group of six months to five years. But this does not mean that it is harmful, our experts have discussed this in the previous video.

Which medicine is best for normal fever? and Is paracetamol necessary for fever?

So experts have first to understand that fever is not harmful to our body. Fever is just an indicator that something is wrong inside the body, that the child has some problem. Nature has created a system, that whenever a child has a viral or bacterial infection. The body heats up in order to eliminate the infection; so, not every fever is harmful. It is just a body’s defence mechanism. Our experts recommend that if a child of six months to three years has a fever, it can be cured by giving paracetamol. If the child is a little older, he has a fever of 101 or 100, but if he is comfortable if the child is not feeling sick, then we don’t need to give him paracetamol. It is not necessary to bring the fever down to 98 or 99.

What is the most commonly used medicine for fever at home?

The most commonly used medicine for fever is Paracetamol, other than that non prescribed medicines should be avoided. The dosage of paracetamol is prescribed according to weight and age even it is mentioned on the bottle of paracetamol. Paracetamol can be given after every 6 hours.

Suppose you find that the child has symptoms associated with a fever, for example. In that case, the child is nauseated, is vomiting, and feels lethargic. In addition, the child is lying on the bed unusually or seems very sick. So immediately, the children should be taken to the paediatrician. If the child is active and does not show any signs of associated symptoms, you can give paracetamol to the child till you contact a pediatrician.If you see an associated sign for fever or the child seems more sick you should take your child to a paediatrician.

Fever is a sign that something is not right inside the body, hence the fever, the reason can vary from child to child, a paediatrician can investigate and provide a treatment accordingly.

Last but not least, if you give paracetamol to children, then the effect of paracetamol lasts for 4-6 hours; after that, the fever will come back.

Paracetamol is only a temporary measure to reduce fever. The disease will take it’s time two to four days to wear down. Some 3 days and some 4 days. Paracetamol is a temporary remedy to reduce fever.