Information On Fevers

There are few emotions stronger than a parents' instinct when protecting their young.  Although well meant, sometimes the actions of a parent may affect their child's health in a negative way. For this reason, I have provided this information on FEVERS for my patients.

To start out, a fever is not a disease by rather a symptom of an illness. Since the introduction of "anti-fever" drugs such as Tylenol, many adults have developed an inherent fear regarding childhood fevers.

The simple fact is that Fever is ESSENTIAL to a normally functioning body and lack of the body to initiate a fever can cause the underlying infection or viral infection to thrive.

Controversy surrounding the management of fever causes anxiety for parents, because they are not completely sure what to do when their child has one.

It may help parents to remember that fever is only one part of the picture of an illness. In fact, for children under eight years of age, and especially for infants, the severity of a fever is an unreliable indicator of the severity of the child's illness.

For example, infants and toddlers can be very sick with a low or even subnormal temperature. Conversely, children three to eight years old can be running about quite cheerfully with a fairly impressive fever. The important thing is how your child is acting, not the thermometer reading.

Defining Fever

First, let's define normal body temperature. Most people say 98.6°F (37°C) is normal, but this doesn't account for individual variations or the fact that kids tend to run slightly hotter than adults. So given such facts, you can consider any temperature between 97°F and 99.4°F (36°C and 37.4°C) as normal.

Consumption of hot food, recent exercise, over bundling, hot weather, or an overheated room can drive body temperature up a degree or two. Body temperature also varies during the course of the day, and, with teenaged girls, the menstrual cycle.

Parents should also note that fevers usually hit their highest point in the late afternoon.

Conversely, kids often have their lowest temperature of the day early in the morning.  So don't panic at 4 p.m. when your child's fever rises slightly; this does not necessarily forebode a raging fever. On the other hand, if your child has a low-grade fever upon awakening, you may want to keep them home so their body can rest without the added physical and emotional stressors of their daily activities.