Some children often have recurrent fevers, which makes many parents helpless and worried. Why do children have recurrent fevers? How to treat and care for a child with a fever? How to cool down the baby?
I. Fever level
1.Low fever: 37.5-38℃.
2.Moderate fever: 38.1-39℃.
3.High fever: 39.1-40℃.
4.Super high fever: more than 40℃.
II. Physical signs
Through a comprehensive body function examination, some physical signs can be used to understand the cause of the baby’s high fever, generally speaking, the following eight aspects.
1. If a rash appears on the child’s body, it is likely to be a rash-like disease such as acute rash or measles.
2, if the child’s body petechiae, then parents should consider whether it is encephalomyelitis or blood diseases.
3. if the child has a herpes on the skin, the child may have chicken pox.
4. if the child has swollen superficial lymph nodes, the child may have mononucleosis or cutaneous mucosal lymph node syndrome or malignant lymphoma.
5. if the child’s throat is congested and the tonsils are swollen and bulging, then tonsillitis or respiratory disease should be considered
6. if the child’s oral mucosa is accompanied by some patchiness, then measles should be considered
7. if the child has a painful pressure condition in the abdomen or has other symptoms, then the child may be suffering from intestinal obstruction, acute appendix, etc.
8. If the child’s lungs produce blistering or sputum sounds, the child is likely to have a bronchial disease, such as acute bronchitis. If croup is produced, the child is likely to have asthma or wheezing bronchitis, etc.
Why does the child have recurrent fever?
If a child has difficulty adapting to the external environment, if the immune function is not fully developed, or if the temperature rises sharply after the fever has subsided, repeated fevers may result from the slightest carelessness. Generally speaking, it is mainly because viruses and bacteria invade the body and induce respiratory system or gastrointestinal infections, thus producing fever. In addition, there are several other causes as follows.
1. Unexplained fever
Generally speaking, clinical medicine also uses fever in a narrow sense. The fever lasts for more than 3 consecutive weeks, and the child’s body temperature exceeds 38.5 degrees Celsius, and the cause of the illness still cannot be determined through meticulous questioning of the medical history, physical examination, and unusual laboratory tests.
2.Non-infectious fever
The fever is not induced by various infectious diseases, but by the disorder of the central system of body temperature regulation caused by various inflammatory diseases, or by various causes that induce the body to produce more heat and release less heat, thus producing a rise in body temperature that is different from the normal body temperature.
3.Central fever
This is also one of the causes of recurrent fever in children. The cause is the disruption of the central thermoregulatory center due to pathological changes in the central nervous function, resulting in fever. It has been pointed out by professionals that the baby’s nervous system is not yet fully developed and is more prone to high fever or a sharp rise in temperature after the fever has subsided. Brain disease accompanied by high fever is likely to be a serious case, and most children are affected by inflammation of the brain, urinary tract or lung infections. In addition, children with an unexplained moderate rise in body temperature in which the source or cause of the infection cannot be identified within a short period of time should not be casually identified as having a central fever.
What to do if your child has repeated fever
Fever is a relatively common condition, and the treatment for fever can be divided into physical cooling and drug therapy.
1.Lower than 38℃ – physical cooling
The child’s body temperature does not exceed 38 degrees Celsius without the use of medication, but the use of physical therapy can be. Common physical therapy include drinking more plain water, taking a warm bath, and applying medical fever patches, which can effectively reduce the body temperature.
2.38℃~39℃-medication
At this time, parents need to pay attention to the baby’s body signs, in order to timely treatment. For children, if the body temperature is higher than 38 ℃, then it is necessary to carry out drug treatment. Western medicine can use Tylenol, Merlin, etc., and Chinese medicine can use Antelope horn, Chai Hu, etc. For medication, never blindly, it is recommended to feed after consulting the doctor.
3.Over 39℃-Doctors guide the use of medication
When the child’s body temperature is higher than 39 degrees Celsius, it is in the high fever stage, and appropriate antipyretic drugs like ibuprofen and paracetamol can be used.
V. How to care for children with repeated fevers
1.Warm water bath
Remove clothing and wipe the whole body with a warm water towel, focusing on the forehead, neck, underarms, limbs and groin. Try to use moderate temperature water for swabbing, so that the skin on the inside of the parent’s wrist is not hot. The total scrubbing time should be about 13 minutes, until the baby’s body temperature drops to 38 degrees Celsius. This will stretch the blood vessels of the skin and release heat, as well as the evaporation of water from the surface of the body, which can also take in body heat.
2.Maintain the room temperature
The room temperature can be maintained at approximately 25-27 degrees Celsius. If there is an air conditioner in the room, you can put the child in an air conditioned room, or if there is no air conditioner, you can use an electric fan to blow around the room to gradually lower the child’s body temperature.
3. Reduce clothing
If your child’s limbs are warm and he or she is sweating, it is necessary to release the heat by removing extra clothing or wearing less clothing.
4.Fever-reducing medicine
According to professionals, fever-reducing medication should be used only when the child’s body temperature exceeds 39 degrees Celsius. However, children under three years old should use physical cooling methods during high fever, and try not to take antipyretic drugs or injections of antipyretic drugs to avoid deficiency and toxic reactions to drugs.
5.With the help of external objects
With the help of ice pillows, fever patches can facilitate the release of heat from the body. But for young children, it is better not to use the former, because the baby is not good at turning the body, and this method may lead to hypothermia or cause the baby’s body parts to be cold. The latter contains gelatinous substances, and its water vaporization can take away a certain amount of heat, which can effectively avoid the condition of too much cooling.
Six, the baby repeatedly fever how to cool down
1, pay attention to ventilation
Ventilate the room more and make sure the room temperature is between 25-27 degrees Celsius.
2.Reduce clothes
Try not to give your baby more clothes in order to effectively disperse heat. It is important to know that the old concept of “covering your baby tightly as soon as he or she has a fever” is wrong. Some parents think their babies are cold when they have a fever, but this is not the case, as the baby’s body temperature rises and causes cramps. Try to wear loose clothing, do not wrap the body with a quilt.
3.With the help of external objects
(1) ice bag: mainly on the neck, armpits, hands and feet, can be effective cooling, do not put on the head and the heart to avoid injury to the child.
(2) pillow ice pillow: put some ice and water in the ice bag until half a bag, and then remove the air inside the ice bag, tie the bag mouth, placed in the pillow.
(3) cold wet compress on the head: moisten the towel with cold water, the water temperature is preferably between 20 ℃ and 30 ℃. Then slightly wring down the towel, so that it does not drip water can be. Fold the towel on the forehead, try to change it once in three to five minutes.
(4) Warm bath: moisten the towel with warm water, wring it out, and wipe the child’s head, armpits and limbs. You can also take a warm bath and scrub the body to make the child’s body temperature drop.
(5) Alcohol wipe: This method can be used to cool down a baby when he or she is in the high fever stage. Prepare two hundred to three hundred milliliters of 20%-35% alcohol and wipe the baby’s back and hands and feet.
4. Hydration
During the fever, the baby breathes fast and loses a lot of water due to sweat, so you can give the baby more plain water and fresh fruit and vegetable juice to replenish the water and increase the amount of urination, which will help the body to eliminate toxins. It is also important to note that you should not give your child any medication.