The common myth that “fever burns the brain” is not because the fever is directly damaging to the brain, but because the child is suffering from encephalitis, meningitis and other diseases, and the fever is only a manifestation of these diseases, and it is the underlying diseases such as encephalitis and meningitis that cause damage to the brain. However, fever brings more than just bad effects to the human body. Many studies have shown that moderate fever can boost the body’s immunity, inhibit the reproduction of certain bacteria and help to clear them. A fever when humans are sick can be considered a protective instinctive response. Should I reduce my baby’s fever if he has a fever? If the fever is caused by too much clothing or heat stroke, you can always reduce the fever by loosening the baby’s clothing, moving him/her to a cooler place, or adding physical cooling. For fever caused by inflammatory diseases (cold, pneumonia, laryngitis, etc.), if the temperature is not too high and does not cause any special discomfort, there is no need to actively reduce the fever, especially not immediately with medication, and it is not necessary to bring the temperature down to the normal range. Because even if the use of physical cooling or medication to bring the temperature back to normal is only superficially “normal”, the original cause of the fever and inflammatory response is still there. Generally, the use of antipyretic drugs is only considered when the body temperature is around 38.5 degrees or above. Children with specific diseases (chronic lung disease, heart failure, anemia, diabetes, febrile convulsions, etc.) can be considered for fever reduction when the body temperature exceeds 38 degrees. Moderate fever can boost the body’s immune system How should I choose fever-reducing medicine for children? Fevers in infants under 3 months of age are generally cooled physically. Children >3 months of age with an uncomfortable fever may consider acetaminophen or ibuprofen, which have similar duration of action and fever-reducing effects. These two drugs are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as safe and effective fever reducers for children, while other drugs such as aspirin, anakin, glucocorticoids, and nimesulide are not routinely used as fever reducers for children. If a child has a fever accompanied by symptoms such as runny nose and nasal congestion that cause more obvious discomfort, consider using a compound preparation i.e. a drug that contains ingredients to relieve several symptoms. If the child has a single symptom try to use compounded preparations sparingly, for example, if the child only has symptoms of fever, use only fever reducers and not medications that also relieve cough and nasal congestion. What are the precautions when taking antipyretics for children? Choose medicines for children and do not give your baby adult cold medicines on your own. Even safer medications need to pay attention to the dosage of the medication, and there is an increased risk of side effects caused by overdosing. Therefore, parents should learn to look at the ingredients of the medication. Some medications contain the same ingredients, so be careful to avoid duplication of medication. When a child has a fever, the doctor will advise parents to give the child more water, because the body will sweat when the fever is reduced in order to dissipate the excess heat in the body, so if the fever is repeatedly reduced, coupled with the child’s poor appetite and reduced diet, some children will have a certain degree of dehydration, and need to pay attention to the appropriate replenishment of water and electrolytes, parents can give the child a small amount of liquid (breast milk, porridge, soup, juice, etc.). Finally, we would like to emphasize that antipyretics are only a kind of medicine to relieve symptoms, even if the child does not have a fever after using the medicine, we should pay more attention to observe whether there are other symptoms and seek medical attention in time.