”Doctor, save my child, my baby is burning to the point of cramps!” The experts at Sanbo Brain Hospital of Capital Medical University received an anxious mother who brought his feverishly frightened child to the doctor. Parents are nervous and anxious because the process of baby’s convulsions looks scary and parents worry if their baby has a serious illness or if the fever has burned their baby’s brain out. In fact, this process your baby may have just experienced a “febrile convulsion”, so what is a febrile convulsion? What is a febrile convulsion and how can it be treated during an attack? Are febrile convulsions really that scary? What are febrile convulsions? Febrile convulsions are convulsions that occur in babies during the fever, usually with a temperature of 38℃ or more, mainly manifested as rigidity, twitching, eye rolling or upturning; loss of consciousness within a short period of time, no response to call; breathing will be disturbed and lips will be blue; some babies will have closed teeth and froth at the mouth. The baby is usually sleepy and wants to sleep after relief within a few minutes. Febrile convulsions usually occur in babies under 5 years of age, with an incidence of 2-4% and a high incidence between 1 and 1 1/2 years of age. What are the causes of febrile convulsions? Infection – Bacterial or viral infections cause fever in babies and febrile convulsions occur during the course of the fever. Vaccination – Some vaccinations cause fever, the most common vaccine is MMR, and some babies develop fever 8-14 days after vaccination, during which they develop febrile convulsions. Risk factors (1) Family history – If there is a history of febrile convulsions in the family, the likelihood of febrile convulsions in babies increases; (2) Age – Febrile convulsions usually occur in babies under 5 years of age, probably due to the immaturity of the nervous system of babies in this age group. How can parents respond after a febrile convulsion? Most febrile convulsions will stop on their own within a short period of time. Parents should first calm down and then take the following measures (1) lay the baby on his or her side to facilitate the discharge of oral secretions, and clear the mouth of secretions or vomit in time to prevent inadvertent aspiration of secretions from the mouth into the trachea; (2) untie the baby’s clothes to facilitate heat dissipation and reduce restraint, and do not press or hold the baby to restrict the baby’s arms and legs; (3) do not (3) Do not stuff anything into the baby’s mouth, the baby will not bite their own tongue, so do not stuff fingers, chopsticks, tongue depressor into the baby’s mouth to avoid injury to their fingers or damage to the baby’s mouth; (4) Better watch the clock to note the time or estimate the time, if the baby’s convulsion time is greater than 5 minutes, take the baby to the hospital as soon as possible to see a doctor or call 120 emergency number. What tests will the doctor do after going to the hospital? When parents take their baby to the hospital, the doctor will order blood and electrolyte tests, lumbar puncture and other tests depending on the baby’s condition. What is the treatment after going to the hospital? If the febrile convulsions stop on their own, no treatment is usually needed; once the febrile convulsions last longer than 15 minutes, the doctor will stop the baby’s twitching with anticonvulsants, in addition to the following treatments: (1) cooling treatment (2) anti-infection treatment (if the fever is caused by an infection) Questions parents often ask about febrile convulsions 1. Will it damage the baby’s brain? Febrile convulsions may seem scary, but they are not serious because they do not damage the brain and do not affect intelligence. 2. If my baby has had one febrile convulsion, will it happen again? Once your baby has had a febrile convulsion, the chance of your baby having another febrile convulsion in the following 1-2 years is 30%-50%; the risk factors for subsequent febrile convulsions are: (1) the baby is less than 15 months old (2) the parent or sibling has had a febrile convulsion (3) the baby was hypothermic before the febrile convulsion (4) the interval between the onset of fever and the febrile convulsion is short 3. Will my baby develop epilepsy later if he or she has had a febrile convulsion? Studies have shown that the vast majority (95-98%) of babies who have had febrile convulsions do not develop epilepsy, i.e. the chances of a baby with febrile convulsions developing epilepsy are only a little higher than normal babies.