The normal body temperature of children is 36 to 37℃ (axillary temperature), if the body temperature exceeds 37.4℃ and fluctuates more than 1℃ between days, it can be considered as fever. 37.5℃ to 38℃ is low fever ( 37.3℃ to 38℃), 38.1 to 39℃ is moderate fever, 39.1 to 41℃ is high fever, and more than 41℃ is ultra-high fever. A fever with a heat course of less than 2 weeks is called acute fever, and a fever of more than 2 weeks is a long-term fever. There are various causes of fever, and usually infectious factors are considered first for acute fever. As the duration of fever increases, the likelihood of infectious diseases decreases, while the likelihood of tumors and autoimmune diseases increases. Fever is one of the most common medical conditions in childhood. According to statistics, fever accounts for 10-15% of pediatric outpatient visits, and in pediatric emergencies, the percentage is as high as 30-50%. When you see your baby’s face burning red and hot, even a calm parent can’t help but panic. What should I do if my child has a fever? Is reducing the fever the best way to go? What should parents of children do? Children’s fever, the right time to cool down The traditional view: children with fever, do not rush to cool down; below 38.5 ℃ without antipyretic, more than 38.5 ℃ to take antipyretic measures; the current instructions for children’s common antipyretic drugs are also recommended to use above 38.5 ℃. However, many studies in recent years have confirmed that fever produces a lot of harmful waste in the body, which can accumulate in the body and may lead to a reaction like a reservoir collapse after reaching a certain level, which can be life-threatening in serious cases, so I personally believe that children with fever up to 38℃ should be treated with medication to reduce heat at the right time. Children with G6PD deficiency (sericea) should avoid using antipyretic drugs that can cause hemolysis such as lysergic acid. I think it’s inappropriate to say that “doctors’ children with fever use antipyretic drugs, basically by boiling” spread in some WeChat friends circle. 38 ℃ or less can also choose physical cooling such as warm water bath or use antipyretic paste. Alcohol bath is a common method of reducing fever, but now the method of alcohol bath is not advocated for children to reduce fever, alcohol wipe the child’s body will cause rapid heat dissipation and rapid contraction of the child’s skin and subcutaneous blood vessels, the baby stimulation, and even chills, in addition to the baby’s skin is delicate, easy to absorb the alcohol wipe and lead to alcohol poisoning of the baby. Some data show that 4%-12% of children in high fever will have convulsions, repeated convulsions may cause brain damage, but also some of the precursors of epilepsy performance, may also lead to other dangers. Therefore, children with a history or family history of febrile convulsions should be given heat treatment as soon as the fever breaks, and if necessary, sedative drugs should be used under the guidance of a doctor. When a baby has a fever, the doctor will ask the baby to undergo blood tests or other relevant tests to find the cause of the fever. Unfortunately, some parents may refuse to do the tests because of the pain or high cost, which often leads to doctors using medication for children based on experience and lacking sufficient scientific basis. Generally speaking, bacteria and viruses are the most common infectious factors for fever in children, but the treatment of fever for both is very different. The fever caused by bacterial infection will be treated well by choosing the appropriate antibiotics; for viral infection there are no specific drugs available. If it is a viral infection, using antibiotics will not only be ineffective but will also endanger the normal flora of the body, with toxic side effects such as dysbiosis. Some parents think that infusion is faster than taking medicine to reduce fever in children, so they ask the doctor to give their children infusion when they arrive at the hospital, which is actually a misconception, infusion itself can not reduce fever, and infusion can sometimes produce side effects such as allergic reactions, infusion reactions, etc., which can endanger the life of the baby. Most doctors will tell parents to drink more water for children with fever, and this is common knowledge that many parents already know. In fact, the doctor’s advice to drink more water for children with fever is not entirely scientific. Overseas studies have confirmed that drinking more water inappropriately for children with fever has certain risks and may lead to water intoxication. This is because children with fever lose a lot of water through sweating, and they also lose some salt. The correct approach is to increase the amount of water drunk along with some appropriate salt supplementation. Oral rehydration salts are recommended, as well as light soups or some sports drinks in moderation; the diet of a feverish baby should be light, liquid, easily digestible and nutritious, with multivitamin supplements in moderation.