When a child has a fever, parents are often at their wits’ end, anxious and anxious, eager to immediately reduce their child’s fever. Pediatricians point out that, in fact, the treatment of infection requires a process, fever reduction is only symptomatic treatment, and only above 38.5 ℃ need to use antipyretic drugs. Most of the time, parents also need to use physical cooling methods.
1. Infection is the main cause of fever in children
The symptoms of fever are similar, but the causes of fever are different. Clinically, fever can be classified as infectious or non-infectious depending on the source of the pyrogen (the substance causing the fever). In pediatrics, the vast majority of fevers are infectious. Infections can occur in various parts of the body, such as throat inflammation, bronchitis, pneumonia, and enteritis, which are common in children, and the fever can only stop when the infection is eliminated.
There are many things that can infect the body, the most common being viruses and bacteria, followed by mycoplasma and chlamydia. Currently, mycoplasma infections are very common. The early symptoms of mycoplasma infection are similar to those of the common cold, such as low fever and cough, so many parents often mistake their children’s mycoplasma infection for a cold and give their children cold medicine, which results in more than a month of treatment is not good. The treatment process of mycoplasma infection is long, 4 courses of treatment takes almost a month, so that the body drug to reach a certain concentration, in order to completely cure the infection.
2, below 38.5 ℃, no need to use antipyretic drugs
To remove these viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma and other pathogens, in addition to the body’s own immunity, for children, often also need to use drugs. However, even with the use of medications that target the exact pathogen of the infection, the removal of the pathogens does not work immediately and treatment takes some time. Therefore, parents do not need to be so anxious, all they need to do is to carefully take care of physical cooling and hydration.
However, if the child has been in a state of high fever, such as a body temperature of more than 39°C, it should be given enough attention because high fever lasting for a long time can have adverse effects on heart, lung, brain, gastrointestinal and other functions, especially in children aged 1 year to 3.5 years old, who are most likely to have febrile convulsions. Therefore, anti-infective drugs should be used along with symptomatic treatment such as fever reduction for children. Generally, an infant is considered to have a fever when the anal temperature is measured above 37.8°C or the axillary temperature is above 37.5°C.
Different countermeasures are recommended for different febrile conditions.
(1) Over 37.5℃ (physical cooling is an option)
(2)Over 38.5℃ (oral medication can be taken to reduce fever)
(3) more than 39 ℃ (can be injected with drugs to reduce fever)
3, drug cooling points.
The principle is “can be taken orally without injection”, oral medication generally takes two hours to take effect, for children with high fever, can be taken four times a day oral antipyretic drugs.
(1) It is generally not recommended to use multiple drugs to lower the temperature at the same time. Cooling drugs are generally called “non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs” in various forms, but because of the similarity of the principle, when used at the same time, it is easy to make the body temperature fall too hard, and because of sweating too much, even cause deficiency.
(2) It is possible to repeatedly use an antipyretic drug. Since the root cause of the fever is not removed, although the body temperature drops after using the medicine, when the effect of the medicine has passed, the source of the fever continues to affect the body and causes fever, so it is not surprising that “after seeing a doctor in the morning and getting an injection, the fever rises again in the afternoon”. Therefore, when the child’s temperature again exceeds 38.5 degrees Celsius, you can take antipyretic drugs again. However, to really reduce the fever, it is necessary to eliminate the infection.
(3) Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be used under the guidance of a doctor.
(4) For small infants under three months, it is generally not advocated to use any antipyretic drugs when they have fever, but to take physical cooling.
4. Points of physical cooling.
Unlike adults, children can not rely on more clothing to cover sweat to cool down, this is because the development of thermoregulation of small children is not yet perfect, covering sweat can easily cause dehydration and shock.
(1) Drug cooling with physical cooling can achieve a better antipyretic effect. The general practice is to use antipyretic paste or ice pack on the forehead, with warm water constantly swabbing the skin on the side of the neck, armpits, the root of the thighs, or take a warm bath.
(2) When the child feels cold or cold hands and feet, it is not appropriate to do physical cooling, then instead pay attention to keep warm, cover the hands and feet with a quilt or drink some hot water, and when the hands and feet become hot, we should remove the quilt and start physical cooling.
(3) The side of the neck, the armpit, and the root of the thighs are used for physical cooling, because these places have large arteries passing through, and the effect of heat dissipation is better.