Four things you might not know about fever

Of everything we pediatricians get called about, I think that fever is the most common. Which isn’t surprising, given that fever can be a sign of illness. But despite the fact that it is so common, fever is often misunderstood — and often frightens people more than it should. Here are four things all parents should know about fever. Fever is a symptom, not a problem. We doctors are always going to be more concerned with what is causing the fever than with the fever itself. We are going to ask a whole lot of questions about other symptoms, like pain, cough, vomiting or rash. If the answers to those questions (and what we find when we examine children who come see us because of fever) reassure us, we aren’t going to be too worried despite a high fever — and on the flip side, if the answers don’t reassure us, even a low fever could worry us. Fevers are not usually dangerous. Again, it’s the cause that worries us, not the temperature. Fever can actually be a good thing when there is an infection; it helps get rid of germs, since they don’t like higher temperatures. Often parents worry about seizures with fever. It’s true those can happen, but they are actually pretty rare — and many children who suffer from them get them as the temperature is rising, meaning that sometimes the first indication that their child has a fever is when they have a seizure. If your child has had a seizure with fever, talk to your doctor about what you should do. Otherwise… Concentrat...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Ask the Expert Health & Wellness Claire McCarthy MD fever Source Type: news