My child has got a FEVER……

With the seasons changing, we’ve seen an increase of children with fever in the Emergency Room. This fever landscape is sometimes very difficult to navigate and parents should have a plan as to how to react to a fever. Most kids will have a fever illness every year, and parents WILL have to deal with this.
Most of these illnesses will be viral infections and self limiting, but there is also the more dangerous bacterial infections, which is still the biggest killer of children under 5.
So how do you know?
We as doctors don’t always have the correct answer as to what infection a child has got, we are trained to look for the illnesses that can develop into something more dangerous. This is why you sometimes will see that your child’s diagnosis might change once or even twice while in hospital, even under your paediatrician’s care. At Louis Leipoldt we are extremely child friendly and always keep your child’s health first. We try and admit the sicker patients and will probably prescribe home medications for the children that can be managed at home.

Fever is a recorded temperature higher than 37.5 degrees Celsius (C) in a baby older than one month. We measure fevers with a digital thermometer in the child’s axilla (armpit) in the case of children younger than 5 years old. For children younger than one month (four weeks), temperature is not a good gauge of illness.
In children older than one month and younger than five years, we think about fever as mild (or low grade) which has a temperature between 37.5 and 38.0 C. If their fever is higher than 38.0 C we see it as more serious.

Fever is a normal immune reaction to an infection, be it viral or bacterial. It is an evolutionary response of the body to change the environment for viruses and bacteria to grow in. In this sense not all fevers should be treated, but seen as a normal response to infection.

If your child is uncomfortable, then fever should be addressed. See this helpful guide as to how to quickly treat a troublesome fever. Remember this guide is American, substitute Tylenol for our Panado and Advil for our Nurofen.

As a rule of thumb I always tell parents that Panado can be given four times per day, and Nurofen/Ponstan three times per day. Remember not to give Nurofen/Ponstan to children under 6 months of age!
If you struggle with getting a fever down, use Panado and Nurofen/Ponstan alternate every four hours. When the fever is under better control, you can think of switching to Panado and Nurofen TOGETHER three times through the day.
With Calpol entering the market, please be mindful that Panado and Calpol is one and the same drug – Paracetamol.  Paracetamol is called Acetaminophen in North America.

REMEMBER, if you’re unsure about a fever, we are open 24/7 and there is always someone to assess your child’s fever and help you try to make sense of the reason for the fever.