Children always have a fever, will the brain burn out?

Department of Pediatrics, Women's and Children's Center of Beijing Children's Hospital

He Qianqian

It is the high incidence season of influenza in autumn and winter, and colds and fevers are also the most common symptoms of diseases in children, and they are also the most worrying parents. Once a child has a fever, what should parents do?

Clinically, fever is divided into four categories according to the level of body temperature: 37.3 °C ~ 38.0 °C is low-grade fever, 38.1 °C ~ 38.9 °C is moderate fever, 39.0 °C ~ 40.9 °C is high fever, ≥ 41.0 °C is ultra-high fever. For children with high fever, it is recommended to take the temperature once every 0.5 to 1 hour, the number of temperature measurements needs to be increased when the fever is super high, and the body temperature can be monitored once in 2 to 4 hours for medium and low fever.

Some parents are worried that the child's fever brain will not be burned out? The answer is affirmative: no, only when bacteria, viruses, etc. invade the brain will cause brain damage. Fever can increase the excitability of the central nervous system, especially when the fever occurs, children can appear irritable, hallucinatory, gibberish, etc., infants and young children are prone to hyperthermic convulsions due to immature nervous system development, but these will not cause brain damage.

If the fever continues, ultra-high fever, the child's lack of energy, drowsiness, frequent convulsions, jet vomiting, severe headache, fontanelle bulge, etc., the body temperature of infants less than 3 months old ≥ 38 ° C, and the body temperature of infants aged 3 to 6 months ≥ 39 ° C, you need to be vigilant against encephalitis and must seek medical treatment in time.

It should be reminded that the sooner your child has a fever, the sooner you come to the hospital, the better. Because infectious disease is the most common in children with acute febrile illness, but lacks specificity in the early stages of infection, studies have shown that 12 hours after fever is more sensitive to the diagnosis of severe bacterial infection by blood routine testing 12 hours ago. Therefore, in the early stage of fever, parents can first observe the state of the child at home, treat the symptoms and depyretic treatment, and if the fever is repeated after 12 hours to 24 hours, they can seek medical attention to check the blood routine to assist in diagnosis. If the child fails to reduce fever after 2 to 3 days of treatment, the blood routine can be reviewed at intervals of 48 to 72 hours.

(China Women's Daily)