Winter temperatures are colder than one day a day, and then superimposed on the infestation of bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma and other microorganisms, children will inevitably be "recruited" to get sick. The most common symptom is fever. Watching the child have a fever and the parents are also distressed and anxious, what should I do? Some parents think that it is better to quickly cover the quilt and sweat. Is this the right thing to do?
Three stages of fever
Let's start with the mechanism of fever.
The human body has a thermoregulatory center, just like the air conditioner in a room, which maintains the body's body temperature fluctuating within the normal range. When you are sick with a fever, the body's thermoregulation center is abnormal, just like the temperature of the room air conditioner is adjusted from 37 ° C to 38 ~ 40 ° C.
Many people think that fever is a process of heating up - cooling, but in fact, many people do not know that the process of fever is divided into three stages:
Stage 1: Period of rising body temperature
When fever, the body's body temperature adjustment point rises, will produce a lot of heat to maintain a body temperature of 38 ~ 40 ° C, body temperature is continuously warmed (sometimes very fast), sometimes accompanied by cold hands and feet, shivering situation.
Stage 2: Period of high fever persistence
The body temperature reaches the temperature of the human body temperature adjustment point, the shiver stops, the limbs warm up, and the body temperature no longer rises.
The third stage: the period of decreased body temperature
If the disease gets better or you take antipyretic drugs, the body's body temperature adjustment point is adjusted downwards, and excess heat will be discharged through sweating.
Children with fever how to wear the cover are exquisite
After understanding these three stages, let's talk about how to wear and cover children.
Temperature rise: children shiver, shiver, older children say "very cold", can increase the clothing until the child is comfortable;
High fever duration: the child does not have obvious chills, shivers, but the hands and feet are ice and the body is burning, only need the limbs to keep warm, such as soaking hot feet, wearing socks, etc.;
Body temperature decline period: the child's body temperature is stable, the hands and feet are warm, you can cover less, or maintain normal clothing, or a little less than usual to increase heat dissipation, pay attention to wiping sweat in time when sweating, if the underwear sweat is obviously wet, it should be replaced in time;
Normal body temperature: maintain normal puncture.
In short, during the fever, the child's clothing and quilt, the general principle is "how the child is comfortable and how to come".
It should be noted that for children who cannot express themselves or whose parents find it difficult to distinguish, it is more necessary to reduce the heat dissipation of the clothing when fever.
No matter how old the child is, it is absolutely impossible to cover the sweat to reduce fever!
Covering sweat to reduce fever is harmful and unhelpful
Seriously life-threatening
Children's body temperature regulation ability is not perfect, in the state of heat may not only be unable to sweat and exhaust heat, but will cause heat storage in the body because of the inability to dissipate heat, and the body temperature rises to a higher level than the adjustment point, and the ultra-high heat above 41 ° C appears.
Some children will be dehydrated or "hyperthermic convulsions" due to excessive temperature, and children under 1 year old are more at risk of "fever syndrome——— hypoxia, high fever, sweating, dehydration, convulsions, coma and even respiratory and circulatory failure, which is very dangerous.
Feeling that "covering sweat to reduce fever has an effect" is a mistake of putting the cart before the horse, just like the three stages of fever mentioned earlier, it is not the fever caused by sweating, but the body temperature drops, and excess heat is discharged through sweating.
If you cover it or not, the child will naturally sweat when he sweats, and when he does not sweat, you cover it, and the child may be more seriously ill.
Fever is not a disease, it is a symptom of the disease, whether it is a physical fever or a drug fever, the purpose is not to treat the disease, but to make the child more comfortable.
Don't use the wrong way to get rid of the fever in order to make your child get better quickly.
How to deal with my child's fever?
Under normal circumstances, when the child's body temperature is below 38 ° C, parents should closely observe the change in body temperature and do not have to deal with it. If the fever is easily reduced, the body's resistance can be reduced, and the disease can be covered up to disturb the development of the disease, which is not conducive to diagnosis and treatment.
However, the fever persists for too long or too high, which can make the body's regulatory function abnormal, and the body's ability to defend against infections is reduced, which is not conducive to health recovery, so cooling measures should be taken in a timely manner for high fever.
Physical cooling
When your child has a fever, you must not "cover". In fact, the more you "cover" the higher your body temperature. Therefore, the child has a fever, the first time to untie the child's clothes to dissipate heat. At the same time, the method of physical cooling can be used. Warm water bathing: the water temperature is adjusted at 27 ~ 37 ° C. Be careful not to give your baby a hot bath.
Fever reducer
Antipyretics may be used in children who are ≥ 2 months of age with temperature ≥ 39.0 °C (mouth temperature 38.5 °C, axillary temperature 38.2 °C), or who have developed discomfort and depression due to fever.
Fever reduction treatment is not a cure, but to alleviate the child's irritability and discomfort, but also to alleviate the tension or fear of the child's fever. Children have a fever that lasts for 3-5 days during the flu season, and if it is obviously cold for 1-2 days, it will be fine. In this process, there will be repetition; there will also be repetition throughout the day, that is, sometimes burned and sometimes not burned.
Restless sleep, irritability, poor appetite, and decreased activity are typical symptoms of discomfort in children, and these symptoms should be considered to take antipyretic drugs.
At present, there are several antipyretic drugs sold in various hospitals and pharmacies, and many parents are often at a loss when choosing. In order to help parents do a good job in the "multiple choice questions" of antipyretic drugs, several antipyretic drugs commonly used in clinical practice are introduced:
Acetaminophen: it is a relatively safe antipyretic drug, and its antipyretic effect is proportional to the dose, but too large a dose can cause hepatotoxicity. It is the world health organization (WHO) recommended as the antipyretic drug of choice in infants and children over 2 months of age when they have high fever. Take once every 4 to 6 hours.
Ibuprofen: it has obvious antipyretic and analgesic effects, less side effects, suitable for high fever caused by infectious diseases, taken every 6 to 8 hours, recommended for babies over 6 months old.
Antipyretic patch: helps to dissipate heat, and has little effect on the whole body to reduce heat. However, it is not recommended for smaller children, because young children are not easy to turn their bodies, ice pillows or ice stickers are easy to cause local overcooling or hypothermia.
Choose antipyretics according to your baby's age:
Infants before the age of 1 year are best given drops because the drops are small in concentration and irritating.
Children over 2 years of age, it is best to take oral solution of antipyretic medicine.
Tablets are available for older children.
Suppositories are not recommended for children with diarrhea.
How do fever reducers reduce fever?
At present, the common antipyretic drugs on the market, according to the different active ingredients, are mainly divided into salicylic acid drugs, acylated aniline drugs and pyrazolone drugs. Although the active ingredients and antipyretic effects are different, the principle of action is basically the same.
After the pathogen causes an immune response in the human body, an endogenous heat source produced by immune cells passes through the blood-brain barrier and acts on the hypothalamus, causing it to produce a chemical called "prostaglandins".
Prostaglandins can trigger the thermoregulation center of the hypothalamus, so that the body temperature is adjusted up, which in turn causes a series of reactions of thermogenic organs and heat dissipation organs, and eventually leads to human fever.
Our common antipyretic drugs exert antipyretic effects by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins.
Therefore, taking antipyretic drugs when the body temperature rises can restore the body temperature to normal levels without affecting the body temperature of normal people.
Will the fever burn the brain and burn into pneumonia?
Fever has many reasons, can "burn" the brain, only the fever caused by brain diseases, such as meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, tuberculosis and other brain infectious diseases caused by fever.
The brain is not burned out, but infected and damaged.
There are also children who have a fever for a few days before being diagnosed with pneumonia, which is not caused by fever. This is because the symptoms of pneumonia do not manifest themselves in the first few days of the child's fever, but only show up a few days later as the course of the disease progresses.
How to eat and drink when I have a fever?
Children with fever should first be provided with sufficient water, and secondly, they should supplement various nutrients.
Drink more water, in the case of refusing to drink water, you can change to drink juice and the like;
Eat some digestible foods, mainly porridge, soup, and noodles;
On the principle of light and easy to digest, small and frequent meals. There is no need to blindly avoid mouthing, in order to prevent malnutrition and decline in resistance.
Reminder emphasizes: for children with low appetite when fever, do not force them to eat, should go with nature, and eat when hungry, but do not cut off water, pay attention to replenish water.
What conditions do I need to see a doctor as soon as possible?
Fever in children under 3 months of age;
Body temperature above 40 ° C for 24 hours;
Body temperature above 38.5 ° C for 72 hours;
Fever with severe vomiting or diarrhea, convulsions of the whole or part of the body, dysphagia, shortness of breath, purple lips;
Poor mental health, little activity, irritability or malaise, and even lethargy, coma;
Dry mouth, sunken eye sockets, less tears when crying, reduced urine output or even no urine, the fontanelle of the child is obviously protruding;
The temperature rises again after 24 hours of fever retreat.
Please note: If you are not sure about your child's condition or cannot handle it on your own, please take your child to the doctor in time.