Children have a cold and fever, and the most urgent is the parents.
At this time, many parents are most uncertain about these 4 questions:
Question 1: When can I take anti-fever medicine?
To clarify this question, we must first understand why the child has a fever.
When your child is infected with bacteria, viruses, etc., in order to fight inflammation, your child's body temperature will rise. This helps to increase the number of white blood cells in the body, increase the activity of phagocytes and neutrophils, thereby strengthening immunity, and also slowing the activity and reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms.
Therefore, fever is actually a self-protection mechanism of the body. Therefore, giving the child anti-fever medicine is not to treat the disease, but to alleviate the discomfort caused by the child's fever.
The criteria recommended for the use of fever reducers in mainland guidelines in 2 months of age are that babies over 2 months of age have temperature≥ of 39.0 ° C, oral temperature ≥ 38.5 ° C, axillary temperature ≥ 38.2 ° C, or discomfort and depression due to fever. Meet any of these criteria to use fever reducers. Remember, it is to satisfy either one.
That is to say, the child's body temperature cannot be used only as a criterion for whether to take anti-fever medicine. Sometimes, the child's body temperature may not reach this standard temperature, but the child has experienced loss of appetite, poor sleep, crying and anxiety, so he should take antipyretic medicine to relieve the symptoms. Make your child more comfortable.
Question 2: Do you take anti-fever medicine or go to the hospital first, will taking medicine affect the doctor's judgment?
If the child is less than 3 months old, the fever should be sent to the hospital immediately, and the drug cannot be used without authorization.
If your child is more than 3 months old, his body temperature rises and his spirit is weak, he can take anti-fever medicine before going to the hospital, not necessarily waiting until the doctor reads it before taking the medicine.
Body temperature is only a reference indicator for doctors to diagnose, and more importantly, it is necessary to look at the test results, such as blood routine, C-reactive protein, influenza virus triad and so on.
Currently, antipyretic drugs recommended by national guidelines for children and adolescents are acetaminophen and ibuprofen. If your baby has gastrointestinal discomfort, acetaminophen can be used preferentially, which has less stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract.
It should be noted that when using antipyretic drugs, follow the instructions or doctor's instructions to ensure the accuracy of the dosage and not to reduce or increase without authorization.
The child takes antipyretic medicine, feels comfortable, and is more able to cooperate with the doctor's examination, so as to ensure that the doctor finds the cause as soon as possible and treats the symptoms.
Question 3: Can the antipyretic patch be used?
When a child is found to have a fever, the first reaction of parents is to put on a fever-reducing patch, but its practicality is really not great.
First of all, let's understand the principle of the deheating sticker.
The core part of the antipyretic patch is a volatile liquid gel layer, and the antipyretic patch is attached to the skin, which can take away the heat on the surface of the skin through volatilization, thereby reducing the temperature of the local skin. However, the temperature in the human body is controlled by the brain center and balanced by the flow of blood. A small amount of local skin heat dissipation does not play a big role in the regulation of the child's body temperature.
Second, authoritative guides at home and abroad have never acknowledged antipyretic stickers.
Abroad, neither the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Canadian Association of Pediatricians, nor the National Institute for Health and Clinical Optimization in the United Kingdom has ever mentioned antipyretic patches in the response to childhood fever.
In China, the published guidelines for children's fever, the Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Fever of Unknown Etiology in Children Aged 0 to 5 Years in China (Standard Edition) (2016), also do not mention the use of antipyretic patches to treat children with fever.
Finally, antipyretic patches can cause allergies. Some antipyretic patches include ingredients such as ice flakes, mint, and eucalyptus oil. Babies who are allergic to these added ingredients use antipyretic patches, which can easily lead to rashes, redness and swelling of the skin. Not only can not reduce the fever, but also endure the pain of allergies.
Therefore, antipyretic patches are of little use for fever reduction, and may also cause allergies, so it is not recommended to use.
Question 4: How to care at home when your child has a fever?
During a child's fever, home care can start with both cooling and hydration.
Physical cooling, it is recommended to reduce room temperature, reduce clothing, do not recommend ice packs and antipyretic patches, and dry the body or change clothes in time after sweating. When the fever is in the period of high temperature persistence and decreasing body temperature, using physical cooling may make your baby more comfortable.
At the same time, children over 6 months old should be encouraged to drink more fluids (such as water); babies over 6 months old can increase the frequency of feeding to prevent dehydration.
If you have a fever due to a communicable disease, be careful to stay away from other babies or other susceptible people.
To sum up, if you find that your child has a fever, parents should not panic first, in addition to measuring body temperature, but also do these things:
First, observe whether the child is mentally weak, whether the face is dark and purple, etc., such as the above situation, must be timely medical treatment.
Second, if your child is hot and bored and is more than 3 months old, consider taking antipyretic medicine according to the prescribed dose before seeking medical treatment.
Third, pay attention to let children drink more water when nursing at home, you can turn on air conditioning, wear thin clothes, dry and change clothes in time when the body is wet, it is not recommended to use antipyretic patches, ice packs, etc., the principle is to make the child comfortable.