Patient's question:
For 5 days, the doctor said I didn't need to go tomorrow, but I had a high fever again tonight. No cough, no appetite, high fever up to 38.4 degrees. I've had high fever 3 times in 5 days, every other day, with no break in the IV drip, once a day. Test results...Doctor's answer:
The basal body temperature of the child is 36.9℃~37.5℃. Generally, when the temperature drops more than 1℃ below the basal body temperature, it can be considered a fever. Among them, low-grade fever refers to a temperature fluctuating around 38℃, while high fever occurs when the temperature is above 39℃. A fever lasting more than two weeks is referred to as a prolonged fever.Recommendations:
- Below 38.5°C, do not give fever-reducing medication or fever-reducing injections. Instead, give the child more water. Pay attention to whether the environment is too hot.
- In hot summer, the temperature is high, and infants have poor ability to regulate their body temperature. When the mother holds the infant, the heat is not easily dissipated, causing the temperature to rise. However, such fever usually does not last long. If the child is placed in a cooler place, slightly fanned, given plenty of cool fruit juice, or given a lukewarm bath, the temperature will return to normal within a few hours.
- In winter, if the indoor temperature is too high and the infant is wrapped too tightly, it can also cause the infant's temperature to rise.
- If the fever is above 38.5°C, seek immediate medical diagnosis to determine whether it is a viral infection or a bacterial infection. For viral infections, use antiviral drugs (e.g., ribavirin), while for bacterial infections, use antibiotics (e.g., cephalosporins). Do not rush to reduce the fever, as fever is only a symptom. The cause must be identified. If the high fever is caused by a viral infection, a characteristic of viral infections is repeated fever.