Fever in Children and Young Children

Why are young children more likely to have fever?

Children are prone to fever because their resistance is weak, and cells in the body are susceptible to infection, producing a substance called "pyrogen". When pyrogen appears, the temperature in the body will immediately rise, making the child's body temperature higher than normal. In fact, fever has certain benefits for the human body to a certain extent. For example, it can control the reproduction of bacteria and viruses. In other words, high body temperature can "burn" bacteria and viruses to death, so fever can strengthen children's immunity to a certain extent. Therefore, parents sometimes do not need to worry too much about the impact of fever on their children's health. Of course, if the fever persists and does not go away, you must seek medical attention immediately.

How should parents cool down their young children when they have a fever?

The following solutions are available:

1. Do not wear too many clothes. One or two thin clothes are enough. Since a fever needs to dissipate heat, the clothes of young children should be kept as fresh as possible.

2. If the child still has a high temperature after taking the medicine, you can try to take a warm bath for the child and keep the child wet for about ten to fifteen minutes. Depending on the child's body temperature, you can take warm baths multiple times a day.

3. Give children more water to prevent dehydration.

4. Even if the child has no other uncomfortable symptoms (such as being irritable, crying, etc.), parents should pay attention to changes in the situation.

Recommendation: When a child has a fever, parents do not need to rush to use medicine to reduce the fever. They can first try physical cooling methods such as taking a warm bath to help the child reduce the fever.

When should I seek medical help?

If a child still plays, eats, and rests as usual despite having a fever, parents do not need to worry too much. But if your child looks a little tired, sluggish, has difficulty breathing, or has difficulty eating, he or she should see a doctor.

Especially young babies (under three months old) need special attention and caution, because once babies under three months old get sick, the condition can be very serious, so if they get sick, they need to seek medical attention immediately.

Will fever affect the baby's intelligence?

There are many different causes of fever, and ordinary fevers do not have much impact on a young child's intelligence.

However, parents should also pay attention to changes in children's fever, because the early symptoms of diseases that can cause damage to the brain, such as meningitis, are also fever. Therefore, if children are found to have abnormal fever, such as a persistent high fever that does not go away, they should be taken to a doctor immediately for early treatment.