Elevated low-grade fever (the causes of which can be completely different) is often found in children, and this is one of the most common reasons for parents to see a doctor. Low-grade body temperature is not always a disease. Rather, it is a signal that indicates to parents and pediatricians the possible presence of a more serious disease.
At subfebrile temperature, the child may be hot when touched, or, conversely, the skin can be cool and wet. Breathing and pulse quickened, the child is listless, moody. Any temperature above 37 ° C is elevated.
Symptoms that cause low-grade fever in children include cough, inflammation in the nasopharynx, otitis media, dyspeptic symptoms accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea, skin rashes during childhood infections, dysuric effects, and stiff neck. All of the above symptoms indicate the presence of any disease (viral, autoimmune or bacterial).
Low-grade fever, the causes of its appearance, the appearance of the child and other symptoms are of great importance for assessing the severity of the disease by a doctor. How much the temperature is raised is not always an indicator of a serious illness. Parents need to know the characteristics of the child’s response to the disease. Sometimes a child never looks sick and weak at a significantly elevated temperature, while another may be weak and lethargic at subfebrile temperature. It is very important to know how your child reacts to a fever, so that you can inform your doctor if necessary.
Low-grade fever: causes
What causes subfebrile temperature? The causes that cause it in children are very diverse. It can be high ambient temperature, overheating, hot food and drink, warm (not according to the weather) clothes, stress, tantrum, or some kind of infectious disease. If you think that subfebrile body temperature did not appear due to a disease, remeasure it after an hour.
Statistics show that low-grade fever in children most often appears for the following reasons:
- The main category of causes are viral or bacterial diseases.
- This is followed by inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media).
- Pneumonia.
- Urinary tract infections.
- The response to the vaccine, teething.
If the child is older than a year, parents can independently cope with the high temperature, which lasts several hours. Doctor’s help is required if the low-grade fever turns into febrile (over 38 degrees) and stays at its own level, if the child’s behavior is different from the norm, if the child’s age is less than a year, if there are previously known chronic diseases that could worsen.
However, if a child (however, like an adult) has a prolonged low-grade fever, the reasons for which are not clear, self-medication is unacceptable. Consultation with a pediatrician (and other specialists) is required, as well as a full examination, based on which it will be possible to establish a diagnosis. Most often these are intracellular infections, autoimmune diseases, helminthic invasion, as well as some diseases of the internal organs and tuberculosis.
How to measure temperature?
To measure temperature is not enough just to put a hand on the forehead. Body temperature must be measured with a thermometer. It can be mercury, electronic, or in the form of a strip that changes color depending on the height of the temperature. Temperature is measured in the armpit, forehead, oral cavity, auricle or anus. Traditionally in Russia, measurements are made in the armpit. The most accurate are mercury and electronic thermometers. With a mercury thermometer, the measurement is carried out for five minutes, and electronic - until the sound signal. Normal is considered body temperature up to 37 ° C, after which it is considered elevated subfebrile. It is subfebrile up to 38 ° . It should be borne in mind that the temperature values ​​vary during the day.
Temperature assistance
You need to know that antipyretic drugs are used when the temperature reaches 38 ° C and above. With its lower values, you need to allow the body to fight the infection itself, since many viruses and bacteria die at elevated temperatures. It is important to identify the cause of the reaction of the body and prescribe the correct treatment.