High body temperature in children most often catches parents suddenly. If the child has weakness and a hot forehead, the baby asks his mother to his knees and clings to his chest, all first aid measures are instantly weathered from the head. Most often, a mother begins to fuss, call “understanding and experienced people,” or rummage frantically in medical guides in search of information about the child’s health status. Because of what there is a fever in a child for a week, we will talk in our article.
Causes of high temperature in a child
An increase in temperature up to 39 degrees and more occurs against a background of diseases of an infectious nature, with inflammatory processes or with the growth of malignant neoplasms. Let us consider in detail these causes of temperature in a child (a week or more).
Acute inflammatory diseases
In fact, the inflammatory process is a protective reaction of the body. The mechanism of inflammation is almost the same in all organisms, regardless of location, type of stimulus and individual characteristics of the body. If a child has a high temperature for a week, then most likely the following inflammatory diseases develop:
- pneumonia;
- stomatitis;
- pericarditis.
Infectious diseases
An increase in temperature up to 39 degrees and more is permissible during the period of influenza, if catarrhal phenomena have not yet made themselves felt. And only on the 3rd day specific symptoms appear, such as a runny nose, hoarseness, cough, sore throat. And the child's temperature also lasts a week due to inflammation of the urinary tract. If there is a fever in the baby, there is a likelihood of developing childhood diseases: rubella, measles, chickenpox, diphtheria, pertussis, etc. For these diseases, an incubation period (1-2 days) is also characteristic, during which the main signs appear: redness and rashes on skin, cough, itching, etc.
Oncological diseases
A sharp increase in temperature in a child in some cases is the only indicator of an oncological disease (the development of a benign and malignant tumor). An increase in temperature to 39 degrees in the absence of any symptoms is often a sign of leukemia, lymphocytic leukemia and other blood cancer.
Baby Care
Doctors advise feeding a sick baby a simple food that is easily digested. For the time being, exclude meat from the menu, especially fried, fatty and sweet dishes, as well as preservation.
If the child’s fever lasts a week, then drink plenty of warm drinks on the baby. This allows you to “wash out” harmful toxins from the body, which were formed during the life of microbes. It is best to give the child warm tea with lemon, raspberries, milk with honey (if there is no allergy). Extremely useful will be fruit drinks, compotes, juices, which include vitamin C. It is allowed to give the child mineral water, decoctions of herbs, fruit teas.
Ventilate the rooms regularly, and especially the room where the child most often happens. Try to humidify the air. To do this, you can put a 3-liter jar of water in the room and hang a wet clean towel over it. The air temperature in the room should not exceed 21 degrees.
What to do with cramps
If the children have cramps or the temperature has risen to 40 degrees, immediately call an ambulance and, until her arrival, give the child an antipyretic.
Try putting your children to bed or just relaxing. Read a fascinating book, watch colorful cartoons, play calm games. However, it is best for a child with a high fever to sleep and gain strength.
How to dress a child in this condition
You should not dress the child “like a cabbage” and wrap it too much with warm blankets. Such actions by parents can cause heat stroke if the body temperature rises to a dangerous value. Dress the patient simply and easily, cover with a diaper or an air blanket, so that the excess heat can freely go away.
No need to wipe the children with vinegar, alcohol or cover with ice warmers. Alcohol is quickly absorbed through the delicate skin and can provoke poisoning. If the temperature lasts for a week or more than 3-4 days after the start of treatment, the pediatrician should be called again in order to adjust the treatment.
Danger of fever
What is the root cause of this condition? A rise in temperature in a child during the week is an immune response to infection in the body and inflammation. Blood is saturated with heat-enhancing elements that are actively produced by pathogens. This stimulates the child's body to independently produce its pyrogens. Metabolism is significantly accelerated. This makes it easier for the immune system to fight the disease.
In most cases, the child's temperature for a week can be kept as a secondary sign of any disease. For example, with colds in children, characteristic signs can occur - fever, sore throat, cough, rhinitis. With simple colds, the heat of the body can reach +37.8 degrees. Therefore, if the fever lasts 1-2 days, it is important to seek help from a pediatrician.
How to bring down a fever in a child
It is believed that if a child has a temperature of 37 weeks, it is more dangerous than a fever in an adult. At a temperature of 39 degrees in children, the likelihood of developing a convulsive syndrome and other serious complications increases. With a rapid increase in temperature up to 39 degrees, you should immediately call a pediatrician, who will determine the cause of the fever. If the temperature reaches 39.1–39.2 degrees and does not stop growing, then you need to call an ambulance.
In order to avoid the development of various pathologies against the background of prolonged heat, it is necessary to prevent a subsequent increase in body temperature. Before the doctor arrives, you need to give your child an antipyretic medicine. As such a remedy, it is better to use the children's "Paracetamol" or "Panadol", which can be purchased in the form of tablets, suppositories and syrup.
The doctor needs to describe in detail what preceded the temperature increase in the baby, tell what drugs you gave before the doctor arrived. The doctor will ask about previous illnesses, surgical interventions, allergic reactions and injuries. In addition, it is important to talk about whether the child had contact with animals, whether he bathed in the pool, what he ate, where he was walking.
What to do in case the heat cannot be brought down in any way?
If the temperature cannot be brought down at 39 degrees, and it lasts for several days, in this case this may indicate the development of pathologies (for example, pneumonia worsens, the educational process begins, etc.). An incorrect diagnosis or ineffective drug therapy can contribute to this. For example, in the case of a bacterial infection, the antibiotic may not be prescribed correctly. In this case, you should immediately contact your family doctor or pediatrician. If the child has a high temperature without symptoms for a week, then you must definitely call an ambulance.
How long can the heat hold?
With ARVI or influenza, a temperature of 39 degrees can remain for 2-3 days. But the presence of a bacterial infection and the development of similar complications in the form of pneumonia, otitis media, sinusitis and tonsillitis, high temperature can remain for a long period, for example, for 7 days.
The duration of a fever depends on the immunity of the patient. With good health, even in case of a viral infection, the temperature will quickly return to normal. Therefore, a longer period of high fever can be held in a small child as an immune defense.
Panadol
The medicine is recommended by the World Health Organization in order to alleviate pain and reduce fever in such conditions:
- colds;
- flu and childhood infectious diseases;
- pain with ordinary otitis media;
- sore throat;
- pain that occurs in a child during teething.
Pediatricians recommend Panadol if the child has a high fever after vaccination for a week. The drug is allowed to give babies from three months. According to the instructions for use, the children's “Panadol” quickly copes with fever and fever.
It is important to note that the children's "Panadol" in its composition does not contain such components as:
- sugar;
- alcohol;
- ibuprofen;
- acetylsalicylic acid.
According to the instructions for use, children's Panadol is not used if the child is allergic to the components of the drug.
"Paracetamol"
This medicine is one of the most famous and most popular literally in the whole world. The main confirmation of this is that it can be purchased without a doctor’s prescription. The drug has two main qualities: the ability to lower high body temperature and quickly relieve pain even in the smallest patients.
Ibuprofen
One of the safest medications used to lower the temperature in children. The drug begins to act 40 minutes after it is taken. Prescribe the medicine according to the scheme: no more than 2-3 times a day (no more than 20 mg per day). Doctors do not advise taking Ibuprofen in case of aspirin asthma and if there is an individual intolerance to the components of the drug.
Each child is individual and tolerates an increase in temperature in different ways.
There are children who continue to play quietly even when the temperature rises to 39 degrees. But there are kids who, even when it is raised to 37.5 degrees, even sometimes lose consciousness. For this reason, one cannot give any universal advice on how to behave with a child in such a situation. The most important thing is that if the child’s temperature does not drop for a week, everything should be done without exception so that the child’s body can “dump” excess heat. This is done in two ways:
- give a plentiful drink so that there is something to sweat;
- to provide fresh air in the room (optimally 16-18 degrees).
It makes sense to lower the temperature with medication in the following conditions:
- Poor temperature tolerance.
- There are concomitant diseases of the nervous system.
- Body temperature is above 39 degrees.
Until the end of the 19th century, almost all doctors of the world adhered to the opinion that high temperature (fever) heals. However, when aspirin was invented in 1897, its antipyretic qualities advertised too hostilely and over 100 years of history, a fear of high fever formed. Meanwhile, doctors found that temperature reduces the duration of the disease and reduces the likelihood of developing all kinds of pathologies. Heat reduces the negative effects of infection, which can be contagious to those around you. In addition, heat frees the body of toxins. Thus, you need to deal with fever reasonably - without risking the health of the child.