So now that your children have been back in school, there has been plenty of opportunity for germs to circulate. In addition to washing hands, your child’s body has many ways to fight germs. I receive many worried questions about fever, so here is what every parent needs to know:

Fever is a sign of illness. Your body makes a fever in effort to heat up and kill germs without harming your body.

Here is what fever is NOT:

·         Fever is NOT an illness.

·         Fever does NOT cause brain damage.

·         Fever does NOT cause your blood to boil.

·         Unlike in the movies and popular media, fever is NOT a cause for hysteria or ice baths.

·         Fever over 100 degrees F is NOT a sign of teething.

Here is what fever IS:

·         Fever is a body temperature that is equal to or higher than 100.4 degrees F rectally in a newborn until the age of 8 weeks old.

·         Fever is a body temperature of 101 degrees F or higher in anyone older than 8 weeks old.

·         Fever is a very effective defense against disease.

 To understand fever, you need to understand how the immune system works.

Your body encounters a virus or bacteria (germ) that it perceives to be harmful. Your brain sends messages to your body to HEAT UP and kill the germs. Your body will never let the fever get high enough to harm itself or to cause brain damage. Only if your child is experiencing Heat Stroke (locked in a hot car in July, for example) can your child get hot enough to cause death. This is because the heat source is EXTERNAL (a hot car) and not generated by your child’s body.

When your body has succeeded in fighting the germ, the fever goes away.  If you “treat” the fever with a fever reducing agent (Tylenol, Motrin, etc) the fever goes away temporarily but WILL COME BACK if your body still needs to kill off more germs.

Symptoms of fever include: feeling very cold, feeling very hot, muscle aches, headache, and/or shaking/shivering.

Fever may be a sign of any illness. Your child may develop fever with cold viruses, the flu, stomach viruses, pneumonia, sinusitis, meningitis, appendicitis, measles, and countless other illnesses. The trick is knowing how to tell if your child is VERY ill or just having a simple illness with fever.

Stay tuned for how to tell.

Julie Kardos, MD
©2010 Two Peds in a Pod