High body temperature in children most often overtakes parents suddenly. If a child has weakness and a hot forehead, the baby asks his mother to kneel and presses against his chest, all first aid methods are instantly eroded from his head. Most often, the mother begins to fuss, call "understanding and experienced people" or frantically delve into medical reference books in search of information about the child's he alth. Because of what the child has a fever for a week, we'll talk in our article.
Causes of fever in a child
An increase in temperature up to 39 degrees or more occurs against the 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, inflammatoryprocess is a defensive 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 organism. 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 or more is permissible during the flu period, if catarrhal phenomena have not yet made themselves felt. And only on the 3rd day, specific symptoms appear, such as a runny nose, hoarseness, coughing, pain in the throat. And the child also has a temperature for a week due to inflammation of the urinary tract. If a baby has a fever, there is a possibility of developing childhood diseases: rubella, measles, chickenpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, etc. These diseases also have an incubation period (1-2 days), during which the main symptoms appear: redness and rashes on skin, cough, itching, etc.
Cancer
A sharp increase in temperature in a child in some cases is the only indicator of cancer (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 cancers.
Child care with hightemperature
Feed a sick baby doctors advise simple food that is easy to digest. For a while, exclude meat from the menu, and especially fried, fatty and sweet dishes, as well as preservation.
If a child has a fever for a week, then give the baby plenty of warm drinks. This allows the body to “flush out” harmful toxins that 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). Fruit drinks, compotes, juices that include vitamin C will be extremely useful. It is allowed to give the child mineral water, herbal decoctions, fruit teas.
Regularly ventilate the rooms, and especially the room where the child is most often. 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 children have convulsions or the temperature rises to 40 degrees, immediately call an ambulance and give the child an antipyretic until it arrives.
Try putting the kids 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 temperature to sleep and gainstrength.
How to dress a child in this condition
Don't dress your baby "like a cabbage" and wrap him up with warm blankets too much. Such actions on the part of parents can cause heat stroke if the body temperature rises to a dangerous value. Dress the patient simply and lightly, cover with a diaper or an airy blanket so that excess heat can freely leave.
You don't need to wipe children with vinegar, alcohol or put ice-cold heating pads over them. Alcohol is quickly absorbed through delicate skin and can provoke poisoning. If the child has a temperature 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 elevated body temperature
What is the root cause of this condition? An increase in temperature in a child during the week is a response of the immune system to infection in the body and to inflammation. The blood is saturated with heat-increasing elements that are actively produced by pathogens. This stimulates the child's body to produce its own pyrogens. The metabolism is greatly accelerated in this case. This makes it easier for the immune system to fight the disease.
In most cases, a child's temperature can be kept for a week as a secondary sign of an illness. For example, with colds, children may experience characteristic symptoms - fever, sore throat, coughing, rhinitis. With simple colds, body heat canreach +37.8 degrees. Therefore, if the fever persists for 1-2 days, it is important to seek the help of 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 convulsive syndrome and other serious complications increases. With a rapid rise 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 arrival of the doctor, you need to give the child an antipyretic medicine. As such a remedy, it is better to use 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 rise in the baby, tell what drugs you gave before the doctor arrived. The doctor will ask about previous illnesses, surgeries, allergic reactions, and injuries. In addition, it is important to talk about whether the child had contact with animals, whether he swam in the pool, what he ate, where exactly he walked.
What to do if you can't bring down the high temperature?
If the temperature is 39degrees cannot be brought down in any way, and it lasts for several days, in which 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, an antibiotic may be incorrectly prescribed. In this case, you should immediately contact your family doctor or pediatrician. If a child has a high temperature without symptoms for a week, then you should definitely call an ambulance.
How long can a high fever last?
With SARS or influenza, the 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 fever can remain for an extended period, for example, for 7 days.
The duration of the fever directly depends on the immunity of the patient. With good he alth, even in the case of a viral infection, the temperature will return to normal faster. Therefore, for a longer period, a high temperature can be kept in a small child as an immune defense.
Panadol
Medicine recommended by the World He alth Organization to relieve pain and fever in the following conditions:
- colds;
- influenza and childhood infectious diseases;
- pain with normalotitis media;
- sore throat;
- pain that occurs in a child during teething.
Pediatricians recommend Panadol if a child has a high fever after vaccination for a week. The drug is allowed to be given to babies from three months. According to the instructions for use, children's "Panadol" quickly copes with fever and fever.
It is important to note that children's "Panadol" in its composition does not contain components such 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 drug is one of the best known and most popular literally all over the 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 drugs used to lower fever in children. The remedy begins to act 40 minutes after its administration. The drug is prescribed 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 with aspirin asthma and if there is an individual intolerance to the components of the drug.
Each child is different andtolerates temperature increase differently
There are children who continue to play quietly even when the temperature rises to 39 degrees. But there are kids who, even when it rises to 37.5 degrees, sometimes even lose consciousness. For this reason, it is impossible to give any universal advice on how to behave with a child in such a situation. The most important thing is that if a 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 plenty of drink to sweat;
- provide fresh air in the room (optimally 16-18 degrees).
It makes sense to reduce the temperature with medication under the following conditions:
- Poor temperature tolerance.
- There are concomitant diseases of the nervous system.
- Body temperature above 39 degrees.
Until the end of the 19th century, the opinion that high temperature (fever) heals was held by almost all doctors of the world without exception. However, when aspirin was invented in 1897, its antipyretic qualities were advertised too hostilely, and over 100 years of history, a fear of high temperature was formed. Meanwhile, doctors have found that temperature reduces the duration of the disease and reduces the likelihood of developing all kinds of pathologies. Fever reduces the negative effect of the infection, which can be contagious to other people. In addition, the high temperature frees the body of toxins. Thus, it is necessary to fight the heatreasonable - without risking the he alth of the child.
