“Fever in children sometimes arouses an irrational fear which tends to overload doctors’ offices and pediatric emergencies while recommendations of good practice have been widely disseminated to properly manage this symptom”. To check how parents behave when their child’s fever peaks, researchers from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) interviewed the parents of more than 6,500 children aged between one month and twelve. years old and has had a fever for less than 48 hours.
“ The results show that 89% of parents measure their child’s temperature well whether it is rectally, orally, at the ear or under the armpits, 61% know that 38 ° C is the threshold defined to indicate that the child has a fever, but only 23% correctly carry out an antipyretic treatment (against fever) and barely 15% respect the physical measures contributing to the well-being of the child ”explain the researchers.
Childhood fever: the right actions
A child is considered to have a fever when his temperature exceeds 38 ° C, in the absence of intense physical activity, in being normally covered and in a moderate ambient temperature. But it is only from 38.5 ° C that it may be useful to initiate treatment with one (and only one) antipyretic drug (first-line paracetamol or ibuprofen).
Three simple measures, in combination with drug treatment, are to be favored:
– offer to drink frequently, preferring a drink well accepted by the child to a very cold drink, which will at best only lead to a limited drop in temperature;
– do not cover the child too much;
– ventilate the room.
“These simple measures help limit the rise in temperature, increase the effectiveness of drug treatment and maintain correct hydration of the child. Other physical methods, such as bathing at 2 ° C below body temperature, are only useful if they do not go against the main objective of the treatment, which is the fight against discomfort ”emphasizes ANSM (National Medicines Safety Agency).
