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The body has a mechanism that usually prevents untreated fevers from going above 40 degrees unless the child is covered by too many blankets or in a very hot environment for an extended period of time. Seizures are another fear for parents with a child who has a fever. The instances of seizures are usually under 5% for children with fevers. The seizures are actually caused by the fast rise of body temperature and not the measurable degree. These febrile seizures generally last only a few minutes and have no long lasting effects. One way to avoid the occurrence of seizures is to treat the fever early with medications. What is the measuring point to determine a fever? Our body temperature changes during the course of the day and even during our development from infant to child and on to adolescence. It is not unusual for there to be a variance of the “normal” body temperature for children age six months to two years of about one degree (38 degrees).
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Less than one hundred years ago, children who developed high fevers often did not survive. Over the years, thanks to the introduction of vaccines and antibiotics, many of the illnesses that caused high fevers are either treatable or preventable. What is interesting to learn is that fevers are really a defense mechanism by the human body to fight infections. How can a fever help? Viral infections and bacterial infections prosper at our normal body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. If the body temperature is raised, the human body has a better chance of fighting the infection. The fever also spurs the immune system, increasing white blood cells that also work against virus and bacteria. Historically the fear parents have when their child contracts a fever is that the fever will cause brain damage. However, the fever must last a long time and be very high (about 42 degrees) for brain damage to occur. |
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