FEVER: THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Excerpt from the book THE ART AND SCIENCE OF PARENTING available on www.lulu.com

The first and the foremost thing we would like to tell parents is that 'Fever' is not a disease, but a symptom of a disease. Whenever an infective agent enters the body, it could be bacterial, viral or fungal, the immune system of the body fights it. Fever is a manifestation of this battle.

High body temperature inhibits the growth of invading germs thus, too vigorous an attempt to control the fever may actually prolong the duration of the disease. On the flip side, if a child is prone to convulsions with the sudden rise of fever, not starting or delaying temperature control measures may result in the child getting convulsions. This would be unfortunate because each episode of convulsions damages a few neurons (nerve cells) of the brain.

What is the normal body temperature?

The standard normal body temperature is 98.6^oF or 37^oC. A normal child can have 98^oF in the morning and 99^oF in the evening. A variation of two degrees or more (98^o to100^o or even 97^o to 99^o) is abnormal and should be investigated.

Fahrenheit Centigrade

97 Subnormal 36.1

98 36.7

98.6 Normal 37.0

100 37.8

102.20 Moderate fever 39.0

104.00 High fever 40.0

105.80 Critical 41.0



How to record the temperature correctly

Old is gold! The mercury thermometer is still themost reliable means of recording temperature. Digital thermometers also work satisfactorily. The strip thermometers, which are to be placed on the forehead often give false readings and can not be relied upon.

Temperature can be recorded in the armpit (small children), in the mouth (older children) and in the rectum (by rectal thermometer). Temperature recorded in the mouth is higher than the temperature recorded in the armpit, but lower than the temperature recorded in rectum. For example, armpit temperature may be 100, oral temperature 101 and rectal 102. Always tell your doctor where you have recorded the temperature, whether in armpit, mouth or rectum. Let your doctor do the adding or subtracting if you have not recorded the temperature in the mouth. Do not do it yourself.