High Fever Without Symptoms In A Child

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

High fever without symptoms in a child

Content:

• Causes of high fever without symptoms

  • 1. Overheating
  • 2. Reaction to teething
  • 3. Infections with high fever without obvious symptoms
• What to do if a child's temperature rises?
• When should I see a doctor?
• When do you need to urgently seek medical help?

If the child's temperature rises, and there are no other symptoms of any disease, the parents begin to worry, not understanding what is happening to their baby. And some, on the contrary, do not attach importance to what is happening, and do not even give the child antipyretic drugs.

How to react correctly if the thermometer shows 38 ° C and above, and other symptoms are in no hurry to appear and clarify the situation?

Causes of high fever without symptoms

Causes of high fever without symptoms include:

1. A bacterial or viral infection (in this case, symptoms appear only after some time, and sometimes only a doctor can recognize them).
2. Reaction to a child's teething.
3. The baby is overheated (it is important to understand that babies can overheat not only in summer but also in winter).

The younger the child, the more often a high fever without symptoms occurs because:

• babies have poor thermoregulation, so they overheat much more often,
• many diseases in young children proceed differently than in adults,
• there are many infections that only children under 3-5 years old are susceptible to,
• a child suffers many infections for the first time, so the body can react with an increase in temperature,
• a small child is still helpless in many ways, sometimes he simply cannot complain to his parents that he has a headache or a stomach ache, so there are symptoms, but adults simply do not understand this,
• very often the temperature rises during the period when babies are teething, and this happens at the age of up to 2.5 years.

1. Overheating

Children very often overheat in the heat. And babies, if they are dressed too warmly, when going to bed, can overheat even in winter.

In this case, the child becomes restless, begins to be capricious for no apparent reason, or, conversely, behaves apathetically and sluggishly. The temperature rises to about 38 - 38.5 ° C. What to do in such a situation:

• first of all, ventilate the room well so that the air temperature is about 18-22 ° C,
• in the event that your baby is overheated in the sun, then take him home or at least put him in the shade,
• take off all warm clothes from the child or completely undress him,
• moisten a sponge with cool water and wipe it all over the body, face,
• Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day.

If the reason for the rise in temperature was overheating, then after these actions it should be normalized within an hour without the use of any antipyretic drugs.

In the event that the above measures do not work, then give the baby an antipyretic and consider other causes of the ailment.

2. Reaction to teething

The most common cause of high fever without any symptoms is precisely the cutting milk teeth.

Signs that indicate this:

• the child tries to scratch his gums, pulls into his mouth everything that comes to his hand,
• your child is from 5 months to 2.5 years old (it is during this period that teeth are being cut),
• the temperature is kept around 38 ° C and does not rise above,
• the child's gums are inflamed, the edges of the cutting teeth may appear,
• after 1-3 days, when the tooth has erupted, the temperature drops,
• when the previous teeth were cut, the child also had a fever.

There are two more signs that young mothers have noticed: when the teeth are being cut, the child refuses to eat, there is increased salivation. But these symptoms are rather controversial.

Increased production of saliva begins in children from 2 months, when the teeth are not yet cut. During this period, the salivary glands simply begin to function actively. As for the loss of appetite, this is a completely logical consequence of the increased temperature.

Dr. Komarovsky on the rise in temperature during teething in children:

How to bring down the temperature of children during teething?

Recommended:

• in order to relieve gum pain, you can use special gels,
• provide a plentiful warm drink,
• periodically ventilate the room (in the absence of the child), maintain the temperature at 18-22 ° C,
• if the temperature rises higher than 37.3 ° C, then temporarily exclude walking and bathing, let the child stay at home and sleep more often,

• if the child is capricious or, conversely, too lethargic, and the temperature has risen to 38 ° C or higher, then give him an antipyretic agent (in this situation, nurofen or paracetamol are best suited, since they also have an analgesic effect, relieve itching in the gums and calm the child).

3. Various infections with high fever without obvious symptoms

Very often the child has symptoms, it is just that the parents cannot see them on their own. If you go to a doctor, he will immediately identify them during examination, diagnose the disease and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

The infection is localized in the throat

If the child is still very young, then the mother cannot always examine his throat and understand that something is wrong with him. The baby himself also cannot complain about what bothers him. Therefore, a high temperature without symptoms visible to parents can be observed at once with several infectious diseases.

• Acute pharyngitis. This is the most common infection in babies and is accompanied by fever. On examination of the throat, sores, rashes and redness are observed.
• Herpangina. This infection is accompanied by a high fever, as well as the appearance of bubbles on the arches, tonsils and the back wall of the pharynx, and a sore throat.
• Angina. This disease can be observed only in children over 1 year old, while under 2 years old it is extremely rare. With angina, there is a high temperature, abscesses and a white coating on the tonsils, a sore throat.

If your child has been diagnosed with tonsillitis, then you should immediately start taking a course of antibiotics. With herpangina, antibiotics are not required, and with pharyngitis, it depends on its type (viral or bacterial).

Conclusion, if your baby has a fever and there is a suspicion of a sore throat, then immediately call a doctor. Before his arrival, you can take the measures recommended for teething (excluding the use of gum gels).

Acute stomatitis

If a child has stomatitis, he usually refuses to eat, and there is also increased salivation and fever. When examining the oral cavity, sores or vesicles can be seen on the tongue and mucous membrane.

If you have these symptoms, call a doctor at home, and before his arrival you can take the measures already listed above. It is also recommended to rinse the mouth with a solution of furacilin, sage or chamomile as often as possible. It is also worthwhile to temporarily exclude sour, spicy, hot and tough foods that can injure inflamed areas, replacing them with liquid and puree-like dishes with a neutral taste, not too hot.

Acute otitis media

Symptoms are ear pain and fever. If the child is still small and cannot talk about what bothers him, then he will grab his ear, refuse to eat and be capricious.

As a treatment, the doctor prescribes topical antibiotic treatment in the form of drops and / or a systemic course of treatment with pills or injections.

Sudden exanthema or Roseola

This disease is observed only in babies aged 9 months to 2 years. It begins with a high temperature (38.5 ° to 40 ° C), which lasts for 3-5 days. Also, sometimes there is an increase in the occipital, submandibular and cervical lymph nodes. After a few days, the temperature decreases, but a small pink rash appears on the body, which disappears after 4-5 days without any treatment.

The disease is caused by the herpes virus, which is quite widespread. According to statistics, 70% of all children under 2 years old tolerate exanthem.

Urinary tract infection

In most cases, the only symptom is fever. Less commonly, the legs and face may swell a little, and urination becomes frequent, sometimes painful.

In order to diagnose the disease, you need to do a general urine test. The infection is bacterial and therefore requires antibiotic treatment.

Conclusion: in the event that your child has a high fever, and you do not see other symptoms of any disease, then immediately call a doctor. He will conduct an examination, prescribe the necessary tests and select the necessary course of treatment.

What to do if a child's temperature rises?

A rise in temperature is a sign that the body is fighting infection. Measure the temperature first. Use a thermometer, because just touching your baby's forehead and noting that it's hot isn't enough. Keep in mind that the temperature is not always accompanied by external heat, and the child may also be cold. This condition is called white fever. It occurs due to a spasm of blood vessels on the legs and arms of the child.

Scheme of action for fever without symptoms:

• if the temperature does not rise above 37.5 ° C, it is usually recommended not to bring it down, since the body itself must cope with the infection itself. However, this is permissible only with ARVI! For example, with intestinal infection, angina and roseola, it must be reduced.
• if the temperature rises above 38.5 ° C, then you need to turn to antipyretic drugs. You should ask your doctor in advance what drugs and in what dosage you need to use in this case, and always keep them in your medicine cabinet. Most often, children are prescribed ibuprofen (ibufen, nurofen) and paracetamol (panadol, cefekon). Aspirin is not recommended for children.

If your child suffers from any neurological disorders, heart defect, and also if he was born with cerebral hemorrhage, cysts or severe hypoxia, then in this case, in no case should the child's temperature rise above 39 ° C Therefore, measure it periodically and take the necessary measures (physical, antipyretic) in time.

When your child has a high fever without symptoms, give him maximum attention. Change into dry clothes in time, if he sweats, give more often warm drinks. You shouldn't go outside and try to feed your baby if he refuses.

It is strictly forbidden to wipe the child with a damp sponge and put it in a bath with cool water!

It happens that a child's temperature rises from the fact that he is worried. In this case, you need to give him a sedative (you only need to select the drug with your doctor), and in the future you should take preventive measures (if the child is going to get into a stressful situation, start taking a sedative in a few days).

Temperature without symptoms - Dr. Komarovsky:

Be sure to read: How and how to bring down a high temperature in a child?

When should I see a doctor?

If the child spits up or refuses to eat even when you have already brought down the temperature. This can be observed during pharyngitis.

If the temperature lasts even for 4-5 days, and other symptoms do not appear. It is necessary to pass a blood and urine test to determine the hidden foci of inflammation or the presence of a urinary infection.

When do you need to urgently seek medical help?

Call an ambulance immediately if the temperature persists even after taking antipyretic drugs, the child is too lethargic, has turned pale, or breathing has worsened.

If you notice convulsions, then you need to check the intracranial pressure. Most often, the prognosis turns out to be favorable and seizures are only the body's reaction to a temperature jump, but all the risks must still be eliminated.

It is very important to be prepared for the fact that the child may have a fever. Ask your doctor in advance which medicines and in what dosage you need to use, and always keep them in your home medicine cabinet.

The author of the article: Sokolova Praskovya Fedorovna | Pediatrician

Education: Diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received at the Volgograd State Medical University. A specialist certificate was immediately received in 2014.