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Fever
One describes the rise of the body temperature to over 38 º C as a fever. Children usually have a core temperature between 36.5 º C and 37.5 º C. One talks about increased temperature if it is between 37.6 º C to 38 º C. About 39 º C the child has a high fever . fever increases about 41 º C rarely.
Fever is a healthy self-help reaction of the body, for example at infections. At higher temperatures which are involved in the immune reaction on the shoot the infection causative agents (viruses and bacteria) can increase less well, the activity of different defense cells is increased and the secretion of messenger substances and hormones is promoted.
The regulation center for our body temperature is in the brain or diencephalon. Certain nerve cells supervise and steer the circulation and thermoregulation here. The retention of the core temperature is regulated by different mechanisms. The body heat is formed in the muscle, fat and liver tissue. It is handed in mainly about the skin. At fever the circulation of the skin is increased, the body can hand in more heat. Another mechanism to reduce the temperature is sweating. Evaporation cold arises from the sweat on the skin. The body temperature is reduced.
With infants and little children this regulation mechanism isn't trained completely yet. You therefore react more rapidly and also already at smaller health disturbances with fever than taller children and adults. You have also rapidly high fever. In addition, the body temperature still sways after time of day. It is usually lower in the morning and in the sleep (36 º carbon) than in the early evening hours (38 º C). The body temperature is very rapidly in the increased area with children also by the following factors:
- physical effort,
- Excitement,
- hot eating and drinking,
- Environmental temperature (solar radiation, overheated spaces, too warm clothes or bedding).
It comes to the fever emergence by different factors. The heat center in the brain is activated through:
- exogenous pyrogenic one; these are coming fever producing substances like excretory products, components of destroyed causative agents and poisons (toxins) of the outside of bacteria. Different causative agents irritate the heat center differently strongly. At bacterial infections, the fever is usually higher than at viral infections.
- endogenous pyrogenic one; they are produced by the body themselves and trigger fevers. You tip out endogenous defense cells if there was causative agent contact. Components of destroyed body cells also seem pyrogenic for example if the cells were affected by viruses or were damaged by bacterium poisons.
The causes of fever are various:
- frequent infectious diseases:
for example otitis media, tonsillitis, infection with breath way and/or stomach, intestine - symptoms,
- less frequent infectious diseases:
for example urinary tract infection, typical childhood diseases (three-day fevers, veins, scarlet fever, mumps, rubellas, chickenpoxes), meninges, lungs and typhlitis,
- From drying (so-called "salt fever")
at summer cholera or to drinking little,
- rare reasons:
allergic reactions to medicines or food, vaccination reactions, fevers in connection with teething, nettle rash, sunburn.
Recognizing fever is purely externally often already possible with children. You have a hot, reddened face, the eyes seem tired, the skin at the body is pale and cool. Some children are whining at fever and they suffer from lack of appetite.
The body temperature can be measured in terms of different places:
- in the mouth under the tongue (oral or sublingual); the measured value is 0.4 º C under the actual body temperature,
- under the shoulder (axillary); the temperature found out is approximately 0.2 º C under the core temperature,
- in the rectum (rectal); The body temperature is found out very exactly. (Tip: Put cream on the thermometer lightly at the tip. Many children find this form of the fever measurement extremely unpleasant and resist according to themselves),
- at the eardrum in the ear; this species of the fever measurement is the most comfortable and also exact,
- on the forehead; this method is also very comfortable and is even possible in the sleep.
Fever fairs are digital apparatuses ideal to this.
One can assess the fever course also in the following way:
Be freezing indicate another temperature rise up to the chill as well as cold hands and foots. Sweating and signaling sweatings as well as warm hands and foots, that the temperature doesn't rise further or even fall.
Children with fever immediately must in the following cases to the physician:
- if the fever increases about 39 º C,
- at fever during the first two life months (also spare at 38.5 º C),
- at fever below 38.5 º C which stops without recovery trend more continuous than three day,
- apathy, touch sensitivity with red skin spots, these on pressure not disappearing at spasms (cutaneous hemorrhage),
- if there are further symptoms, like vomiting, stomach ache, exanthema, diarrhea, (suspicion of an infectious disease),
- if the fever is accompanied by a fever spasm,
- if there is a pre-illness (cancer disease, defense weakness, undernutrition) at which the fever cause must be clarified as quickly as possible.
The treating physician will try to find out the reason of the fever and give therapy causatively (antibiotics at certain infections, diazepam at the fever spasm etc.).
The fever loads the metabolism and the circulation very strongly after 39 º C and the general condition of the child is impaired so strongly that the fever should be treated with antipyretic suppositories, juices, guttas or tablets. You contain the active substance paracetamol with children. The temperature should at full term be lowered primarily also with children who tend to fever spasms.
The following measures are helpful at fever independently of the height of the temperature:
- drinking regularly and sufficiently to compensate for the increased fluid loss,
- light clothes (short trousers and T-shirt made of cotton), light bedding,
- refrigerant compresses around the leg: cool till tepid cloths which were watered into waters which leave foots free, round which wind calfs let work the packs about 20 minutes and then renewed arrange to be free. However, using this procedure only at warm foots,
- descending full bath: Getting a full bath ready whose temperature about 5 º C below the measured body temperature is. Cooling the water down during the bath by another 5 º C slowly. 10 to 20 minutes should be the bathing duration.
These informations may be considered a substitute for a piece of medical advice in no case. The content of health-illness.com doesn't can and may be put into any case to make diagnoses or carry out self medical treatment independently.
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