When a child’s forehead heats up like a fireball, the parent burns the child. The causes of fever in children vary from viral infections to vaccinations and colds. Although the symptoms of a fever itself are not dangerous, if a high fever persists or is accompanied by special symptoms, it is recommended to visit a hospital as soon as possible. Here’s what to do when your child has a fever and what symptoms to suspect.
If a newborn has a fever, go to the emergency room immediately.
In the case of a pre-teen baby, a temperature of 37.5 degrees or less is considered normal. If the child is over 4 months old and the body temperature rises above 38 degrees Celsius, it is usually resolved by taking oral antipyretics. However, if the rectal temperature of a baby under 6 months is 38.9 degrees or higher, it may be due to sepsis or a urinary tract infection, so you should see a doctor immediately. Sepsis has only fever without other accompanying symptoms, and the baby does not eat well and is droopy or severely irritable. It is often accompanied by meningitis and requires immediate hospitalization to perform a cerebrospinal fluid test and blood culture test. Urinary tract infection can also cause fever. Early treatment is important because the kidneys are often damaged when a newborn develops a urinary tract infection.
However, even if it is not a newborn, if the baby shows symptoms such as drooping, stiff body, convulsions with high fever, difficulty moving the legs, or pain when touched, it is an emergency and you should go to the emergency room immediately.
Suspected ‘hand-foot-and-mouth disease’ if there is a blistering rash on the skin with fever
Recently, hand, foot and mouth disease is spreading in common spaces where children live, such as daycare centers and kindergartens. If a child under 5 has a fever, it is a good idea to check for a blistering rash on the mouth, hands, and feet. Hand, foot and mouth disease is caused by infection with enteroviruses such as coxsackie bias and enterovirus, and symptoms such as skin rash and loss of appetite appear along with fever. Since there is no fundamental treatment method yet, it is necessary to focus on preventing symptoms with antipyretics and anti-inflammatory drugs, and the symptoms will disappear naturally after about a week of onset.
If the persistent high fever and antipyretic drugs are not effective, it could be ‘Kawasaki disease’… Early treatment is key
If the fever persists for more than 5 days, Kawasaki disease should be suspected. Kawasaki disease is an acute febrile vasculitis of unknown etiology that mainly occurs in children under the age of 4 years. Fever caused by Kawasaki disease rises very high to 39-40 degrees, and there are many cases where antipyretic drugs do not show much improvement. In the paper ‘Diagnosis and Treatment of Kawasaki Disease’ published by Kyungpook National University in 2020, “Kawasaki disease is characterized by a persistent fever even after antibiotic treatment.” Therefore, it is of paramount importance to make an appropriate diagnosis in the acute stage.”
In addition to high fever, symptoms of Kawasaki disease include ▲conjunctival congestion ▲redness and cracks on the lips ▲strawberry tongue ▲erythema and edema on the palms and soles of the feet ▲maculopapular skin rash ▲erythema and dripping at the site of BCG injection ▲non-purulent neck lymph node swelling have. However, in some cases, these symptoms do not appear all at once, so it is necessary to keep in mind the symptoms that appear in the body, and if Kawasaki disease is diagnosed, immunoglobulin therapy and high-dose aspirin treatment should be performed as soon as possible.