What Are the Causes of High Fevers in Children?

Children who get sick often get a fever. This is not uncommon. However, just because a fever is a common symptom doesn't mean it should be taken lightly. High fevers, for example, can put a child at risk for a febrile seizure. According to the book titled "Taking Care of Your Child" by Pantell, Fries and Vickery, there may be several causes of high fevers in children.

Meningitis

One of the causes of high fevers in children is meningitis. This is a serious infection involving the spinal cord and brain. Gratefully, it is not a common infection. In addition to a high fever, other symptoms include irritability and a stiff neck. A good test to try is having the child try and touch his chin to his chest. Nausea and vomiting is also sometimes present.

Hepatitis

Another cause of high fevers in children is hepatitis. This results when the liver gets inflamed. Nausea and vomiting are the first indicators. While jaundice is not always apparent, dark urine is. One thing that is universal with this infection is tenderness in the abdomen where the liver is located--in the upper right section of the abdominal cavity.

Roseola

This disease is usually found in young children ages three and younger. The fever that comes with Roseola usually lasts for three days. The visual aspect of this is a rash. When the rash appears, that means the fever is going away. The rash lasts about 24 hours or less. Other symptoms that the child may experience are redness of the throat, runny nose and swollen glands in the neck or behind the ears.

When to See a Doctor

Not every fever should involve going to the doctor. There are certain guidelines to go by. According to KidsHealth.org (see Resources) you should take your 3-month-old or younger infant to the doctor if he has a temperature of 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C) or higher. Take an older child to the doctor if she has a temperature higher than 102.2 degrees F (39 degrees C). When in doubt, always call your child's pediatrician.

Medicine and Dosage

Usually acetaminophen is the fever reducer that pediatricians recommend. Aspirin is avoided due to the possibility of a rare but serious problem called Reye's Syndrome. If the fever is not responding to acetaminophen, ibuprofen can be given. In fact, waiting four hours after acetaminophen is given is not necessary before administering ibuprofen. In high fevers, pediatricians say that alternating the two medicines is helpful. This is allowed because they are two different types of medicine. As far as dosage, an excellent dosage chart is available by Warren P. Silberstein, M.D. (see Resources).

Resources

• Pediatric Dosage Chart
• KidsHealth.org