Back to the list

Fever

Download a pdf version here.

Information for parents and carers.

 

What is Fever?

A fever is a high temperature of 38C or above, which is part of your child’s natural response to an infection. It is very common within children and in most cases you can be reassured that your child will be best cared for at home.

Body temperature can be measured in many different ways. You can use a thermometer at home, if you have one available. Equally trust your own judgement, if your child feels hot to touch, they probably do have a raised temperature.

 

Causes of fever.

Early on in your child’s illness, it might be difficult to work out what it is that is causing the temperature. Most commonly the temperature will be due to a viral illness which might also cause a runny nose, earache, sore throat, red eyes, rash, vomiting and diarrhoea. Later on in the illness it may be easier to recognise the infection; I.e. chicken pox or tonsillitis.

 

Medicines for the fever.

Current advice for the treatment of fevers is that we should use medicines such as Paracetamol and Ibuprofen to bring the temperature down, but only when your child is distressed by the fever. If they are their normal self, happy and playing then the medicines are not required.

Current guidance does not recommend giving both Paracetamol and Ibuprofen at the same time, but rather, staggering doses if the first medicine doesn’t appear to have worked.

 

Your child _________received Paracetamol at _____. You can give further doses at _______.

Your child _________received Ibuprofen at _____. You can give further doses at ______.

 

When to see a Doctor.

You should seek further advice if ….

  • Your child develops a rash that does not fade when you press it
  • Your child has a fever above 38C and is under 3 months
  • Your child has a seizure
  • Fever lasts for more than 5 days
  • Your child’s health worsens
  • You are concerned about looking after your child at home

Please do not hesitate to contact the nurse or hospital doctor when within your 72 hours open access, or contact your health visitor or GP for further advice outside of this time.

Was this page helpful?

Was this page helpful?
Rating

Please answer the question below, this helps us to reduce the number of spam emails that we receive so that we can spend more time responding to genuine enquiries and feedback. Thank you.

*