Friday, July 17, 2009

Fever Management in Infants and Kids

Fever is the body's normal response to an infection. The goal is not to bring the temperature down to normal but to keep the child as comfortable.

1. Dress the child in light clothes.
2. Keep him in a cool and quiet environment.
3. Increase the child's oral fluid intake to prevent dehydration.
For infants, continue breastfeeding.
4. Give the child a tepid sponge bath - which means water that is neither cold nor hot.
Cold water or ice water is not recommended since this will result to narrowing of blood vessels in the skin leading to retention of heat rather than losing it to the environment. Cold water may also cause the child to shiver thereby increasing heat production.
Alcohol baths or rubs should never be done because alcohol can be absorbed in the skin and might lead to poisoning.
5. Give the child the right dose of paracetamol. Never increase the dose of paracetamol if the fever doesn't go down without the instructions of your pediatrician. This might lead to paracetamol overdose. Another alternative is Ibuprofen which may be given to older kids for control of high grade fever.


6 comments:

  1. Hi sis! Thanks for sharing. Sis, I've a question. Ilang dosage po ng Paracetamol ang dapat kong ibigay sa baby ko? She's 10 months old now, and she weighs 7.2kg. Her pedia told us 2.5 mL. Pero parang nararamihan ako duon. Is it really correct? Thanks!

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  2. Usually 'pag one year old and below, we use the Paracetamol drops (100mg/ml)- you should give her 0.8 ml every 4 hrs for fever. BUT if you're using the syrup already, 120 mg/5ml, marami talaga ang mabibigay mo... my computation is 3 ml every 4 hrs for fever. Mas concentrated ang drops kaya konti lang ang nabibigay kay baby which is easier di ba?

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  3. Sis, my baby's pedia prescribed Tempra drops. And 2.5 mL daw. Now I'm confused.

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  4. Tempra drops is 100mg/ml. We give Paracetamol at 10-15 mg per kg body weight. If your baby's weight is 7.2 kg...eh di ang pwede mong maximum dose is 1.1 ml every 4 hrs.

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  5. Thanks sis. Yun kasi sabi ng pedia ni baby. 2.5mL daw every four hours. Nagdoubt ako kasi sabi sa bottle 0.6mL-1mL for babies who are less than 1 year old. So I still followed my intuition and gave my baby mga 0.8 lang ng paracetamol.

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