As soon as the baby got sick, the whole family turned upside down. Looking at the baby’s fever and discomfort, parents’ hearts were painful to pull up.
When the child has a fever, parents usually give the child ibuprofen, acetaminophen and other antipyretic drugs to help the baby relieve discomfort.
However, there are often messages from my mother backstage:
Why do children have repeated fever after taking antipyretics?
After taking the medicine, the fever was not reduced, was the antipyretic useless?
In response to these puzzles of mothers, clove mother specially invited professional doctors to tell parents about antipyretics.
Why do you have repeated fever after taking antipyretic?
The purpose of antipyretics is only to make children comfortable and does not help the recovery of the disease.
For children, the vast majority of fever is caused by bacterial infection, which basically has no [specific drug].
Even if there is a [specific drug] like influenza, it is mainly to reduce complications, not to [kill virus and treat influenza].
Virus infection will basically get better by itself. The key is to [endure the course of the disease]. This process will last for about 3-5 days.
If the child’s fever is compared to a pot of boiled water, then foreign germs are boiled firewood, and antipyretic is a ladle of cold water. When you have a fever and discomfort, taking antipyretic is equivalent to pouring a ladle of cold water into boiled water, which is not boiling for the time being. But as long as the firewood is still burning, the water will open sooner or later.
Why can’t the body temperature drop to normal after taking antipyretic?
The effect of antipyretics is not to reduce the body temperature to normal, but to relieve the discomfort of children.
Ibuprofen and acetaminophen are both mild antipyretics. If the body temperature is very high, it is indeed possible that the temperature will not drop to normal after taking antipyretics. However, as long as the child’s mental state can improve, the purpose of oral antipyretics is achieved.
If the child has a fever that does not show obvious discomfort and is in good mental state, even if the body temperature is above 39 ℃, he may not take antipyretics. If the child is really uncomfortable when he has a fever, or is depressed or lethargic, antipyretics can also be taken below 38.5 ℃.
In case of high fever, for example, it is still above 39 ~ 40 ℃ 2 hours after oral antipyretics, and the child’s mental state is not good. The key point is to eliminate some serious diseases, such as encephalitis and pneumonia. It is recommended to consult a doctor in person and let the doctor make professional evaluation.
What should I do if I don’t reduce my fever after taking antipyretic?
Under the condition of excluding serious diseases, if the child’s body temperature continues to be above 39 ℃ after oral antipyretics, accompanied by obvious fever and discomfort, the following methods can be tried to cool down:
Increase heat dissipation
Parents can reduce clothing and quilts for their children and drink more water to keep their bodies hydrated.
If the child does not object, he can take a warm bath. The water temperature is generally about 37 ℃, which is slightly lower than the body temperature but does not make the child feel cold obviously.
Dosage of antipyretic for single use
Clinically, doctors usually use drugs in relatively small doses. However, if the effect of reducing fever is not good, sufficient amount can be used.
According to the child’s weight, the dosage of acetaminophen can reach 15 mg/kg and ibuprofen can reach 10 mg/kg.
Both drugs belong to suspension, remember to shake well before pouring the liquid. The medicine has not been kept away from light for a long time. It is recommended to replace a new bottle of antipyretic.
Alternate medication
In general, alternate medication is not recommended.
If the effect of a single antipyretic is not good and frequent or persistent high fever causes obvious discomfort to children, it is possible to consider replacing one antipyretic with another for oral antipyretic 2 hours after oral administration.
Be sure to remember the drugs and time your child uses each time, and avoid the interval between the same antipyretic drugs being less than 4 hours or more than 4 times within 24 hours.
The body temperature, the frequency of repetition and the reaction to antipyretics when a child has a fever do not represent the severity of the disease. In other words, it is not [the higher the body temperature, the more frequent the repetition, the more serious the disease will be if the antipyretics cannot reduce the fever].
Fever does not [burn out the brain] or [burn into pneumonia], but encephalitis and pneumonia can cause fever.
Some children may suffer from convulsions due to fever, but simple febrile convulsions will not damage children’s brains, and antipyretics cannot prevent the occurrence of febrile convulsions.
If the child takes antipyretic drugs or has repeated high fever, and the high fever does not subside, mothers need not worry too much. The key is to use safe and correct antipyretic methods to accompany the baby through the [course of disease].