Kashish Sharma
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Lowering a child’s temperature will not cure their illness any faster and in fact, a low-grade temperature might actually help in warding off infection
Change in season comes with a spike in infections. Children are often at the receiving end of it. The first symptom of seasonal illness is usually fever. A new study has shown that many parents might not be measuring and treating elevated fevers in children appropriately.
As per the study, while some parents might understand the fact that fever is a healthy response to infection and a low-grade temperature might actually help a body to fight off it, one in three parents show the tendency to give fever-reduced medication for spiked temperatures below 100 degrees F which is not clinically recommended thing to do. The study observed the tendency among parents to over-medicate children when they develop a fever.
A fever is usually defined by healthcare providers as a systematic rise in the temperature of the body, mostly 100.4 degrees F or above when taken rectally.
The study was conducted in form of a poll that received 1,376 responses from parents of children under 12 years of age between August and September 2022. The responses were interpreted by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at the University of Michigan. The results showed that half of the parents used medicine if the temperature was between 100.4 and 101.9 degrees, and a quarter of them might provide a second dose to prevent the fever from coming back.
As per the experts analyzing the poll, most parents are worried about reducing a child's temperature. Many of them might swiftly rush to give them medicines and might not even allow the fever to run its full course. According to experts, the purpose of treating a fever is to make the person comfortable. Lowering a child's temperature will not cure their illness any faster and in fact, a low-grade temperature might actually help in warding off infection. Experts cautioned that this can sometimes lead to overmedication which is not required and has its own side effects.
As per the poll co-director Woolford, the method through which a child's temperature is noted is also important. There are chances of false readings if taken incorrectly. He noted that most parents measure their child's fever through forehead scan or mouth and very few opt for ear, underarm and rectal methods of measurement. The expert stated some obstacles that give false measurements like the distance between scale and forehead, sweaty forehead and ear wax deposition in ears. He said that if the child is able to hold the thermometer correctly in its mouth, oral readings can be accurate. He also cautioned that armpit measurements can be often misleading. According to him, for infants and young children, rectal temperature is the most accurate.