What Causes Fever in Children?
Q:
What causes fever in children?
A:
Fever remains the most common concern prompting parents to present their child to the emergency department. Fever has traditionally been defined as a rectal temperature over 100.4 F or 38 C.
Fever itself is not life-threatening unless it is extremely and persistently high, such as greater than 107 F (41.6 C) when measured rectally.
Fever may indicate the presence of a serious illness, but usually a fever is caused by a common infection, most of which are not serious. The part of the brain called the hypothalamus controls body temperature. The hypothalamus increases the body’s temperature as a way to fight the infection. However, many conditions other than infections may cause a fever.
Causes of fever include:
- allergies
- bacterial infections, such as scarlet fever, or rarely, rheumatic fever (both related to “strep throat”)
- illicit drugs
- illnesses related to heat exposure
- medications
- rarely, inflammatory diseases, like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
- viral infections, like influenza (the “flu”)
It is recommended that you consult a health care provider to determine the appropriate treatment for the fever of your child.
Keyword: child fever; fever toddler; fever toddlers