Fever of my son making me terribly anxious

[kingkong]

Dear all,
Most of my anxiety comes from my own health. But my son's health causes me a lot of anxiety as well.
He is just 5.
He is having a fever and sore throat since yesterday ( 9th march). We took him to the GP at 10AM yesterday, who thought it was viral and asked us to continue with Calpol and Nurofen. Since yesterday evening, he is having fever continuously and has been hovering around 39 degree celcius. Early morning, we took him to A&E and he was prescribed antibiotics. His temperature is not coming down inspite of giving him Calpol. Now his temperature is 40 degrees ( with calpol given about an hour back).

I am so much worried. Do kids get this high fever? Any idea how long does it last?
Should I take him to the hospital again?

Thanks.

Also can anyone tell me if there is a bug going around causing problems?

[sickandtired]

Ring NHS direct,they will ask you some questions and give you some advice.When mine were ill I used to give them Calpol then Nurofen 2 hours later,but as mine are older now Im not sure of the recommended dose anymore.
does he have a rash anywhere? is he sensitive to light? Give him plenty of fluids.If you are really worried,then visit A&E again.....you can,t be too careful

[kingkong]

Thanks. Just rang them up. Waiting for the doctor to call back.

[crystal17]

Hi, what did they give him the antibiotics for? Personally, if his temp keeps going up or staying at 39/40 I'd take him back to a&e if you've not had a call back within 30 mins or so.

[sickandtired]

hope your little lads better soon xx

[kingkong]

Hi Crystal,
The antibiotics are for tonscillitis.
The GP called and asked us to give both Calpol and Nurofen at the same time.
Asked us to not to be concerned as long as he is alert, done his wee, and takes food.

Hi SickandTired,
Thanks for the wishes.

[macc noodle]

Do not be too worried about him - kids bounce back so quickly.

As long as he is drinking fluids, weeing and is alert - it looks good.

If children are admitted to hospital with high fevers, they administer much larger doses of Calpol/Nurofen than we are advised to do on the packs which is why you have no need to be fearful of the doc telling you to give them both.

Personally, I have always alternated leaving 3 hours between each dose so that there is then 6 hours between the next calpol and 6 hours between the next nurofen.

Do what the doc advises though hon.

Try sponging him down to get him cooler and make sure that he does not have too many clothes on.

Good luck and chin up - you are doing well

xx

[kingkong]

Hi Lemonade Lolly,
Thanks for the information.
Yes. I am finding it hard to bring the temperature down to less than 40.
How long did your son have that temperature for?


Hi Macc Noodle,
Thanks

My wife thinks I am over reacting. Actually she is the man of the house and I am too worried. She says antibiotics take time, calpol takes time and everything takes time.
My concern is, even as a baby, when he felt sick, he was not this tired.
Seeing him tired and lying on the couch and bed really makes me worried.
I have fixed up an appointment with the out of hours clinic to follow up.

[Carys]

40 (and above that) is a very high temperature for a young child. Despite the medication he is having to reduce temperature, and other methods to reduce temperature, is it staying at the 40 degrees level ?

If so then I would be inclined to have him medically checked again.

[kingkong]

Hi Carys,
Thanks for your reply.
Just back from a trip to the out of hours clinic. Been there the third time today.
This time I was seen by an elderly GP.
The GP said its a viral infection and a small percentage of kids react to viral infections with spiking temperature.
He said antibiotics were not needed and since we started a course earlier ( as the doctor in A&E thought its bacterial and hence put on a course of antibiotics), he recommended we finish it.

As a father, I am still extremely worried. I had a sleepless night yesterday and gonna have one today as well.

He gets a cold/fever atleast every 2 months. Is that supposed to be normal?
Thanks

[crystal17]

That sounds about right for kids to get ill about every 2 months, they do seem to get ill alot!
Glad you have been reassured now and that the doctor wasn't worried, I always think its best to be extra careful with children because although they do perk up very quickly, they can also become more ill quickly too, so I think you did the right thing taking him to hospital.

Hope he gets better soon.

[Carys]

Hiyer, I can't recall how old your son is ? My daughter during her primary school years had a cold and fever so incredibly often that one cold rolled into another cold. She had a fever for the first two days of every cold, but it was brought down by calpol and other 'keeping cool methods'. All children are different though, and the way they respond to viruses varies.

She is now a teenager and gets a cold each two months maybe, so she is building immunity thank goodness. It is usual for young children to get all the viruses going, until their body starts to build immunity to various strains of things. I don't know if there is any medical evidence for this, but I am convinced that some people are far more susceptible to certain viruses....for example my daughter has never had a stomach bug, yet got every cold going. I was/am the same ! Incidentally, she is a fit and healthy girl who has only ever needed one course of anti-biotics and even that definite that she needed them, it was just 'seeing if she did'. So, I guess what I am saying is that lots of colds and fevers can be normal for some young children and doesn't mean there is anything more sinister underlying why they are getting them often.

Hope he is better today ?

[kingkong]

Thanks Crystal.
Thanks Carys.

Thanks for the reassurance.

My son just turned five.
I was told almost all his classmates were sick one after the other, and I assume some bug is going on around.
He is OK today.

[emmalrob]

My son was the same, one cold after another and the the odd infection. Touch wood he is 7 now and it's near enough stopped, I'm guessing he has built immunity. The weather temp and being around other children constantly doesn't help. My son was at a n e once with the same time of temp yet he was still a little lively, just couldn't figure him out.

One thing I was told which I'm not sure if there was much truth to is that people's core temp can differ, so he could have a higher core temp meaning when he gets poorly the temp goes up higher. Not sure if this is 100 percent true

[kingkong]

Thanks for the info Emma.
As of today he still has a bit of fever and a lot of cough.
Wife took him to the clinic, and there were a few of his classmates as well waiting to see their GPs.


The GP checked him and confirmed that its viral and antibiotics were not needed, and that it might take weeks for the cough to settle down.
He recommended Calpol or Nurofen only when the temperature exceeds 38 degrees celcius.