2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
Infectious disease doctor Yevgeny Shcherbina wrote on Facebook a post about when it is actually worth giving a child antipyretic drugs. Lifehacker publishes a note with the consent of the author.
The eternal question: at what temperature is it necessary to give an antipyretic? Each doctor has his own starting point: some have 38, some have 38, 5, some advise to strictly wait for at least 39 degrees and only then bring down the temperature.
But is it rational to use antipyretic drugs, based only on the indicators of the thermometer?
No, it’s wrong. The fact is that there is no convincing evidence that not knocking down a high temperature leads to a quick recovery, or an excessively high temperature against the background of an infection can greatly harm the body.
A body temperature above 41, 5–42 degrees can really cause irreparable harm, but it almost never rises to such figures against the background of an infectious disease, which is quite logical, otherwise such an organism would simply not have survived in the course of evolution. Such a temperature can occur against the background of heatstroke or a rare brain tumor, but certainly not against the background of snot or diarrhea.
That is why not the height of the temperature, but the well-being of a person is an indication for taking an antipyretic, which is spelled out in modern protocols for the management of children with a high body temperature. I will quote one such protocol from the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence:
- The use of paracetamol or ibuprofen is recommended in cases where children with a high body temperature are disturbed in general condition.
- Do not use antipyretics only to lower body temperature in children with fever in an undisturbed general condition!
Got it? The disease itself is dangerous, not the height of the body temperature!
With banal baby roseola, the temperature can reach 41 degrees, and the most severe meningococcal infection can occur against a background of low 38 degrees. Therefore, if the doctor diagnosed a mild, non-dangerous infection and you stayed for treatment at home, then you can give antipyretic drugs already at 37 degrees, if the child is ill, and absolutely calmly watch him and solder if he has 39, but he jumps around the house or he just sleeps quietly.
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