• Knowledgebase: The One Minute Pediatrician

    These are short topics that Dr. Dennis wrote for use on the radio. Each topic reads in less than one minute!

    1. Treatment of Fever - Top

    Treatment or control of fever is not needed except for the comfort of the child in most cases. Depending on the comfort or discomfort of the child, treatment begins at the 102' to 103' level. The child should be dressed lightly to allow heat loss through evaporation. Give cool liquids to drink.

    There are two medicines that can be given to lower temperature; Acetaminophen (Tylenol, Feverall) and Ibuprophen (Advil, Motrin). The dose can be found on the box and in other places on this web site. We do NOT recommend giving Aspirin to children with fevers.

    While waiting for these medicines to work, you may wish to place your child in the tub and pour luke warm water over him, or lay him on the bed and wipe him down with cool wet towels to help hime lose heat.

    Remember that treatment of fever is mostly for your child's comfort, and you don't need to get the temperature all the way down to normal. - Updated: January 18, 2002

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