What causes children to have a fever and convulsions?

Fever is very common among children. Some have high fever that won't go away, while others have repeated fevers that come and go. Some children even have convulsions when they have a fever. This situation is very dangerous and may not only cause harm to the body but may also affect intelligence. So what happens when children have a fever and convulsions? Let’s find out together.

If a child has convulsions after having a fever, it is considered a febrile convulsion. Repeated febrile convulsions can lead to epilepsy in adulthood. Febrile convulsions are common emergency symptom of central nervous system dysfunction in children, and are more common in infants and young children. Febrile convulsions are mostly caused by various infectious diseases, with upper respiratory tract infections being the most common. The main clinical manifestations are: typical attacks occur when the body temperature suddenly rises in the early stage of the primary disease, and the body temperature is mostly 39-40℃ or above during an attack.

It mainly presents as generalized seizures, manifested as tonic-clonic convulsions, or only as tonic or clonic seizures. Most attacks last only a few minutes and stop within 15 minutes. Most children regain consciousness within a few minutes without leaving any abnormal neurological signs. You can go to the hospital for a brain CT scan and EEG to rule out epilepsy and intracranial masses.

Febrile convulsions are a common disease in pediatrics. According to statistics, 3%-4% of children have experienced febrile convulsions at least once. Convulsions in children occur due to imperfect development of the brain and poor ability to analyze and identify stimuli. Weak stimulation can cause abnormal release of motor neurons in the brain and cause convulsions.

Characteristics of febrile convulsions: Age: between half a year and 4 years old, rarely seen after 5 years old; Fever: generally due to acute fever at the beginning of a cold, convulsions mostly occur when the body temperature suddenly rises to 38.5℃ to 39.5℃; Seizure situation: loss of consciousness, systemic symmetrical tonic-clonic convulsions, may also manifest as staring, squinting, and upward rolling of the eyes; Duration: lasts for a few seconds or minutes, generally not more than 15 minutes, no recurrence within 24 hours, and consciousness returns to normal quickly after the attack.

The long-term prognosis of febrile convulsions is good and it has no effect on intelligence, learning, or behavior. As age increases and the brain develops, febrile convulsions generally no longer occur.

If a child has a high fever, parents should take the child to the hospital for examination and treatment as soon as possible. A high fever for a long time may cause varying degrees of damage to many aspects of the body. Many cases are caused by the delay in treating a common fever, so parents should pay more attention to their children's high fever to avoid unexpected situations.