What should I do if my baby has a fever of 38.8?

It is a very common phenomenon for children to have a fever. Generally speaking, if the child's fever is below 38.5℃, there is no need to go to the hospital. Proper home care can relieve the symptoms. However, if the child's fever reaches 39 degrees or above, this may be considered a high temperature and you must go to the hospital in time for antipyretic treatment. What should you do when a child has a fever?

A fever of 39 degrees is considered a high fever. Generally speaking, if the child's complexion is normal or flushed, he or she can be safely cared for at home; if the complexion is dull, yellow, blue, or purple, and the eyes are dull, it means that the condition is serious. When a child has a fever, parents should not blindly reduce the fever. Instead, they should go to the hospital to find out the cause of the fever and provide appropriate treatment based on the results. Because fever is a normal defense reaction of the body, colds, leukemia, and even other diseases can all show symptoms of fever. A high fever of 39 degrees is indeed serious, but most people mistakenly believe that a high fever that does not go away will damage the brain.

In fact, whether high temperature can damage the brain is related to the temperature and duration. Only when the body temperature exceeds 42 degrees and persists for a long period of time will the body's proteins begin to denature, causing direct damage to the brain! Most of the diseases that affect intelligence and brain development are meningitis or hypoxic encephalopathy caused by constant convulsions.

These are all caused by the course of the disease itself, not the temperature; and most of these diseases will have symptoms of persistent high fever (even if the temperature is below 42 degrees). This has led to the common misconception that high fever can damage the brain.

The basic way to distinguish between the two is to observe the child's appetite and energy. In the case of serious infections such as meningitis or sepsis, children will have poor appetite and activity, become drowsy all the time, and may vomit if the intracranial pressure increases. Therefore, when a child has a fever, parents must "observe the child's words and expressions" and seek medical attention immediately if they find the above symptoms.

If a child has a fever of over 39 degrees for a long time, he must go to the hospital. Sometimes, more serious illnesses may only be around 38 degrees Celsius. Therefore, when a child has a fever, parents should observe the child's complexion, mental state, and whether there are any convulsion symptoms. Fever is just one of the symptoms of the disease. What is more important is to find out the cause of the fever.

Because children's bodies currently cannot control temperature very well, some children may have a fever of over 40 degrees when infected with a minor illness. When children have a fever, parents must pay attention to their children's complexion and expression. If the above symptoms appear, they must be diagnosed in time.