Can I use alcohol to wipe the fever on my child?

When we were young, we all saw this situation: no matter whether dad or mom had a fever, the other one would wipe the body with alcohol. Sometimes they would even light the alcohol and then use a coin to dip it and scrape the body. As a result, the fever would go away after a while. This method actually utilizes the principle that alcohol easily evaporates and takes away heat, and it is very effective. So, can we also use alcohol to cool down children with fever?

Infants and young children (generally 6 months to 3 years old) can use alcohol baths and other "physical methods" to help reduce fever. The specific methods are:

If the fever is not above 38 degrees, you can take antipyretics orally or not;

If there is a high fever, the following treatment is needed: 1) Take pediatric antipyretic drugs orally every 3-6 hours for 2 to 3 days. It is effective as long as the body temperature is maintained below 38 degrees (maintaining the body temperature below 38 degrees is beneficial to protecting the body, so do not force it to return to normal). 2) Use alcohol with a concentration of 50% or less to wipe the neck, armpits, groin (key areas) and skin on the limbs several times. Once every 5-10 minutes until the body temperature is maintained below 38 degrees. There are three things to note when doing sponge baths: First, between every two sponge baths, the child should be loosely covered with a thin blanket and should not be exposed. Second, if the child has cold hands and feet, use alcohol with caution and it is best to use warm water for a bath. Third, alcohol should not be used to wipe the face, abdomen, anus and external genitalia. 3) Apply a cold towel or ice pack to the forehead until the body temperature returns to normal. This helps prevent febrile seizures. 4) Drink plenty of cold boiled water (occasionally add some very light salt water) and eat a moderate amount of liquid or semi-liquid light food.

After taking the above measures, the child's high fever will usually ease or disappear on the 4th or 5th day. This is the pattern of colds in most children. But this refers to a common cold without complications such as pneumonia or purulent tonsillitis.

Other treatments: Take some cough suppressants and antiviral drugs orally as appropriate. It is best to use Chinese patent medicine for 3-5 days.