Is it a problem if my baby has a fever of 37 degrees?

Nowadays, every child is the apple of the eye of the entire family, and the health of the children is taken very seriously. Many couples are first-time parents and do not have much experience in taking care of children. Sometimes when they measure their children's temperature, they find it is 37 degrees. They just want to ask if it’s a problem if the baby has a fever of 37 degrees Celsius? Let’s hear the explanation from the pediatric expert. I hope you can understand more through the following introduction.

The medical term is also called fever. Fever supports the immune system in fighting infectious agents and prevents temperature-sensitive viruses and bacteria from replicating successfully in the body.

This often happens to children when the weather gets hot or the seasons change. They have a high fever. Giving them injections and taking medicine can only temporarily reduce the temperature. Once the effect of the medicine wears off, the child's temperature will go up again. The high fever often lasts for two to three days. During this period, the mother should give the child medicine on time. It is best not to give him an injection because the child is too young. Then wipe his whole body with alcohol cotton and clamp it under his armpits. Then take a little anti-inflammatory medicine. He should be fine after a day or two because it takes some time for the inflammation to disappear.

The human body's hypothalamus has a body temperature regulation center, which functions like the temperature setting of an air conditioner. Under normal circumstances, the temperature set for infants and young children is slightly higher than that for adults. The rectal temperature of infants and young children is about 37.5 degrees Celsius, with a fluctuation of about one degree. The oral temperature of adults and older children is approximately 36.8 degrees Celsius, with a fluctuation of 0.5 degrees.

If the set temperature is raised, for example, if the human body is infected with pathogens, causing the white blood cells to react and produce "thermophores", it will stimulate the temperature regulation center of the hypothalamus. When the set temperature is adjusted to 39°C, the body produces heat through muscle trembling and contraction, or reduces sweating to dissipate heat, raising the body temperature to 39°C. So before a fever occurs, you may feel chills and shiver, and then suddenly have a high fever, producing certain bacterial toxins. This phenomenon is particularly obvious.

Many parents have also observed that their children tend to have high fevers at night. This is because the water content in infants and young children's bodies is higher than that in adults. Even a slight lack of water will affect heat dissipation and make them prone to fever. When children are sick, they have less strength and sleep for a long time. If you don't eat or drink for a long time at night, your body temperature will naturally rise.

Factors causing fever

1. Non-disease factors

The body temperature of infants is easily affected by the external environment: high temperature (heatstroke), wearing too many clothes, insufficient water intake, water loss (sweating, diarrhea), poor ventilation in the room, before and after strenuous exercise, the effects of certain special drugs, and other factors such as preventive injections may also cause fever. If the body temperature becomes unstable, the possibility of illness should be considered.

2. Disease factors

(1) Fever in infants under 3 months old

Bacterial infection is the most common (such as group B streptococcus); other infections such as respiratory tract, urinary tract, gastrointestinal tract or otitis media can also cause fever. The most serious infectious disease is sepsis. Therefore, when a newborn has a fever, it is important to take the baby to a doctor for examination so that early diagnosis and treatment can be given.

(2) Fever in infants and young children older than 3 months

The most common ones are colds, otitis media, and urinary tract infections. Otitis media is usually caused by bacteria or viruses from a cold infecting the middle ear through the Eustachian tube. Except for severe otitis media where pus can be seen flowing into the ear, most abnormalities cannot be seen from the outside.

In addition, urine tests are also important when children have a fever for no apparent reason. When children and adults have urinary tract infections, they may experience frequent urination, painful urination, or even urinary incontinence and back pain. Young infants may only have anorexia, spitting up, diarrhea, jaundice, etc., and no urinary tract symptoms can be seen, so it is very easy to misdiagnose. A small number of urinary tract infections are caused by congenital malformations of the urinary organs, such as the incorrect shape of the kidneys, the incorrect angle at which the ureters enter the bladder, etc., and require surgical treatment.

Now we know that if a baby has a fever of 37 degrees, it is not a big deal, because the normal human temperature is around 37 degrees. Any increase or decrease of half a degree is normal, so parents don’t need to worry. If you use a thermometer to measure the child's temperature and find that it is over 38 degrees, it means that the child has a low fever. At this time, it is best to use physical cooling to minimize side effects.