Causes of fever in newborn babies

Having children is a very common thing, but with the birth of a child, it is not only necessary to take careful care of the child, but also to pay attention to all aspects. A newborn baby with a fever will make many parents very worried, and they don’t know how to treat and regulate the child. First of all, we need to see whether it is a disease or physiological condition, and choose the appropriate treatment method according to the type of disease.

1. Non-disease factors

The baby's body temperature 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 is unstable, the possibility of illness should be considered.

2. Disease factors

The most common cause of fever in infants under 3 months old is bacterial infection (such as group B streptococcus); other causes such as respiratory tract, urinary tract, gastrointestinal tract infections 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 let the doctor check it for early diagnosis and early treatment.

The most common causes of fever in infants and young children older than 3 months 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 testing is 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 or the incorrect angle at which the ureters enter the bladder, which require surgical treatment.