What should I do if my 1-year-old baby has a viral infection and fever?

Because the baby is still very young, the functions of his body have not yet fully developed, especially in resisting external bacteria and viruses, which can be said to be extremely weak. This is why it is best not to take your baby out before he or she is one year old, as it is too easy for them to get sick. So, after a 1-year-old baby is infected with a virus, he or she develops a high fever. What should parents do at this time?

First of all, we must understand that fever is not terrible. It is a reaction of the baby to resist external viruses. As parents, we don’t need to be too anxious, nor can we blindly feed our children medicine. After all, all medicine is poisonous. Fever is just a symptom. We need to find out the cause of the fever. Fever can be caused by many reasons, such as: cold, respiratory tract infection, tonsillitis, pneumonia, etc. Here, I will talk about fever caused by viral infection. How do you know if the fever is caused by a viral infection? The degree of fever alone cannot fully determine whether it is caused by a viral infection. Because in a few babies, viral infections can also cause high fever. If the baby only has a fever and other symptoms are not obvious or non-existent, we should suspect that it is caused by bacterial infection, viral infection, or a combined bacterial and viral infection. To confirm the diagnosis, it is best to go to the hospital for a blood test. We can judge from the blood test form that if only the number and ratio of lymphocytes exceed the normal range by a large margin, and the number of white blood cells is normal, then the fever is caused by a viral infection.

Once it is confirmed that the fever is caused by a viral infection, we can consider physical cooling combined with medication to fight the virus, so that the baby will get better quickly. If the condition is more serious and accompanied by other symptoms, and it takes a long time, you must go to the hospital for infusion and treatment.

If the body temperature is below 38.5°, you can cool it down physically by applying a warm towel to the forehead, wiping both sides of the neck, vest, limbs, and soles of the feet. Feed your baby more boiled water to replenish water and speed up the excretion of the virus through urine. I personally do not recommend wiping with alcohol because it is really harmful to the skin. Baby's skin is tender and can easily cause allergies.

If the body temperature is above 38.5°, you need to use medicine to reduce the temperature. For example, Motrin or Tylenol, which are antipyretic drugs for infants and young children that have been used clinically for many years. They are safe and can be taken in the correct dose according to age and weight. There should be at least 6 hours between two doses of medication. Body temperature must still be measured before use, and it can be used again only if it exceeds 38.5°. It is best to use the two medicines alternately, the effect will be better.

During the antiviral process, we can also give the baby some antiviral drugs, which will help the baby resist the virus and get better faster. For example: Chinese patent medicines include antiviral oral liquid, Children's Chiqiao Qingre Granules, etc.; Western medicines include Children's Paracetamol Phenylacetate Granules, Ribavirin Granules, etc. These effects are all good, you can choose by yourself.