Fever information from the blog of GetzWell Pediatrics, a premier pediatrics practice in San Francisco, California.
Fever information from the blog of GetzWell Pediatrics, a premier pediatrics practice in San Francisco, California.
Researchers recently discovered a medically significant silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic: a marked decrease in most respiratory illnesses in children. This dramatic drop was a rare bright spot during such a challenging time.
Fevers are common in children who are fighting a virus or bacteria. Although most fevers are caused by viral infections from which children quickly heal on their own, misinformation about fever abounds and causes parents a lot of worry. Let us put fever into perspective so we can ease your mind the next time your kid gets sick.**
Parents are too often led to believe that “kids get sick, that’s just what happens.” But that isn’t necessarily true! Indeed, a child’s developing immune system makes them more susceptible to illness, especially with frequent exposure to germs at daycares, classrooms, and playgrounds. But there are many proactive measures that can help your child fend off common and seasonal illnesses.
What you choose to put in your body during pregnancy directly impacts your child’s health – and Tylenol (aka acetaminophen/paracetamol) is no exception. For decades Tylenol has been commercially endorsed as THE “go-to” over-the-counter pain reliever, with over 60% of women in the United States relying on it to alleviate aches and pains related to pregnancy. However, mounting evidence continues to underscore the potential short- and long-term health risks it poses to babies – before and after birth.
When your kid gets sick, your first instinct is often to run to the nearest drugstore in search of a “kid-friendly” over-the-counter drug. However, kids are not little adults and commercial medications can be really hard on – and often dangerous to – their sensitive developing systems.
Some great ways to prevent yourself and your children from getting the worst of the holiday illnesses.
Learn more about how to manage your cold and minor viral infections.
Misconceptions about the dangers of childhood fever are very common. Many San Francisco parents lose sleep and experience unnecessary stress due to unwarranted concerns about the harmful side effects of fever in their children.
Fevers are part the body’s effort to activate the immune system, so they are one of our innate protective mechanisms. Most fevers are good for children because fevers help them to fight infection.
California has officially declared the pertussis or whooping cough outbreak an epidemic. In fact, the golden state is on track to break a 50 year record number of cases, and 5 infants have died this year in California alone. At GetzWell, three of our own patients (all unvaccinated) have had it in the last few months! Fortunately these were not babies and the kids are healthy again, but it was a miserable period of many weeks of uncontrollable coughing. The most common scenario is a mild cold that lasts a few weeks before the coughing begins. If your child has a protracted cold (lasting more than 10 days without improvement) or a cough following a runny nose that’s lasted a couple weeks, call us for an appointment.
One of the most common questions we get relates to what kind of a thermometer to use and how to use it properly. Here’s a link to some sound information on how best to take your child’s temperature: temp.
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