Would you get DD4 seen for 40.7 fever ?

[poorlya]

It only started in last night and responds to medicine.

But she keeps shivering and spiking up to 40.7.

I need to give meds every 3 hours at the most before it spikes that high again.

I don't know where it's coming from. No cough, cold, throat looks ok to me ( I'm not a doctor ).

She's been to the bathroom fine, I've been making her drink lots of water etc / trying to keep her cool.

I wouldn't usually go to seek help so fast, but the fever keeps spiking so high.

Glad you got her seen. Agree with others some people are scare mongering. My dd is 3 and spikes 40+ temp with most viruses she picks up. Has done since she was 1. I can only get it down to 39ish with ibuprofen. I can literally feel the heat from her without touching. Admittedly it terrifies me and when she initially started doing it and was all for hospital etc. I have been told that it’s ok as long as it comes down a bit. Hope your little one feels better soon.

I've really noticed a correlation with mine when it's tonsillitis vs a cough / cold type virus.

With tonsillitis they get SO hot. With other stuff they either don't get a temp or a low grade one.

I've also seen doctors many times and they never seem worried about the high temps, it's so weird.

They say that with high temps, as long as it comes down a bit- it's fine. They also say that it's normal they breathe fast / have a high heart rate when they have a high temp and nothing to worry about.

We end up at an and e / the GP a lot for these things and it's always OK. It's hard to make that call sometimes. I wasn't going to have her seen initially today as I just thought it was fine anyway. But it's good we did, because she does need antibiotics. I think the very high temps are a sign they may need antibiotics and medical intervention.

Right back at you Mr know it all.
And how are you helping anyone? Who in their right minds is keeping a CHILD at home with a 40.7 C fever?

Literally the post above is mine where i say i took my own son to the GP under the same circumstances. I wasn’t suggesting keeping the child at home, you were out of line to suggest this was very likely to be sepsis which is simply not true and could have really panicked OP.

Also, it’s Mrs know it all.

A temp of 40 with no source? Yes a and e infact

It should come down by at least a degree and really if over 40 you want it under 38 with meds after an hour

What? Very unlikely septic. My child has been up to 40.9 twice in the past 6 months, it's not a death sentence in itself. Medical professionals unfazed unless it doesn't go away or accompanied by other symptoms

You are out of line. Nobody made you a mumsnet prefect. Take a day off.
Your advice isn't more valuable than any other poster here.
You are not a doctor. The OP should seek medical advice not random strangers online.
I don't care what you did with your child my response was for the OP - not you.

Glad they've found the course. My 2 year old regularly gets 40 degree temps which Calpol doesn't seem to help, although I've found Ibuprofen a lot better.
If I'm worried about her, the doctor has always seen her, and she's never been referred to the hospital.
The only time she was seen in the hospital for it was when I had meningitis concerns.

*the cause

Yes - fevers are scary but no, they aren't necessarily indicitave of something terrifying. My DD was one of those kids who got really high fevers when she was ill. Countless doctors reassured me that the number on the thermometer isn't to be taken in isolation (unless the child is susceptible to febrile convulsions). Some kids go up to 40+ frequently, some don't - if you're a parent on here who are used to them, you know the deal. If you're not you don't quite get it!

@notthatthis both my kids sometimes have these high fevers, they always have. I guess you get a bit used to it and also spend a hell of a lot of time in an and e / doctors / 111.

If you're not used to it, I can understand it's a massive worry, but it's not always the worst case scenario.

The other week I posted here about how tired I was of spending time in a and e and at the doctors and the majority of posters shut me down and said I was going unnecessarily and they'd never had to go or only once or whatever.

You can't win really.

Some of the advice on here about temperatures is terrible.

Glad she’s ok OP. One of my DC spikes very high temperatures and I rarely take them to the GP for that alone. I always look at other symptoms and how they are in themselves.

Hopefully she will start to feel better soon.

Christ 😂😂😂

My eldest has febrile seizures so ends up in hospital a lot but even without those a temp over 40 has always been tonsillitis/scarlet fever/ some other horrible bacterial things like a chest infection needing IV antibiotics.

My youngest never goes above 39 and even at 39 it's a double ear infection, tosiillitis, pneumonia.

Ok not imminently going to kill them but Def imminently needing antibiotics

A temp of 40 without an obvious cause though? It's the no obvious cause bit that would have me at the Dr. Lots of snot and hot less worrying

In the last 2 months my kids have spiked temps of over 40, on three different occasions ( for a few days each ). It was always tonsillitis for them.

It's not fun. For my youngest I had to go to a and e on both occasions and now the GP for my oldest today.

As soon as my son (when he was 3) reached a fever of 40 degrees, I was in a taxi with him heading to A and E. Turns out he had an infection and needed antibiotics.

Hell, yes. Call out of hours for an emergency appointment. There should be a recording with the number on your Gps number. If not, 111.

My kid spikes fevers like that op.
Like you we would monitor at home unless she was very unwell or obvious pain (ear, throat).
I took her in to a&e once when she had rigors and refused any paracetamol but they sent us home.
Better safe than sorry though.

Fever is how your body fights something, meds will reduce fever but not help the cause of it. I don’t treat fever but will give pain relief if needed and in general keep an eye (as long as they’re not a baby obviously) hope all is ok

My kids are at a and e and GP more frequently than my friends kids. We would all take for 40 fever not coming below 38 after meds, though my kids just get ill more often.

Eldest seizures and tonsils, youngest tonsils and chest infections/croup

My eldest never in his life except lockdown went more than 6 weeks without a hospitalisation with a fever and seizure... Got his tonsils out in October has had 4 viruses courtesy of my youngest and never had a fever over 38.

Some kids just have awful tonsils. The surgeon said his were like icebergs, grade 4 massive on top but when removed even bigger under the surface.

I’m a nurse. High temp in isolation is generally fine. The concern is that high temp is very rarely present completely on its own-and high temp plus low o2 plus high resp rate might mean sepsis. Parents clearly aren’t clinically trained to assess, and we wouldn’t expect them to be, so a child with a very high temp needs seeing although there’s a very good chance there’s nothing to worry about. I hope that makes sense.

@Cmonluv how many times did they have tonsillitis until they decided enough was enough and had them removed ?

Mine have a mix of tonsillitis, viral wheeze and croup. My youngest has an inhaler for his weird coughs. My oldest needed steroids many times for recurrent croup, but she's grown out of it now thankfully.

So yeah I sympathise with your situation.

I spend a fair bit of time at doctors and in a and e.