2yo high temps but no other symptoms - antibiotics?

[kitchen456]

Hi, I’m after some advice or personal experience about my DD (2). She’s been having high temps between 38.4 - 39.6 since Saturday night.

shes had no other symptoms at all. She’s a bit lethargic and cuddly when the Calpol / nurofen wears off but absolutely fine generally. She’s eating and drinking and lots of wet nappies. No pain or rashes.

i’ve kept some gaps between medicine to see if the temp creeps back up again and it does right up to 39.8 most of the time.

i went to the GP today because i have severe health anxiety and wanted them to check ears / throat in case she needs antibiotics.

GP said ears and throat were clear but gave me antibiotics anyway… I haven’t started them yet as my gut is saying to wait another day in case it’s just viral.

would you start them just in case or hold off?

have you had any experience of high temps in kids with no other symptoms?

thank you

For heavens sake start them if the GP has given them to you. They don’t give antibiotics unless they need to. We had blue lights with DS for an ear infection even with antibiotics. Don’t mess about with it.

I'd start them, something will be causing the temperatures and that's quite a long time to have a temp really.

@Silviasilvertoes

Did you read the part that GP said there’s nothing wrong with ears / throat?

GP said ‘it’s up to you’ if you want to use them… which is why I’m worrying about it because don’t want to use them unnecessarily

That’s not very helpful from the GP. But there is strong guidance for GPs not to issue antibiotics unless necessary.

If that’s an accurate description of what happened then thats really bad care from the GP. If they are giving out antibiotics they should be specifying why and stressing the important of taking as prescribed. Not leaving it to the discretion of parents to give or not. I’d be tempted to be seen again tomorrow and ask exactly what they thought the issue was - how are you supposed to monitor the response otherwise if you don’t know why you are giving them?

My little one was the same and then my baby got a temperature. It turned out to be covid! My toddler was absolutely fine, not off her food and still slept well just had a bit of a high temperature.

If the gp gave some antibiotics for no reason then I would query it as everytime I’ve taken my little one and they’ve said it’s viral they purposely haven’t given any antibiotics.

@Lostworlds DS2 was exactly the same with covid. Fevers for a good 3-4 days, slightly reduced oral intake but otherwise well. High temperature in an otherwise well and happy child with no clear source (ears, throat, chest, skin etc all normal) sounds viral so if I was OP I would definitely be clarifying exactly what the antibiotics are treating if a bacterial infection is suspected.

The GP shouldn’t be prescribing antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. Drug resistance is a massive problem! I’d personally wait a day or two, if temperature is the only symptom. Antibiotics means the body doesn’t get the chance to fight infection itself, and therefore boost immunity

Look up roseola. Our dd had a fever for days with no other symptoms then once the fever ended she came out in a rash. It was roseola.

I think that's bizarre. I'd be asking why.

Please start the antibiotics, with a high temperature and no other symptoms it could be a urine infection. This is what happened to my daughter when she was 8 months old. She got rushed into hospital with suspected meningitis and sepsis.

all from what was likely a urine infection. I wish I’d been given antibiotics, instead I was turned away by 3 different doctors. It was only when I saw a registrar that looked after her when she was in scbu that I was taken seriously

A rash / spots etc will come out within days. My money is on HFMD.

Hold off....

My 3 year old had a high temperature for about 3 nights on the run with no other symptoms. Think after that it turned into diarrhea and he had a rash. Didn't visit Dr it went away in the end.

My.son had this and turned out to be xovid once swabbbed

Scarlet fever and hfm is everywhere at mo too

My daughter has had antibiotics before after 5 days of 39-41oC fever. No obvious symptom but possibly had a sore throat it didn't look sore but she was avoiding swallowing. She was not quite 2 and barely verbal. Two days on antibiotics and she started to eat again.
The fact she had had a very high fever on Calpol/ibuprofen for 5 days was the main reason by for the antibiotics - 40.6C at GP. She had dropped to 1-2oz liquids a day only eaten 3 grapes in a day and this was the other reason.