4 days of high fever in 10mo

[dreamerkr]

Hey guys, my 10mo DS is on day 4 of a high fever. We took him to A&E the first day, because he was screaming and crying all day. His temp came down after they gave him medicine there, they just said it’s viral and will get better and sent us home. However yesterday we again took him to the GP as the fever just wasn’t going away and he’s so irritable, crying all the time. They checked his ears, throat, chest and he doesn’t have an infection, they too said it’s viral and to keep alternating between Calpol and Nurofen which is what we’ve been doing for 4 days now. His fever gets slightly better for 1-2 hours after we give him medicine but after 2 hours it comes back again. We’ve been giving him the maximum doses of both, the amount we can give him in 24 hours, but the fever still keeps coming back and it’s really bad. I checked it half an hour ago and it was 39C. I don’t know what to do now, I would make an appointment with the GP again but we just took him yesterday and they said it’s viral. What do you think we should do? He’s just crying and crying

Has a urine sample been taken?

I would personally go back to a&e. You know your child

No

He’s asleep right now although he keeps waking up, but I think I will take him when he wakes up. He drinks water but he’s not breastfeeding properly at all since last night. He did feed once at night but now when I’m trying, he wants to, but he starts gagging badly like he will vomit.

Did they check his throat

Yes, they said it’s fine

Look at the NHS page on 'Fevers in children' and check your child for all the other symptoms listed.

Keep a record of temperature checks and medicine timings so you have some data.

If you feel concerned, return for a further check. No good healthcare professional will criticise a parent for getting a young child checked. It's ok to need to go back.

They need to take a urine sample to check for a urine infection. Please insist on this.

Untreated urine infections have serious implications.

Thank you so much. I will be taking him to A&E when he wakes up, and I’ll insist on a urine sample being taken. This is so stressful as it really doesn’t just seem like a viral infection. He’s had that before and so has his older brother, but this time there’s definitely something else going on too.

My child has just recovered from this. Started last Thursday with a temperature of 40. They’ve been exactly as you’ve described temp going down with medicine and shooting straight back up when it wears off. I also took to out of hours doc at the hospital and they said it was viral. My child has finally recovered today! A whole week later. Yesterday, I called the doctor again as temp was going up again and they said they would see us tomorrow if no better. Child then slept for 3 hours and must have got it out of their system. It’s been a really hard week but keep doing what you are doing.

Definitely doing the right thing by going back.

When I've taken my baby in with similar, they said she'd have to be admitted to hospital if they couldnt find an underlying cause of the high temp (turned out to be tonsilitis).

You know your baby better than anyone x

It could be roseola (viral infection). Given how long your child had been ill and how miserable they are, I think going back to the NHS is sensible.

Roseola's key feature is a high fever that breaks with a rash after 4-5 days and almost no one bothers to test for the virus,(HHV6) so you only know what it was if they get the rash. Just so you are prepared if you get a sudden change in symptoms today!