3 year old with temp of 40+

[abbierhodes]

My 3 year old DS2 has a very high temp. It's been coming and going for 24 hours now. He has no other symptoms though...any ideas?

40.5 is the highest it's been, it's now 38.5 after calpol and with a fan on him.

bump!

I'd ring NHS direct / out of hours GP. That is very high for a long time.

Hope it's nothing serious.

Viral infection? If calpol's working I would wait til the morning and then if he's not better I would take him to a GP.

My ds used to get this 24 hour fevers.

OTOH if he's unresponsive, vomiting, has a rash that doesn't disappear etc- it's A&E right away.

High fever in itself is not a big deal(if it's manageable with a medication, of course).

Hmmm...otoh you would think it would go down more with calpol ie til at least 37 and a bit...maybe you should call NHS direct/ OOH.

NHS DIRECT have a website where you can self assess. As your DSs temp didn't come down much with calpol I would also give ibuprofen (childrens nurofen). You can give the two meds together, they dont interact. 38.5 is still quite hot.
Give plenty of fluids, make sure minimal clothing, ? any focus for infection, -ear pain, sore throat, cough, runny nose?
Any recent contact with chicken pox or other viruses?
Is DS responding normally, rousable. He will be more clingy and sleepy than normal but should be easily rousable and not confused.
Set alarm for the night so that you can give calpol, brufen on schedule, give drink, check him over for rashes and assess his overall state. If not happy about anything or temp does not come down with both meds ring OOH gp or go to A&E. This is not a full assessment as I don't know all the facts but I do work for NHS Direct and know they can be busy at this time of night!

As long as the temperature is responding ( 2degrees is fine - it doesn't gave to come down to normal) and he is ok in himself (responsive etc) I would be ok waiting until tomorrow for a doctor appt. Hopefully the temp will be gone by then.

This is a good site for reference:

here