8 week old raised temp for over a week...

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My 8 week old baby has had a raised temp (occasionally hitting 37.9 - 38 but never under 37 and he is usually a lot lower) for the last 8 days. He has had no other symptoms but is generally grizzly and his tummy ache has been a lot worse than normal. Doc says they can be fighting virus for up to 3 weeks but it just seems a long time... anyone else?

It isnt a very high fever so dont worry too much but has the doc checked his ears, urine, chest, throat? If not that might be worth a shot. Hopefully its just a wee virus though, they get so many, especially at this time of year. Make sure you mention it again if / when he has his jags though as they may want to delay them.

days is very long. I have not heard about babies fighting viruses without medicine for 3 weeks.

What tests have been done so far?

if you're worried call nhs direct

That's quite a long time and I would insist on getting referred and getting some tests done - at very least they could take some bloods and run some tests to see if there is a bacterial infection behind all this.

8 weeks is still very young to go with the usual 'it's a virus' scenario & in my experience, even if it's something viral at the moment, it leaves them vulnerable to much worse.

At 7 weeks my DD ended up in hospital with pneumococcal meningitis. The lumbar punction later indicated somethin viral as well - and I suspect that's what got her down initially as she was unwell for quite a while before it. I've since learned that in some other countries there is a standard advice that babies under 3 months with a fever should always be checked out. Your DS symptoms don't sound like meningitis by the way, but I would recommend anyway that you read up on the symptoms and be alert to them (limp, moaning cry, not feeding - full list can be found here

If you are in any way worried at the moment (you probably are, otherwise you wouldn't be posting), I would call NHS24/direct for some advice. If you think he's OK tonight, I'd ask the GP tomorrow to run some tests to rule out bacterial infections - and I would try to speak to a different doctor than the one who told you that 3 weeks of fever is normal. Good luck

Yes, doc did all of the checks and waiting for his urine which i will prob get results for on Monday. He essentially said he is well and that babies get temps so easily. As it is still only elevated and occasionally going into a borderline temperature i kind of trusted what he said. However, if no-one else's baby has had this then it seems that it might not be as normal as he made out...

That sounds a bit more reassuring - it did sound a bit like you were just sent home. If he's running the tests then hopefully you'll soon find either a reason for it - or feel reassured that all the real nasties are ruled out.

If there's no definitive result tomorrow you could always ask that your DS condition is reviewed every couple of days if this continues for a while. If he didn't take blood, I might ask for that - but it's no fun sticking needles in tiny babies

Presumably he did ears nose throat etc. so difficult to do checks on tiny babies! Is he congested in his nose or coughing? How is his feeding?, any vomiting?

I agree that if there is no feedback tomorrow that bloods are the next step really. Is there any way you can get a second opinion? A &E or out of hours may be able to give you some more feedback - ideally you need someone who specalises in neonates. I would think they would see you v quickly with an 8 week old after a week of fever.

I do feel babies of this age need an extra special eye iykwim