When a child falls ill, fever is often the symptom that causes parents the most anxiety. It\u2019s perfectly natural to feel worried when your child\u2019s temperature rises. Over the next few articles, we will focus on fever\u2014the most common symptom in children\u2014to help you understand when to seek medical care and how to provide effective home care.<\/p>\n
Fever is the most frequent reason for pediatric visits. Some reports estimate that fever accounts for 30% of the symptoms seen by pediatricians. However, while common, there are surprisingly many misconceptions about it.<\/p>\n
First, what exactly is defined as \"having a fever\"? According to Japanese medical standards, a \"fever\" is defined as a body temperature of 37.5\u00b0C or higher, and a \"high fever\" as 38.0\u00b0C or higher. In a survey of approximately 600 parents asking, \u201cAt what temperature would you consider taking your child to a doctor?\u201d the most common response was 38.0\u00b0C or higher (27%), followed by 38.5\u00b0C and 39.0\u00b0C (21% each). Only 3% said they would visit for a temperature of 37.5\u00b0C. This suggests that 38.0\u00b0C is a common threshold for parents.<\/p>\n
It is also important to note that human body temperature fluctuates throughout the day, tending to be lower in the morning and higher in the evening. Therefore, even if a child\u2019s temperature seems low in the morning after having a fever the previous day, sending them to daycare or school requires caution, as the fever may often return in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
In the next article, we will discuss how to handle a fever when it occurs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1228,"template":"","class_list":["post-1212","medical-articles","type-medical-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n