Low Grade Fever, Normal CBC, Swollen Lymph Node. Should I Have Child Re-evaluated?

Posted on Thu, 30 Aug 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 Answered on

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi Dr Kreuger,

My 3 year old son has had low grade fever (as measured with a Braun ear thermometer) for about 2-3 weeks. The temperature has ranged from 99.3 - 100.1 We had bloodwork done 4 days ago. cbc was normal and peripheral smear showed normal type and distribution of wbc. he was examined by a pediatrician 4 days ago and he did look at the lymph node areas and looked thru the blood reports. He said that maybe the kids baseline temparature was what we were measuring. A couple of days after the bloodwork, I noticed the left post auricular lymph node was swollen a bit. The area behind left ear is a bit raised, feels smooth and slightly hard. Should I have him re-evaluated?

We also measured his armpit temps and they were between 97.5-98 F. The ear thermometer still shows 99.3-100.1F over 1 week of measurements

Thanks

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (14 hours later)

Hi

Thanks for writing in.
I would agree with your pediatrician that probably that is the normal temperature for him. Armpit temperature of 98 F is okay.

Postauricular lymphnode may be normally felt in many children and is not a cause for concern. However, if the size is >1 cm, painful, associated with ear picking, ear discharge, irritability, etc, then it may need evaluation. If these are not there, then he may be followed up only.

Hope I have answered your query. I will be available for further follow-up queries, if any.

Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar