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What Causes Cough And Fever In A 3.5 Year Old Child?
Question: My daughter is 3.5 years old and weigh appx 38 pounds. We have not noticed a cold coming on, but she coughed a little this evening and we thought it was her allergies. She went to bed at 8:30 pm, about an hour earlier than usual. At 11:10 pm, we noticed she felt very hot. We took her temp, rectal, and it was 103.0, so we gave her 1.5 tsp of childrens tylenol at 11:15pm. We just took her rectal temp at 12:15am, and it has only gone down to 102.5.
Questions:
1) It seems like it should have gone down more over the course of an hour. Is there anything we should be concerned with or checking to determine if we should bring her to the doctor?
2) Can we do more than just tylenol or do you think taking her temp again in 30-60 minutes to confirm if it's continued to go down?
3) What should they do if we take her to the doctor?
Thank you!
Questions:
1) It seems like it should have gone down more over the course of an hour. Is there anything we should be concerned with or checking to determine if we should bring her to the doctor?
2) Can we do more than just tylenol or do you think taking her temp again in 30-60 minutes to confirm if it's continued to go down?
3) What should they do if we take her to the doctor?
Thank you!
Brief Answer:
Seems to be due to a viral infection.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
Most often such symptoms in children are due to viral infections which also have an associated allergic component. You need not worry.
1. No specific thing to check. If it seems to persist or just to be safe you can give Syr. Cetirizine once daily for next 3 days.
2. Give Tylenol only if there is temperature more than 100°F and not otherwise. Also give tepid sponging to bring down the temperature.
3. At the moment I do not see any requirement to take the child to a doctor. But if the child becomes lethargic or if the fever persists beyond 7 days you would have to see a doctor.
Let me know if I could help further.
Regards
Seems to be due to a viral infection.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
Most often such symptoms in children are due to viral infections which also have an associated allergic component. You need not worry.
1. No specific thing to check. If it seems to persist or just to be safe you can give Syr. Cetirizine once daily for next 3 days.
2. Give Tylenol only if there is temperature more than 100°F and not otherwise. Also give tepid sponging to bring down the temperature.
3. At the moment I do not see any requirement to take the child to a doctor. But if the child becomes lethargic or if the fever persists beyond 7 days you would have to see a doctor.
Let me know if I could help further.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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