About Fevers
Here you’ll find information about fevers,
how to treat them at home,
and when you should seek urgent medical advice
What is a fever?
Fever is very common in children.
Fever is the body’s natural response to an infection.
Most fevers are caused by viruses and antibiotics don’t treat these infections.
Viral infections can last up to 10 days.
What are the signs and symptoms of a viral infection?
Your child may feel hot to touch (fever).
Have a cough, a runny nose, tummy pains and irritability (“being “grumpy”).
Have reduced appetite and be less active.
What can I do to help?
Give your child lots of fluids to drink.
Remove excess clothes and blankets.
If your child seems distressed with fever or is in pain, Paracetamol (Pamol) or Ibuprofen (Brufen, Fenpaed, Nurofen) will help. Follow the dosing instructions on the bottle.
When should I take my child with a fever to the
Doctor or Emergency Department?
If your child is under 3 months old.
Unusually sleepy and difficult to wake up.
Having breathing difficulty.
Confused or having a convulsion (fit or shaking episode).
Not drinking or taking less than half of their usual fluids or bottles.
Complaining of a sore neck or head.
Worsening ear pain or tummy pain with vomiting.
Fever lasting longer than 1 week.
More information about fevers
Fever is a common reason for visiting your GP or coming to the Hospital. Healthy children will have many fevers while growing up as the viruses causing them are easily spread when children come together at school or daycare. Some viruses infect us once and we have lasting immunity afterwards. Others can make us sick many times like the cold or flu viruses as they change every year.
Fever is used by our bodies to fight infection and our immune system generates the fever. Some infections cause short periods of fever and other infections cause longer fevers. Fevers go up and down over time naturally during the illness.
Medicines like Paracetamol or Ibuprofen do not make the fever go away, but makes one feel a little better when there is fever. It helps for headaches and body aches which go with fevers. If the fever does not go away after giving Paracetamol or Ibuprofen, it does not mean the medicine is not working. Other symptoms like the body aches will improve. We call this symptomatic treatment.
Most infections are not serious and only last 2 or 3 days. We do have immunisations to protect against the more serious ones like Measles and Covid-19. It is very important that children are up to date with immunisations.
Most children coming to the emergency department with fever can be discharged home after review with symptomatic treatment. High fevers are common with some viruses and having a high fever does not always mean there is a serious infection. Other signs are more helpful when deciding if a high fever is due to a serious infection.
The Nurse or Doctor will look at heart rate, breathing, oxygen levels and how interactive your baby or child is to help decide if the infection is serious or not. Rashes are common and mostly harmless. Rashes which go away when the skin is stretched or viewed through a glass pressed on the skin are not worrying.
What you can do at home
If your child has fever and is still alert and interactive (playing), eating and drinking normally and is not breathing too fast, you can observe them at home. There will often be a runny nose and a cough and periods where they are less active. In babies, if they are making the same number of wet nappies, they are drinking enough.
If they are miserable with the fever, give a dose of Ibuprofen or Paracetamol and see if things improve. If they are sleepy and not responding like normal after Ibuprofen or Paracetamol, they should see their GP or come to the Hospital if your GP is not available, for review. The same goes for breathing fast or struggling to breathe.
Adapted from Kidz First Febrile Illness Advice Sheet - 2023