What is your fever?

Fever is when the body temperature is over 37.5 degrees Celsius. This is a common sign of many diseases, need to recognize immediately for timely treatment.

Flu fever

The temperature should be clamped whenever there is a fever
(Photo: BBC)

Colds and flu are two separate diseases, but there are many similar symptoms: fever, cough, runny nose, body aches, fatigue. In particular, cough and runny nose are two must-have symptoms. Otherwise, it is not cold or flu.

Many people who feel tired or dizzy also consider themselves to have colds and flu and then buy medicine by themselves, making them more and more tired. Cold and flu medications actually treat only unpleasant symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, but not the virus while the virus is caused by the virus and go away after 3-7 days. Only when there is a new bacterial infection should antibiotics be used.

Colds often occur when the body is cold, rainy, hot suddenly and not spread. In contrast, flu is very contagious.

Typhoid fever

Symptoms of this disease are only fever without cough and runny nose. Fever in typhoid has a special point of being bright, hot, and increasing gradually. After one week, the fever reached 40 degrees C but the pulse was very slow. Usually in infectious diseases, if fever is 40 degrees C, the circuit is 120 times / minute, but typhoid fever is about 80-90 times / minute. Patients often have headaches, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal touch in the pelvic area to hear a very special sound.

The most dangerous complication of this disease is intestinal perforation. Therefore, if a suspected fever is caused by typhoid, it must be hospitalized for a diagnosis to determine a specific diagnosis and a specific medication indication.

Dengue

The disease is easily recognized by the following 3 signs: dengue fever, abdominal pain, enlarged liver and pain. Patients often have a high fever of 39-40 degrees C, subcutaneous hemorrhage (haemorrhage) or digestion, root bleeding. Hepatomegaly, pain (touch below the right flank, there is a block, pressing to the pain).

Need to think about dengue fever when children suddenly have high fever, constant fever, take fever-reducing medicine and then fever again, do not cough, no runny nose, especially abdominal pain. But if the child has abdominal pain without fever, it is not dengue fever but can cause abdominal pain.

Fever caused by sore throat

Any child with a high fever should have a throat examination, especially sudden high fever. Looking at the throat will see two swollen tonsils, red, and white patches. If there is a white membrane on it, think about diphtheria and need to go to an emergency hospital. When a runny nose is attached, it is a viral sore throat, it is not necessary to take antibiotics but only antipyretics and mouthwash with antiseptic water. However, bacterial infection should be monitored, if any, antibiotics should be used.

Measles fever

Different from dengue fever, children with measles have high fever, accompanied by cough and runny nose, smudged eyes. If the inside of the cheek has white particles as small as a grain of rice (Koplick sign), it is possible that the child will have a measles rash. This disease is caused by viruses, very contagious and naturally disappears after a week.

Antibiotics do not kill the virus but prevent the dangerous complications of measles such as middle ear infection, bronchitis, pneumonia . Children only run out of fever after the rash has spread all over the body. If you have a rash and still have a fever, there is a complication.

If it is true that children have measles, after 4 days there will be a rash despite taking antipyretics or not. If not rash, children have other diseases, not measles.

Meningitis fever

Need to think about this disease right away when the child has fever, headache, vomiting. Try bending the baby's neck into the chest, if the fold is not okay or the child shows pain (stiff neck), it is more likely to be meningitis. For children under 2 years of age, a bulging fontanel sign is also important to recognize meningitis. The child must be taken to the hospital right away to collect the cerebrospinal fluid for testing for the cause and the right treatment.

Doctor Nguyen Thi Ha