Recurring HIGH fever in a 1 year old..

[JBsMom10]

Hi. My son is 13 months old. Since he was about 5 months old, he has off and on developed fevers. He developed teeth early ( he has 13 teeth now) and had several colds from daycare. At the age of around 8 months old, he developed a 106 fever and was rushed to the ER. They sent us home that night with antibiotics and said it was a virus. Since then, yes since then.. he has had a fever on and off. A week has not gone by without developing a fever in between the range of 100-105. Many times, he has no other sympton AT ALL. Now, it has been 7 weeks with recurring HIGH ( 101-104) FEVER. Every time we take him to the doctor, they say it is justa virus and to let it pass. I cannot take this "virus thing" as the answer anymore. Is it just me? Am I crazy or is this abnormal? What does this sound like to you? I need a doctor to help him!

[wantanswers2day]

Well, just to add our story...very similar.  My son, 20 months has been having periodic fevers every 2-3 weeks for the last three months.  The scary thing with him is he also has febrile seizures.  He has had three in the last three months...and they are bad.  The last one he went in to respiratory arrest and almost died.  He was in ICU for several days and in the hospital for 11 days.  He ended up with aspiration pneumonia from the seizure.  But the culprit are these fevers.  We now are on "fever watch" every day so that if it starts to climb, we immediately start around the clock dosing of ibuprofen/tylenol.  We have to carry an emergency kit with us everywhere in case of seizure, because his seizures are complex and long and almost killed him.  The pediatrician is concerned and follows him closely.  Blood work shows low white cell count...but it's always during a "virus" which can lower the WBC count, so it's hard to know if his count is low when he's not sick.  He has a f/u X-ray next week to check his lungs from the pnuemonia episode, and I am hoping he will be fever free and healthy so we can get a blood count during a healthy period and see if it's normal or not.

Someone above mentioned fevers until the tonsils came out.  I have heard that actually two other times recently...of someone who's child had unexplained fevers over a period of time...and ended up getting tonsils out and it cured the fevers.  Something I will also be asking my son's doctor about.

[jeremiahsmommy]

The only thing I can think of that I asked my son's ped about was cyclical neutropenia.  It is a condition where every 2-4 weeks white blood cell counts drop, making child prone to virus or infection.  My son was cleared of that because his WBC count is always elevated when sick.  We did just find out that he has several food allergies.  I have removed wheat, dairy, egg, bananas and soy from his diet, he tested positive for allergies to all of these.  Hopefully this will make a big difference.

[corky58]

I have just joined this website as well as this community.  Upon going through this messages, it's been refreshing to know that what we (me & my wife) are experiencing right now is common to every parent, wherever you are.

We haven't seen the doctor yet since our 14-month daughter temperature is between 98 - 99.  She vomited though, that's why we've placed her under observation to the next reactions and considers her as having a low grade fever.  Am i correct?

It would be highly appreciated if there's anybody or any doctors around to suggest any course of action required.  We are yet to give her any medicine.  Thanks!!!

[jeremiahsmommy]

I am not a doctor, but I do know that a temp of 99 is not considered a fever in a toddler.  The start of a fever is considered 100.4  The following is information from an online medical encylopedia:

Your body temperature is usually highest in the evening. It can be raised by physical activity, strong emotion, eating, heavy clothing, medications, high room temperature, and high humidity. This is especially true in children.

A rectal temperature up to 100.4°F (38°C) may be entirely normal. A rectal temperature of 100.5°F or above should always be considered a fever. Lower temperatures might also be a fever, depending on the person.

Fever is not an illness. Far from being an enemy, it is an important part of the body's defense against infection. Many infants and children develop high fevers with minor viral illnesses. While a fever signals to us that a battle might be going on in the body, the fever is fighting for the person, not against.

Most bacteria and viruses that cause infections in people thrive best at 98.6°F. Raising the temperature a few degrees can give your body the winning edge. In addition, a fever activates the body's immune system to make more white blood cells, antibodies, and other infection-fighting agents.

Many parents fear that fevers will cause brain damage. Brain damage from a fever generally will not occur unless the fever is over 107.6°F (42°C). Many parents also fear that untreated fevers will keep going higher and higher. Untreated fevers caused by infection will seldom go over 105°F unless the child is overdressed or trapped in a hot place.

Some parents fear that fevers will cause seizures. For the great majority of children, this is not the case. However, febrile seizures do occur in some children. Once a child is already known to have a high fever, a febrile seizure is unlikely with the current illness. In any event, simple febrile seizures are over in moments with no lasting consequences.

[yanka]

My daughter is 23 months old. She has had 4 unexplained fevers in the past 8 month and 3 that were accompanied by a cold and/or an ear infection.  After the last episode of an unexplained fever - lasted 3 days, like others, went away just as quickly as it set in, child is perfectly healthy otherwise, etc... - our pediatrician mentioned something called Cyclical neutropenia. It's worth looking into for people whose children have a certain cyclical pattern to the fevers and those whose fevers might be masked by something else ( cold, bacterial infection, ear infection), every 20-30 days.  We have performed other tests to rule out UTI and kidney infections. I've heard it all and I know how frustrating it is to hear, "it's probably just a virus" comment, when you know deep down there is something more. I researched this disorder and started a calendar with my daughter's symptoms.  We are having another episode now and I will see my dr. tomorrow and insist on seeing a specialist dealing with immunological disorders in children. Hope this helps.

[dcliebler]

Wow, I wish I had seen this site about a year ago.  My son started having high fevers 103+ when he was 4 months old.  He preceded to have a fever almost every 2 weeks after until he was 1.  He also had atypical seizures with nearly every fever.  He was hospitalized 3 times.  THe first time he stopped breathing from the seizure.  His fever was 106 that time.  They did every test humanly possible on him and would always diagnose him as chronic febrile illness.  I am writing to say that he is now just over 2 and has not had anymore fevers or seizures since last August.  He has had several colds and even the flu and recovered quickly without incident.  It is such a relief from a year ago.  I had severe anxiety from his seizures and fevers.  Fortunately, it seems that he may have outgrown them like some suggested he would.  Just know that you are all not alone.  Apparently this is more common than I thought.  I pray that your children will also "out grow" this condition also.