Having a 6-year-old child with a sudden high fever for 2-3 days despite taking medicine, Ms. Ha Loan (District 6, Ho Chi Minh City) worriedly took her child to the doctor, who diagnosed the child with a viral fever. Before that, the child had symptoms of cough and loss of appetite.
According to Dr. Le Cong Thien - Deputy Head of the Examination Department, Children's Hospital 2, Ho Chi Minh City, the characteristics of children with viral fever are usually high fever of 39-40 degrees Celsius. Children are lethargic, refuse to eat, suckle poorly, and cry.
Weather changes cause an increase in respiratory viral infections. Schools equipped with air conditioning are closed environments, a child with a respiratory illness is more likely to spread the disease.
Viral fever is currently treated with symptomatic and supportive measures, there is no specific treatment. Initially, children may have symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, etc. Parents can take the initiative to care for their children at home.
When children have a fever, they need to take antipyretics, commonly paracetamol, dosage 10-15mg/kg. Parents should continue to give their children the medicine every 4-6 hours if the fever returns, combined with wiping and cooling with warm water, avoiding using water that is too cold. In case the child has a moderate cough, parents can treat it at home.
However, when children have a high fever of about 39-40 degrees Celsius accompanied by severe coughing, stuffy nose, difficulty breathing or signs of indigestion, loss of appetite... parents need to take their children to a medical facility for a doctor's examination.
Doctor Cong Thien advises family members not to overuse drugs but to use the correct dosage as prescribed by the doctor. For example, if a child has a fever and has taken fever-reducing medicine but it has not gone down, parents should not be impatient to give the child more medicine. Overdosing on fever-reducing medicine can affect the liver.
The doctor noted that if after 2-3 days the child does not respond or the symptoms become worse, parents should take the child to a pediatric medical facility for examination.
Parents can support their children's health by ensuring nutrition, easily digestible foods, and adequate water intake. At the same time, monitor their children's health.
For the classroom environment, the classroom door should be opened for ventilation to purify pathogens and the air conditioner should be cleaned.
