Fever Seizures

Many things can affect how your body responds to a symptom and what kind
of care you may need. These include:

• Your age. Babies and older
  adults tend to get sicker quicker.
• Your overall health. If you have a condition such as diabetes, HIV, cancer, or heart
  disease, you may need to pay closer attention to certain symptoms and seek care
  sooner.
• Medicines you take. Certain
  medicines, herbal remedies, and supplements can cause symptoms or make them
  worse.
• Recent health events, such as surgery
  or injury. These kinds of events can cause symptoms afterwards or make them
  more serious.
• Your health habits and lifestyle, such as eating and exercise habits, smoking, alcohol or drug
  use, sexual history, and travel.

Sudden tiny red or purple spots or
sudden bruising may be early symptoms of a serious
illness or bleeding problem. There are two types.

Petechiae (say "puh-TEE-kee-eye"):

• Are tiny, flat red or purple spots in the skin or
  the lining of the mouth.
• Do not turn white when you press on
  them.
• Range from the size of a pinpoint to the size of a small pea and do not itch or cause pain.
• May spread over a large area of the body within a few hours.
• Are different than tiny, flat red spots or birthmarks that are
  present all the time.

Purpura (say "PURR-pyuh-ruh" or “PURR-puh-ruhâ€):

• Is sudden, severe bruising that occurs for no clear
  reason.
• May be in one area or all over.
• Is different
  than the bruising that happens after you bump into something.

If you're not sure if a child's fever is high, moderate, or
mild, think about these issues:

With a high fever:

• The child feels very hot.
• It is likely
  one of the highest fevers the child has ever had.

With a moderate fever:

• The child feels warm or hot.
• You are
  sure the child has a fever.

With a mild fever:

• The child may feel a little warm.
• You
  think the child might have a fever, but you're not sure.

Certain health conditions and medicines weaken the immune system's ability to fight off infection and
illness. Some examples in children are:

• Diseases such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, sickle
  cell disease, and congenital heart disease.
• Steroid medicines,
  which are used to treat a variety of conditions.
• Medicines taken
  after organ transplant.
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for
  cancer.
• Not having a spleen.

Symptoms of difficulty breathing can range from mild to severe. For example:

• You may feel a little out of breath but still be able to talk (mild difficulty breathing), or you may be so out of breath that you cannot talk at all (severe difficulty breathing).
• It may be getting hard to breathe with activity (mild difficulty breathing), or you may have to work very hard to breathe even when you’re at rest (severe difficulty breathing).

Symptoms of difficulty breathing in a baby or young child can range from mild to severe. For example:

• The child may be breathing a little faster than usual (mild difficulty breathing), or the child may be having so much trouble that the nostrils are flaring and the belly is moving in and out with every breath (severe difficulty breathing).
• The child may seem a little out of breath but is still able to eat or talk (mild difficulty breathing), or the child may be breathing so hard that he or she cannot eat or talk (severe difficulty breathing).

Severe trouble breathing means:

• The child cannot eat or talk because he or she is
  breathing so hard.
• The child's nostrils are flaring and the belly
  is moving in and out with every breath.
• The child seems to be
  tiring out.
• The child seems very sleepy or confused.

Moderate trouble breathing means:

• The child is breathing a lot faster than
  usual.
• The child has to take breaks from eating or talking to
  breathe.
• The nostrils flare or the belly moves in and out at times
  when the child breathes.

Mild trouble breathing means:

• The child is breathing a little faster than usual.
• The child seems a little out of breath but can still eat or talk.

Symptoms of heatstroke may
include:

• Feeling or acting very confused, restless, or
  anxious.
• Trouble breathing.
• Sweating heavily, or not
  sweating at all (sweating may have stopped).
• Skin that is red,
  hot, and dry, even in the armpits.
• Passing
  out.
• Seizure.
• Nausea and vomiting.

Heatstroke occurs when the body can't control its own
temperature and body temperature continues to rise.

Babies can quickly get dehydrated when they lose fluids because of problems like
vomiting or fever.

Symptoms of dehydration can range from mild to
severe. For example:

• The baby may be fussy or cranky (mild dehydration),
  or the baby may be very sleepy and hard to wake up (severe
  dehydration).
• The baby may have a little less urine than usual
  (mild dehydration), or the baby may not be urinating at all (severe
  dehydration).

You can get dehydrated when
you lose a lot of fluids because of problems like vomiting or fever.

Symptoms of dehydration can range from mild to severe. For
example:

• You may feel tired and edgy (mild dehydration), or
  you may feel weak, not alert, and not able to think clearly (severe
  dehydration).
• You may pass less urine than usual (mild
  dehydration), or you may not be passing urine at all (severe
  dehydration).

Severe dehydration means:

• The baby may be very sleepy and hard to wake
  up.
• The baby may have a very dry mouth and very dry eyes (no
  tears).
• The baby may have no wet diapers in 12 or more hours.

Moderate dehydration means:

• The baby may have no wet diapers in 6 hours.
• The
  baby may have a dry mouth and dry eyes (fewer tears than usual).

Mild dehydration means:

• The baby may pass a little less urine than usual.

Severe dehydration means:

• The child's mouth and eyes may be extremely dry.
• The child may pass little or no urine for 12 or more
  hours.
• The child may not seem alert or able to think clearly.
• The child may be too weak or dizzy to stand.
• The
  child may pass out.

Moderate dehydration means:

• The child may be a lot more thirsty than
  usual.
• The child's mouth and eyes may be drier than
  usual.
• The child may pass little or no urine for 8 or more hours.
• The child may feel dizzy when he or she stands or sits up.

Mild dehydration means:

• The child may be more thirsty than
  usual.
• The child may pass less urine than usual.

Symptoms of serious illness in a baby
may include the following:

• The baby is limp and floppy like a rag doll.
• The baby doesn't respond at all to being held, touched, or talked
  to.
• The baby is hard to wake up.

Symptoms of serious illness may
include:

• A severe headache.
• A stiff
  neck.
• Mental changes, such as feeling confused or much less
  alert.
• Extreme fatigue (to the point where it's hard for you to
  function).
• Shaking chills.

Symptoms of a joint infection may
include:

• Severe
  pain.
• Swelling.
• Sudden redness over or around the
  joint.
• Warmth in or around a joint.
• Not being able to
  move the joint because of pain or swelling.
• Pus draining from the
  area.

Pain in children 3 years and older

• Severe pain (8 to 10): The pain
  is so bad that the child can't stand it for more than a few hours, can't sleep,
  and can't do anything else except focus on the pain. No one can tolerate severe
  pain for more than a few hours.
• Moderate pain (5 to 7): The pain is bad enough to disrupt the child's normal activities and
  sleep, but the child can tolerate it for hours or days.
• Mild pain (1 to 4): The child notices and may complain of the pain,
  but it is not bad enough to disrupt his or her sleep or activities.

Temperature varies a little depending on how you measure it.
For children up to 11 years old, here are the ranges for high, moderate, and
mild according to how you took the temperature.

Oral (by mouth), ear, or rectal temperature

• High:
  104°F (40°C) and
  higher
• Moderate:
  100.4°F (38°C) to
  103.9°F (39.9°C)
• Mild:
  100.3°F (37.9°C) and
  lower

A forehead (temporal) scanner is usually 0.5°F (0.3°C) to 1°F (0.6°C) lower than an oral temperature.

Armpit (axillary) temperature

• High: 103°F (39.5°C) and higher
• Moderate:
  99.4°F (37.4°C) to
  102.9°F (39.4°C)
• Mild: 99.3°F (37.3°C) and lower

Note: For children under 5 years old, rectal temperatures are
the most accurate.

Shock is a life-threatening condition that may occur quickly
after a sudden illness or injury.

Symptoms of shock in a child may include:

• Passing out (losing consciousness).
• Being very sleepy or hard
  to wake up.
• Not responding when being touched or talked to.
• Breathing much faster than usual.
• Acting confused.
  The child may not know where he or she is.