HIGH Fever -- What Can Be Wrong

I know fever can be scary, but try to relax. Fever is not a bad thing neccesarily. Fever is a sign that the body is fighting off something, the body's response to infection. There are alot of old (false) wives tales out there about how fever causes brain damage and such. A child of this age can commonly run a fever in the range you are describing. Treat as you have with tylenol and motrin alternating every three hours if needed. It is also very typical for the fever to spike in the afternoon and evening. Your own body would be lowest in the morning. A fever is a temperature over 100.4 degrees. If his fever lasts for more than 3 days with no other symptoms, I would make an appt with the doctor. They will probably check his ears and throat to rule out an infection. Most likely he just has a virus and it is probably inrelated to the shots. A virus has to run its course, there is no magic pill to make it go away. Going to the hospital isn't neccesary unless your child is acting very sick and lethargic (like a wet noodle). As long as he is acting fine, I would just treat his symptoms and make an appt. to get into the doc and make sure there is no ear infection, sometimes kids have them and have no other tell-tale signs. Another possibility is one of the other really common childhood viruses like roseola or hand/foot/mouth. These start with a fever around 104 degrees with no other symptoms for a few days and then the fever breaks and out comes a rash. So be on the lookout, but try and relax. Even a fever of 104 is not an emergency in a child this age, just keep him hydrated.....dehydration would be the biggest concern. Good Luck.

My son is 3 years old and we just went to the Dr. today for something similar. He had a 104 temp. all day yesterday and today it has been between 101-103. They tested him for Strep b/c he was complaning his "mouth" hurts when he eats/swallows. He tested negative and we were told it is probably a viral infection. We are doing the same thing...Tylenol and Ibuprophin every 3-4 hours and lots of liquids. He won't eat anything and is certianly not acting like himself. They said it could take several days to run it's course.
If he still has a fever in the morning I would take him in to be on the safe side. Like someone said...they'll check his ears and throat, but probably tell you there is nothing but the time it will take to run it's course. We also gave him a cool/warm bath and that seemed to help him feel better last night. Good Luck!

There's a nasty fever virus that's been going around. My twins had it between thansgiving and new year. The only symptoms they had was a runny nose (which they always seem to have) and a high fever. Unless your child has convulsions due to the high fever or is less than 4-6 months old, docs typically don't tell you to go to the hospital. I've also been told many times that you just have to ride out any viral infection and treat the symptoms (ie mortin, tylenol). There's no meds they can give them unless it's bacterial. The boys were back to normal after 5 days from the first fever. I would call the doc to see if they'll give you any more tips but they likely won't give you any meds. Good luck!

Hi R. ,

My 1 yr daughter just had her mmr in late Dec and she had a reaction to the mmr shot (i never had this happen to my sons nor ever heard this ) 12 dys after the shot she started running a high fever highest was 103 , no other symptons . So I gave her a bath . Within 30mns she was breaking out with red bumps . Called the ped said to give her benydrel , by the next morning she was covered head to toe , eye ,ears . It was awful . So I took her in . My daughter had the measles (not contagious)because it was caused by the shot (dead virus shot)She said nothing I can do ,treat her fever . So i went home and called the cdc and they confirmed the same thing

I have 3 beautifil kids and she had the worst reaction ever . She is fine now . Hang in there ,follow your gut and take her in for piece of mind .