You should know that a high fever is not an illness in itself; rather, it a symptom of an underlying condition or an infection or an illness. A fever, may also be non-infectious in some cases, is also a common symptom of a viral infection. Flu virus is responsible for causing viral fever in which the infected person may experience a range of symptoms including runny nose, headaches, sore throat, cough, diarrhea etc. Similarly, a fever is also accompanied by high body temperature signifying an illness or infection. But nothing in viral fever is meant to be worried about as it mostly a natural defense of the body against infection.
Here are tips to treat your child with a flu virus –
- First of all, check the body temperature constantly and if the reading is more than 97.8°F, you know it’s fever
- If the fever does not go down even after giving medication, you should immediately consult a doctor
- You should seek medical attention if there is steady increase in the level of body temperature
- Avoid putting too much layers of clothes on your child as this can make him/her warm and might not give a right diagnosis of the fever
- A fever often makes the loss of a lot of fluids so you should keep the child heavily hydrated
- Ask the doctor for oral salts for rehydration purposes so that the child can get the required nutrients in the body
- Take the child to the doctor on an immediate basis when self-medication route is not helping your cause
- Giving the child proper rest goes a long way to alleviating symptoms of a fever while any form of exhaustion may ruin the cause to some extent
- Don’t let the child waste or spend energy when he/she has fever as it can prolong the treatment
- The focus should also be on keeping the child away from the group so that the virus does not spread
- If the child has a fever, you should look to cool down the body temperature by using soft clothes on the forehead
- Give a sponge bath using lukewarm water and never ever use cold water for the purpose
- Take care of self-hygiene and wash your hands before giving anything to the child or touching him
- Try to keep the child in a well-ventilated room where a fan is installed to let air flow around the bed, not necessarily on the face
- If the child shivers in the room, put off the AC or switch off the fan to get the chills top
- Focus on giving the child more rest if possible as this will only help in bringing down the fever
- Make the house clean and dry, keep the fresh air to come in at least once in a day and let the child rest as much as could
- Have a thermometer ready and handy by your side to check the temperature
- Check digital thermometer price, compare features and buy the best from the lot to gauge body temperature easily
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