If an infant under 3 months reaches 38 °C, go to the hospital directly and do not watch at home
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If the child is under 3 months and the temperature reaches 38 °C, go to the hospital directly. Do not watch at home, and do not give a fever medicine first and then wait. The American Academy of Pediatrics set a specific plan for febrile infants who still look all right, so "looking all right" is not a reason to wait at home. The UK guidance also counts a child under 3 months with a fever of 38 °C as high risk of serious illness.
- Cost
- Registration plus tests, a few hundred yuan.
- Benefit
- The American Academy of Pediatrics wrote a specific guideline for full-term infants from 8 to 60 days of age who still look all right. That guideline defines fever as "a temperature of 38.0 °C or above." It splits them into 3 bands, 8 to 21 days, 22 to 28 days, and 29 to 60 days, and gives each band its own path. Infants under 8 days of age are outside that guideline. The UK NICE fever guideline covers children under 5 years of age. It states that a child under 3 months with a temperature of 38 °C or above is in the "high-risk group for serious illness."
- Notes
- At this age, a serious bacterial infection can show up as fever alone. So looking "all right" is not a reason to watch at home. Do not give a fever medicine yourself and then wait and see.
Sources · 2
- Pantell RH, Roberts KB, Adams WG, et al. (2021). Evaluation and Management of Well-Appearing Febrile Infants 8 to 60 Days Old. Pediatrics, 148(2), e2021052228. doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-052228
- NICE (2019, 2021 更新). Fever in under 5s: assessment and initial management (NG143), 1.2.12. nice.org.uk/guidance/ng143/chapter/Recommenda…