Fever Accompanied by Drowsiness in Children

It’s clear for any parent that fever is an indication that something’s awry in their child’s body. However, the doubt that we all face is knowing when to care for our children at home and when we should seek emergency attention .

When children have a fever accompanied by drowsiness or grogginess, parents must take action.

In general, pediatricians advise parents to take their children to an emergency room for an exhaustive evaluation. The reason is that these two simultaneous symptoms may be disguising a more serious condition.

To help you clear up any doubts you have in regards to fever accompanied by drowsiness, we’ll offer the following guide to identifying symptoms and appropriate treatment. 

Fever in children

Fevers are a sign that something is wrong in our bodies. Feverish states may have to do with various viral or bacterial factors. In most cases, a fever can even go away on its own in healthy children and when the high temperature isn’t linked to a more serious condition.

While fevers have a bad reputation, they actually help strengthen a child’s immune system. What’s more, they’re a part of life for parents, as children experience fevers frequently during the first 3 years of life. 

There are different types of fever, as well as various symptoms that may accompany a fever:

Grades of fever

In order for parents to be able to better identify their child’s state of health, it’s important to identify the grade of fever.

• Low-grade fever: With this type of fever, underarm temperature is between 98.6 and 99.5 degrees. A rectal thermometer will indicate a temperature between 104.5 and 101.3 degrees.
• Fever: This is the most common type of fever. Here, underarm temperatures are between 101.3 and 105.8, while rectal temperatures are between 99.5 and 107.6.
• Hyperpyrexia: Hyperpyrexia is a very serious state. In this case, a person’s core body temperature is greater than or equal to 104 or 106.7. If a child or an adult presents this type of fever, it’s important to seek urgent medical care. Extremely high temperatures can be a sign of possible lethal conditions.

When children have a fever accompanied by drowsiness

Now that we’ve gone over the causes that produce different grades of fever, it’s important to ask what happens when fever and drowsiness appear simultaneously.

In general, children who have a fever present additional symptoms – for example, breathing faster than normal, crying continuously, loss of appetite, and the chills. 

When children become drowsy or groggy, this is generally because their temperature starts to go up too quickly. They may also have hallucinations, become delirious, be unable to rest and even have convulsions.

All of these symptoms have to do with the irritation of nerve cells.

While extremely uncommon, there have been cases where children who presented drowsiness and fever had suffered brain trauma and contusions. This condition leads to the development of the two symptoms.

However, as we mentioned above, in most cases, drowsiness and fever in children are the result of temperatures close to 104 degrees. Of course, it’s a sign that parents need to be very attentive.

Methods for reducing fever

To avoid these extreme symptoms from occurring, it’s good to take certain precautions. First, keep a thermometer on hand and check your child’s temperature regularly.

As long as children remain in the low-grade fever range, it’s okay to offer home remedies. For example, you can remove clothing, apply cold water compresses, decrease the room temperature, give lukewarm baths that last 20 minutes, etc.

At the same time, giving children plenty of clear liquids is essential to keeping them hydrated.

As a final recommendation, it’s important to highlight that if children present a fever of close to 102 degrees along with drowsiness, you should seek immediate medical attention.

The same is true if you observe any other abnormal symptoms along with your child’s fever.