Know the Symptoms, Problems, and Causes of Fevers

For a new parent, a fever can be a scary thing when it is affecting their baby. More often than not, it is not a serious thing and will easily go away. Here are some symptoms that go along with fevers and the possible diagnosis of each problem.

In a child under the age of two:

fever, runny nose, recent exposure to a virus - this could just be from a virus, such as a cold, or even something like chicken pox
fever, diarrhea - gastroenteritis
fever, pulling at ear, recent cold or virus - ear infection
fever, cough that sounds like seal, usually worse at night - croup
fever, difficulty breathing - bronchitis, pneumonia

In a child that is over two and adults:

fever, sore throat, hoarseness - tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, strep throat
fever, stiff neck, pain when bending forward, vomiting, headache - meningitis
fever, cough, headache, congestion or runny nose - cold, influenza
fever for 24 hours with no other symptoms - fever of unknown origin
fever, pain in back below ribs - kidney infection
fever, painful and frequent urination - urinary tract infection, kidney infection
fever, cough, fatigue, chills, rash - fungal infection or tick causing illness such as Lyme disease or Valley Fever
fever, fatigue, swollen lymph glands - toxoplasmosis

These are only a few options. Just because you have a fever, stiff neck and a headache does not necessarily mean that you have meningitis. This is just a handy guide to help you to diagnose why it is you have a fever. A fever is a temperature that is above what is normal body temperature, 98.6F. A normal rectal temperature is 99.6F. The best way to take a temperature depends on the person. In infants, it is recommended that a rectal temperature be used. In a small child, you can either do axillary (in the arm pit) or in the ear. There is now a newer method to check temperatures in children by using a special thermometer that just presses on your forehead for a few seconds. The most accurate is still under the tongue and rectally though.

A fever of unknown origin is a prolonged temperature above 101F on at least four different occasions over a two week period of time with no other symptoms. This type of fever may be intermittent. It may come and go for two weeks. This type of fever is caused by infections, tumors, cancer and autoimmune disorders. The risk increases with someone that eats a poor diet, lowered resistance due to illness, traveling in areas with less than sanitary conditions, the elderly and people that abuse drugs. In many cases, it will spontaneously resolve itself. In other cases, a physician may prescribe medication or do extensive testing to try to find out the cause.

A fever is usually nothing to worry about. If it is a very high fever or a fever that just will not go away after a day or two, a doctor's visit is certainly your best bet. Sometimes a fever can alert a person of something serious going on but many times it is just the body's way of saying that you are coming down with something.