Hi my 20month old daughter has had a temp of 39 since yesterday , she has a bad cough ad runny green nose I am controlling temp with Calpol /nurophen but tonight when I checked her temp it was 36.6(normal) but she is drenched in sweat ? Is this just normal cold ? She s never had it before and if so how long should a temp last with cold before I go and see a doctor , she s been a bit moany and off her food but still managing to play ect
Hi...all the symptoms you are quoting are fitting into - viral illness. This looks like viral illness. Sometimes when the fever is remitting there will be a lot of sweating. Nothing to worry about it. Fever of few days without any localizing signs could as well a viral illness. Usually rather than fever, what is more important is the activity of the child, in between 2 fever episodes on the same day. If the kid is active and playing around when there is no fever, it is probably viral illness and it doesn't require antibiotics at all. Once viral fever comes it will there for 4-7 days. So do not worry about duration if the kid is active. Paracetamol can be given in the dose of 15\u00a0mg/kg/dose (maximum ceiling dose of 500\u00a0mg) every 4-6th hourly that too only if fever is more than 100F. I suggest not using combination medicines for fever, especially with Paracetamol. Regards -