Do I need to take him in high fever (medical)

[sbgrace]

My son has a pretty high fever--104/104.6 with temporal thermometer. Tylenol apparently hasn't kicked in yet, but I assume that will come down in the next couple of hours. 

This wasn't exactly sudden onset--yesterday he had a slight headache, slight achy. I did not take his temperature yesterday, but I did feel his forehead when he asked if he had a fever. He seemed ok to me. He did say he didn't feel well enough for a group activity last night, but I felt it was a mild virus. 

This morning he's got more of a headache--especially when he moves his head, mild light sensitivity, much more achiness, fatigue.

FWIW, he can put his chin to his chest without issue (I was worried about the temp). His neck doesn't hurt any more than the rest of him. He is not nauseous. 

I called his pediatrician office to talk to the nurse. She told me to switch to ibuprofen to keep fever down longer and thought we could wait 24 hours or so. So that was reassuring. But, yet, I feel worried.

 

 

 

[JustEm]

I would not be taking my kids in for those symptoms at least not so soon. 

[Spryte]

My kid had meningitis a couple years ago.  He could put his chin to his chest, but there were other tests the doc did that were different.  I’m sorry I can’t recall the names now.  My son failed those.  
 

So, having some PTSD from that, I would take my kid in with those symptoms.

YMMV.

[Carol in Cal.]

That is quite a high fever for a 10th grader.  If he were 3, I would not be so concerned, but at that age it's fairly serious.

I would want a coronavirus test and an evaluation for meningitis.  Also, in the meantime I would be checking for signs of dehydration and pushing fluids hard.  Tepid baths or showers would be a good idea.

[ktgrok]

That's really high for that age, agreed. I'd take him in. Do you have a regualr oral thermometer to try first? Temporal ones can be wonky. 

And how is he acting? Lethargic/week/hallucinations?

Could be flu, is my guess. 

[catz]

My kids were that high with the flu even as teens.  To me it would depend on other symptoms.  Does tylenol/ibuprofen offer some relief?  Is he coherent?  Is he eating/drinking?  

[Katy]

In my family fevers are either low grade or over 103-104.  I even once had 105 as a hospitalized adult there for observation.

Unless his neck hurts more than the rest of him I wouldn't assume it's meningitis. 

That said, if your mommy gut says "something is terribly wrong" listen to it instead of the nurse and take him in today.

[ktgrok]

If it comes down with the tylenol or ibuprofen, I'd keep on that and watch and wait. If it doesn't, I'd go in. But again, I'd retake it with a normal thermometer first. I swear by the Vicks one. 

[ScoutTN]

10 minutes ago, Katy said:

That said, if your mommy gut says "something is terribly wrong" listen to it instead of the nurse and take him in today.

This!

[MEmama]

Um, not to be alarmist but aren’t those the EXACT symptoms of covid?

Nevermind—disregard!

Edited March 3, 2020 by MEmama

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, MEmama said:

Um, not to be alarmist but aren’t those the EXACT symptoms of covid?

Fever isn’t usually that high and cough is usually prominent.  Not usually a lot of other symptoms.  

[Katy]

1 minute ago, MEmama said:

Um, not to be alarmist but aren’t those the EXACT symptoms of covid?

 

No, from what I've read that's flu-like symptoms, chest tightness, LOW or no fever, upper respiratory crud with productive cough.  Maybe one day of GI symptoms.

[MEmama]

1 minute ago, Terabith said:

Fever isn’t usually that high and cough is usually prominent.  Not usually a lot of other symptoms.  

Oh I forgot about cough. The others are what I’ve read, but idk where now (too much reading!).

Disregard my previous post! 🙂

[sbgrace]

I can't remember the last time he got really sick. 

He's acting ok--laying around, low energy, but talking. My instinct on meningitis is that he would be sicker at this point. He's not worse than he was this morning. I don't see evidence of neck stiffness. No nausea. Temp down in 102 range at this point, after tyelonol is kicking in. Now that the temp is a little lower, he's reading and even asked to eat a little bit.

I kind of expected his pediatrician to want to see him. I really hate the idea of urgent care--I don't think ours is great. 

I don't know on the gut thing. I tend toward worry. I also kind of feel mixed at this point, partly because of the pediatrician's office was so unconcerned, but also because this wasn't sudden onset. I wish I would have asked the nurse if they were seeing this kind of thing in the community. 

The nurse did say the headache he was describing, including the light sensitivity, sounded like it could be virus related sinus headache to her. 

I'll ask my husband to get a regular thermometer. I did use the temporal on myself after I took his (thinking something must be off), and I was normal.

Edited March 3, 2020 by sbgrace

[Terabith]

Would you want tamiflu?

[DesertBlossom]

No specific advice about taking him in.... but I don't feel like tylenol is nearly as effective as ibuprofen for bringing down fevers. 

[gardenmom5]

sponging with TEPID water can also be effective at lowering temperature.  you don't want it so cold you get big reaction.

[SoCal_Bear]

You can tandem does tylenol and ibuprofen. My son was would get Febrile seizures from high fevers. You do give both both medications by you stagger them so that you are giving one half way though the other.

[sassenach]

I would not go in if it’s responding to Tylenol. Fevers cause headache. I would alternate with Motrin and take the wait and see approach. Dd got up to 105 with the flu when she was 16. It happens. 
 

ETA: push hydration. 
 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by sassenach

[sweet2ndchance]

Having had experience with meningitis, I would watch him but not take him in at this point.

As long as the fever is coming down with tylenol alone, I wouldn't worry too much and just watch.

If you are having to layer tylenol and ibuprophen to bring it down at all, I would take him in to urgent care or the doctor.

If it continues to jump back up to 104-ish any time the medicines wear off for a full 36 hours or more, I would take him in to the doctor or urgent care.

If neither tylenol nor ibuprophen are working to bring it down, even when layering them, I would take him to the ER.

If he starts complaining of pain at the slightest touch anywhere on his body, I would go to the ER as soon as possible.

That's how I would triage the situation at least if it were my child. YMMV

 

[sassenach]

16 hours ago, Katy said:

 

No, from what I've read that's flu-like symptoms, chest tightness, LOW or no fever, upper respiratory crud with productive cough.  Maybe one day of GI symptoms.

Wow, literally all of the symptoms of the bug we’ve had in our house. Interesting. 
 

ETA: you guys don’t need to cry for us! We’re totally fine! It’s just interesting to me that a pretty typical winter cold is also the same symptom list as covid. A normal year and no one would think twice about these symptoms. 

Edited March 4, 2020 by sassenach

[Chris in VA]

Temporal temp is typically about 1 degree higher than oral, so I would have taken him in. FWIW.