Child getting seazure during fever.?

Question

My son is 3 years old. General healthy boy, but when he has fever due to I don't know whether it's cold, or infection, he get seazure.
He had 2 seazures in the past two weeks.
I keep him cold and keep giving him tylanol and advil and place wet towel on his head, but he still gets it.......
What can I do to help, I take him to hospital and they send him back home saying it's virus and will go away.....give him fluides

Thanks for all the answeres. Much appreciated...
The fever is milder today and he is going to the clinic today.

:-)

Answer 1

Febrile convulsions are common in children who have viruses. Let me get the references for you.

Okay - there's a good wiki page to look at.

Young children (infants and toddlers) can be prone to having these sorts of episodes when they become unwell. Probably a better name is an "illness related seizure".

Febrile Seizures are caused by a chemical released by body cells when the patient has an infection.

Have you ever had a bad infection? A pneumonia or a kidney infection? or perhaps known someone who has had one. You might know about "delirium" and about fever - that when you get unwell with this sort of illness your cells send a chemical messenger throughout the body to tell the brain to make your body hotter - hence you get a feeling of being cold, you shiver, you put on more clothes or rug up with a blanket. Also you can get fuzzy in the head with thinking being all woolly and confused. Some people (particularly the elderly) can become VERY confused even with the more minor illnesses like urinary infections or skin infections. It is this same chemical that elevates in these illnesses that causes children to have seizures. It is not the body temperature itself.

These seizures are usually brief (<=60 sec) and generalized, affecting both sides of the body - arms, legs, +/- face. They are not harmful if they are brief, although most parents find them distressing.

We don't currently have anything to stop the seizures from happening apart from simple supportive therapies.

What you are doing is good - and may help take away the temperature (remember, it isn't the temperature that causes the seizure). Regular paracetamol (acetaminophen) and making sure your child is well hydrated are good ways to minimise the risk of a febrile seizure. This is pretty much the way most viral illnesses are treated anyway, as there are no specific antibiotics that will kill viruses. There are some special anti-viral drugs for some special viruses but most of the common cough/cold viruses are not amenable to this sort of treatment. (There is a flu-virus treatment too, but there are difficulties implementing this treatment).

The initial hospital treatment of febrile seizures is usually aimed at making sure it is not actually another type of seizure. Meningitis, Encephalitis, Epilepsy, Hypoglycaemia ... etc Once the doctors are happy that these are not the causes, then the treatment of the Febrile Seizures is usually supportive (as described above).

If the seizures are prolonged, it may be necessary to use medicines to abort the seizure when it happens - midazolam (intranasally) or diazepam (rectally) are some of the ways we use in Australia to treat febrile seizures at home.

Children who have febrile seizures have a minimal increased risk of developing epilepsy in later life. They tend to grow out of it.

Here are some reputable hospital fact sheets about febrile convulsions.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

Andy, Listen carefully: Your son probably has the flu. Keep him warm but check his temperature on the hour, keep it recorder. write it down. if you can't get it in the mouth take it rectally. It will run a little higher this way, make a note of it.
Keep giving him liquids, Lot's of them, don't hold back, you don't want him to dehydrate. If you can get some peidyolite in the baby section that's better. If he's not hungry don't feed him, if anything give him chicken broth.

If his fever goes higher then 104 then put him in a tub of cool water, if you can't get the temperature down and it continues to climb then take him to the ER right away. A child will run a higher then an adult, 104-105 is not real high at 105 and climbing then your headed for a seizure. Put him in a tub of cool water like I said not just cool cloth, that will bring it down right away, if it doesn't then the ER.

Answer 3

Dear Andy,

Seizures are a complication of the brain sending a message to the body, but the body gets confused. Althoug hit is VERY startling to see a seizure "in action" you should let it subside and make sure your son will not hit or fall on anything. There is no cure for seizures, but there are medicines, try looking for a nuerologist. There are medicines like trileptal, (research more on medicines, some seizure medicines lead to blindness ex. topamax)

Answer 4

it sounds like he gets feveral convulsions. i had them too as a child, but i grew out of them. he might too.
all you can do is keep him cool, try to keep his fever down. this sounds mean, but put him in an ice bath when he gets a fever. alcohol (rubbing) will also keep him cool. if you really want a proffesional answer, take him to doctors until you get an answer.

my mother still worries about me, and i'm 28 years old, and married! don't worry, most kids outgrow them. just keep him safe while having them, and call an ambulance if you're too scared. it might be a bigger problem.

Answer 5

You need to be persistent at the hospital and also contact your family doctor to have him checked out.
Your best bet is to keep his temp. down with a cold cloth....and i hear on his feet may do the trick as it pulls the fever out. Don't bathe him in cold water but lukewarm should help in the meantime.

Answer 6

Instead of taking him to the hospital, make an appointment with the doctor's office, and go to a regular appointment. Tell the doctor just what you told us. If the doctor says not to worry about it, then don't worry any more. If the doctor give you other advice, follow it.

Answer 7

High fever can cause seizure.
If you have to give him medication to keep the temperature down. You should check with a doctor ASAP. Especially if he gets a seizure.
Did you check with his doctor for a follow-up ? You should.

Answer 8

Had that several times, the doctors couldn't find any problems at first but had it again but checked my urine and found out I had a urinary tract problem, my kidney gets backed up with too much water. I was put on a water pill, I think it was Lasix and know I do better.

Answer 9

andy, ur son may have an underlying condition.he may be having what is called petty mild seazures. i would suggest taking him to a specialist to rule out this cause, just to be sure. god bless an merry christmas

Answer 10

all you can do is give him plenty of fluids as much as possible. if he wont eat properly give him what he wants like chocolate. the virus will pass. keep him cool with the temperatures strip him down. ask yr doctor for some brufen , its great for keeping temps down