Fever phobia

Most parents are afraid of brain damage during fever. Is this a valid fear? First how likely are convulsions or a condition such as encephalitis for children? In general, they are rare. Any inflammation of the brain, such as encephalitis is a severe medical emergency. But, kids these days do not get encephalitis because they are vaccinated against the micro-organisms that cause it. Even before those vaccinations, inflammation of the brain was highly unlikely. It has long been assumed that it is the fever that causes the convulsion. However, further research shows that it isn't the fever – in fact, it's the infection (or vaccination ) that causes the fever. Giving antipyretics is no protection against brain damage from fevers either. Only children and younger mothers of only children tend to have a high level of anxiety about fever. Level of education has no effect on the level of fever anxiety according to a study of Turkish mothers. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5068249/) The implication is that inexperienced mothers are not tuning into what they know about fevers, rather they are influenced by their experience with fevers that are so common in early childhood. If they have only one child, they are anxious and more likely to use medications. The alarming finding of that study is that although only 6% of the mothers give antibiotics, antibiotics are readily available without a prescription. articles/PMC5068249/) The implication is that mothers are not tuning into what they know about fevers, rather they are influenced by their experience with fevers that are prescription. If in Turkey, and most of the less developed world, antibiotics are available in local pharmacies, then the uninformed users of those antibiotics are a breeding ground for bacteria that resists antibiotics. Since bacteria travels with people, the problem of antibiotics resistance is global. Preventing antibiotic-resistant bacteria from entering a country where doctors decide who may use antibiotics will not save us from the bacteria that becomes resistant in a faraway nation. If you are personally not up to preventing the equivalent of drug trafficking in other countries, at least prepare yourself and your family for the onset of antibiotic-resistant infections. A current common example of antibiotics resistance is MRSA. MRSA is a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The more common strains of Staphylococcus aureus -- or staph -- are relatively easy to treat with antibiotics. But MRSA is resistant to some commonly used antibiotics. So, let's encourage the development of a robust immune system by allowing ourselves and our children to experience non-life-threatening illness. Even over-the-counter drugs to lower fever will not allow our immune system to develop. Immunity is developed by experiencing illness. Homeopaths know this because they see earaches, fevers, and rashes return as patients develop a stronger immune system. What is infection? If you cut your skin, the wound becomes hot because it is infected by small micro-organisms which often naturally live in your body and multiply when the tissues are weak. The body heats up to overcome the infection. Without the fever, healing of the infection would be incomplete whether it is on the skin or deeper inside the body. At the same time, because of the heat and congestion, the immune system is designed to identify invaders. Bacteria that are not part of the human microflora have markers that the immune system learns to recognize. Immune system cells create their own keys to the markers of the pathogens. It is as if the pathogen had a digital chip that causes the immune system to recognize it. The next time the same non-self bacteria appears, the immune system is ready to surround, engulf or dismember the non-self single cell pathogens. Medicine has become very skilled at disrupting natural healing. When medications are used to prevent this process, the immune system does not create its own key to pathogen markers to identify the harmful non-self bacteria. When the same marker appears later, the immune system fails to react. People with allergies or repeated low-level infections may not be truly ill, but their immune system has been taught by medicine to fail to correctly identify and react against the pathogens (the bad guys). A curative homeopathic remedy re-vitalizes the immune system. That means that the immune system can effectively react to non-self invaders. Those are the famous side-effects or aggravations of natural healing. Therefore, common body sense tells us that we should not be fixated on bringing down temperatures in children! It's only necessary if the child is really feeling unwell and it's interfering with the need to, for example, drink. This is because dehydration will interfere with healing the infection. https://www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/teams/emergency-department-team/ Dr. Snelson's conclusion: So spread the good news – fever is not dangerous to children. If anyone disagrees with you, an interesting approach is to ask them what the number is for a safe temperature – the temperature below which there are no dangers from the fever. They won't be able to give you a valid number because there isn't one. You could ask them for a number that defines a fever. Interestingly, there is no widely accepted temperature that defines being febrile. But that doesn't matter too much, since fever is a sign of illness, and it is the illness that causes the problems, not the fever itself. The child must deal with the illness and not the secondary result of the illness. The inspiration from this comment came from a Minutus.com discussion led by Liz Lalor. For more about Dr. Liz

Section on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics., Committee on Drugs., Sullivan JE, Farrar HC Pediatrics. 2011 Mar; 127(3):580-7.