Kid Has a Fever? Don’t Freak Out

Tuesday, 26 April 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Stop freaking out. That’s the recommendation for parents dealing with a feverish child in a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Many parents are too quick to reach for medicine when their child’s fever starts to spike says the Washington Post. Pediatricians say lowering a fever—the body’s natural defense against infection—prematurely may do more harm than good. Despite the fact that fevers tend to come and go quickly without serious side effects, “our collective fever phobia clearly runs deep.” A recent survey found that one-third of all visits the the pediatrician involve a fever.

Read the full American Academy of Pediatrics report, released earlier this year.