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| This Weeks Health Topic |
Date posted: 2007-07-20 Views: 453 |
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FLU
Influenza. At this time of the year this is very common in households and children are the most susceptible. What is the flu?
It is an infection that causes fever, chills, headaches and can sometimes cause earaches or sinus.
Why does the body temperature rise when there is a fever?
The hypothalamus (the centre of the brain) that controls your bodies temperature, recognises chemicals released by the bodies reaction to the germ that has entered it and raises the bodies temperature to help fight the infection. Once the hypothalamus sets a new temperature for the body, the body takes action and starts to heat up. When a fever starts, the body tries to get hotter and you may shiver without thinking about it to create more heat. You may feel very cold even though the room isn't cold and even though you have your pyjamas or nightgown on and lots of blankets around you.
If your body reaches the new temperature that's been set by the hypothalamus — say 102° Fahrenheit (38.9° Celsius) — you won't feel cold anymore. According to your hypothalamus, your temperature is where it should be!
After the cause of the fever disappears, your hypothalamus will set everything back to a normal temperature. When your strep throat medicine starts to work, for instance, your body will begin to cool down and you'll no longer have the chills. You'll begin to feel warm and will need to get rid of the extra heat that's been in your body. You may sweat and decide to change into some lighter-weight pajamas.
For almost all children, fevers aren't a big problem. Once the cause of the fever is treated or goes away on its own, the body temperature comes back down to normal and you feel like your old self again. Most doctors say that children with a fever less than 102° Fahrenheit (38.9° Celsius) don't need to take any special medication unless their fevers are making them uncomfortable.
It's a different story for newborns and very young infants, though. They should be evaluated by a doctor for any fever that reaches 100.4° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius) or higher.
If a child has a higher fever, the doctor usually will tell a parent to give the child medicine. Seek the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. The medicine blocks the chemicals that tell the hypothalamus to turn up the heat. Children should never take aspirin to treat a fever because it can cause a rare but serious illness.
For a fever, get your child to drink lots of fluids. That's important because as the body heats up, it's easy for it to get dehydrated. There are a lot of choices when it comes to fluids — juice, water, sports drinks, soup, jelly and even ice blocks.
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