“My child is getting convulsions past 2 nights. What should I do?”
My baby is 3 years old and has been suffering from a viral fever for the last 2 - 3 days. I have been noticing that she gets periodic convulsions at night. Is it normal during fever episodes or is something seriously wrong?
7 Answers
Febrile convulsions can occur in children with a high fever. If your child has been having a high fever for 2-3 days, please take them to the ER/doctor.
This day and age it is the standard of care that your child should see a child neurologist. As I read you are mentioning "convulsions" that indicates that your child had more than one convulsion. This can happen with fever but an EEG 9 electroencephalogram) a CT brain scan and a child neurology consult is medically necessary. While it can be a febrile seizure the child should be evaluated with complete family history and all the other risk factors for epilepsy and migraine.
Very important question, those convulsions are called febrile seizure, also known as a fever fit or febrile convulsion, is a seizure associated with a high body temperature but without any serious underlying health issue. They most commonly occur in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. Most seizures are less than five minutes in duration and the child is completely back to normal within sixty minutes of the event. You will need to have to see a doctor as soon as possible to exclude other possibilities such as infections and metabolic issues.
Probably would be good to go to urgent care or ED with convulsions.
It can be normal, but need neurological evaluation to make sure exam is normal and type of convulsions happening are febrile ones.
Febrile seizures can occur between 6 months and 5 years old. Recurrent febrile seizures should be investigated for something more serious, to include MRI brain and EEG, and also evaluate for the etiology of the fever, etc. Recommend the child see PCM and get referral to Pediatric Neurology.
Febrile seizures are well known sequelae of mid-high grade fever, however neurological examination and workup including an EEG and brain MRI would be highly advised.
