“Can an infection be causing recurrent fever?”
My daughter has a recurrent fever. She first tested for the flu, but she didn't have it at all. Now a few days later, she keeps having a fever that only goes down a little with Tylenol. What should we do? Her fever today was 101 and she's 9 years old.
1 Answer
If she has only had fever for a few days, and it's only a low-grade fever like 101, unless there are other worrisome symptoms like lethargy, extreme fatigue, excessive vomiting, etc., it is likely that she has a viral infection of some type and it will run its course over the next few days. If she gets really ill appearing, take her to be seen by a doctor. If the fever persists past 9 days or so, take her to see a doctor even if she doesn't look all that ill. But if she looks ok and is maintaining hydration, I would allow her to run temps in the 101-102 range for a week or more before getting very concerned, especially if she has already been seen earlier in the illness and doesn't have specific complaints like severe ear pain, severe throat pain, severe abdominal pain, or severe headache.
Randall Fisher, M.D.
Randall Fisher, M.D.
