Fever? When to start worrying
A number of factors can influence your body temperature, including your age, gender, time of day, and activity level.
Most of the times, a fever isn’t sufficient cause for too much concern and goes away with an aspirin or a couple of days’ rest.
But, says Dr Angelique Coetzee, Chairperson of the South African Medical association (Sama), if your fever keeps rising over three days or longer, or is accompanied by severe symptoms, you should seek treatment.
A number of factors can influence your body temperature, including your age, gender, time of day, and activity level.
“A normal temperature for a person would be between 37,2 degrees C to 37,5 degrees C.
A temperature of 38 degrees C can be handled by your body, but because a person might not feel well, a doctor may prescribe medication to break the fever. A temperature of 38 degrees C that does not subside within 24 to 48 hours after having taken medication, should start to signal that you may need to see a doctor.”
Normal body temperature varies from person to person, and identifying your own normal range can make it easier to know when you have a fever, she said.
Women’s body temperatures are furthermore influenced by hormones.
How you take your temperature can also affect the reading. Armpit readings can be up to a degree lower than a reading from the mouth, and temperature readings from the mouth are often lower than readings from the ear or rectum.
Is this temperature the same for all ages?
Your body’s ability to regulate temperature changes as you get older. In general, older people are more likely to have lower body temperatures. What the ideal temperature is, may vary between countries.
Fever in children
All children have a fever from time to time. A fever itself usually causes no harm and can actually be a good thing — it’s often a sign that the body is fighting an infection and that natural defense mechanisms are working.
In healthy kids, not all fevers need to be treated. High fever, though, can make a child uncomfortable and make problems (such as dehydration) worse.
Watching how your child behaves will give you a good idea of whether a minor illness is the cause or if your child should be seen by a doctor. The illness is probably not serious if your child is still interested in playing, eating and drinking well, alert and smiling at you, has a normal skin colour and looks well when his or her temperature drops.
Sometimes, kids who have a fever breathe faster than usual and may have a faster heart rate. Contact the doctor if your child has trouble breathing, is breathing faster than normal, or is still breathing fast after the fever drops.
Fever in the elderly
For seniors, a fever may be the first sign that something is wrong. Fever thresholds for older adults might be lower, since older individuals typically have a lower body temperature than younger people, so make sure you have a baseline reading of what is typical for the senior.
In general, a reading that is 1,1 degrees C above their normal temperature is usually a sign of a fever. Their body temperature rises in reaction to illness or infection and fevers should be taken more seriously.
Seek medical attention if a senior’s fever reaches 39,4 degrees C or higher.
Get immediate medical help if the fever is accompanied by headache, disorientation or confusion, chest pains, difficulty breathing, convulsions or seizures, vomiting or a sudden rash. For the most accurate reading of a senior’s temperature, use a digital in the mouth or under the arm.
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