The fastest way to bring down a child's temperature: Dr. Komarovsky

Almost all acute respiratory viral infections in children are accompanied by an increase in body temperature. Often quite significant: where an adult "lies down" with a temperature of 37-38, the child's fever will catch up with a frightening 39 degrees on the thermometer. In this case, it is important to act correctly: with such a temperature, especially if it is accompanied by vasospasm and pallor (the so-called "white" fever), it is not easy to cope. What is the most common mistake parents make, and what medications are most likely to help a child? Pediatrician Yevhen Komarovsky told about this on the channel "Ukraine".

First of all, you need to remember: when choosing an antipyretic agent for a child, parents are limited to only two types of drugs - with paracetamol and ibuprofen. How to choose the dosage according to the child's weight, when the medicine begins to work and how long it takes to give the second dose after the first, we have described in detail

here. No other medicinal substances (aspirin, analgin, nimesulide) are allowed to be given to children under 12 or even 15 years old.

The next aspect is the form of the medicine, and even experienced parents can get confused here. Both paracetamol and ibuprofen are available in a wide variety of forms today. These are tablets, syrups, suspensions (based on "effervescent" tablets), and even rectal suppositories. Why such diversity? First, for convenience, it is better to give syrup to children under the age of three than a pill. Secondly, different forms of drugs have different absorption rates in the body. Not knowing this feature, moms and dads often make the mistake of trying to bring down the heat with a candle.

Which form of the drug should you choose?

Liquid dosage forms of antipyretic drugs enter the bloodstream most quickly through the gastrointestinal tract, explains Evgeny Komarovsky. This means that at a high temperature, the child needs to be given a syrup, suspension or solution of the drug. Pills work too, but they will work a little slower. But rectal suppositories may not help at all.

If the body temperature is above 39 degrees, a person has a spasm of peripheral vessels and mucous membranes, says Komarovsky. In this case, despite the fever, the skin is pale and the hands and feet are cold. Usually, the condition is also accompanied by rectal spasm. Therefore, a rectal suppository will simply not be absorbed into the walls of the large intestine. This means that there will be no effect from the drug.

It makes sense to light a candle only in two cases. The first is if the child begins to vomit against the background of fever, and oral forms of drugs simply leave the body with vomit. The second is if the temperature is below 39 degrees, and you need to lower it smoothly and achieve a longer effect.

Absorption of the drug from the rectum is slower than from the stomach. This means that the candle will work later than the pill or syrup, but the antipyretic effect will be prolonged over time. So, if a child has a temperature of 38 in the evening, and you have a whole night ahead, for peace of mind it is quite acceptable to put a candle for him, notes Yevgeny Komarovsky.

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