According to a national poll by the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, one in three parents give fever-reducing medication for temperatures below 100.4, despite it not being recommended.
A recent national poll suggests that some parents tend to resort to medication too quickly when their children experience a fever.
During the winter season, many children are regularly exposed to circulating viruses at school or daycare. One of the first clear indications that a child has caught a
More than a fourth of parents would give children another dose to prevent the fever from returning. Credit: C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at University of Michigan Health
“Some parents may immediately rush to give their kids medicine but it’s often better to let the fever runs its course. Lowering a child’s temperature doesn’t typically help cure their illness any faster. In fact, a low-grade fever helps fight off the infection. There’s also the risk of giving too much medication when it’s not needed, which can have side effects.”
The report is based on 1,376 responses from parents of children ages 12 and under polled between August and September 2022.
Two in three parents polled say they’re very confident they know whether their child needs medication to reduce a fever. But just over half are sure they understand how temperature readings can change according to the method used.
The method used to take a child’s temperature matters and can affect the “Mott Poll Report – Figuring out fever in children”
