Fever

I have a fever. What should I do?

The fever is an alarm and defence system in our body. Therefore, when we have it, we shouldn’t eliminate it. What we have to do is to try to reduce it.

If we have a fever, but:

	we feel like playing,
	we feel like eating and drinking,
	we feel awake and happy
	and the colour of our skin is the same as usual (we are not pale, green, yellow or red like an embarrassed red pepper)

we should stay at home, resting and drinking water or fruit juices. Take the opportunity to sleep a little more, watch television, listen to the radio, read, draw pictures or play peaceful games.

If we are uncomfortable or feel weak, sometimes it can be useful to put a little flannel with lukewarm water on our forehead or our wrists or refresh ourselves with a sponge soaked in lukewarm water. We should also take some of our clothes off if we are too warmly dressed. The chemist can advise us about what to do.

On the other hand, our parents will certainly have to let the doctor know if:

	we have a high temperature, higher than 40ºC, and it doesn’t go down;
	we have a sore throat, earache or a cough;
	we cry or complain about everything;
	we are more spellbound than usual or we notice ourselves to be confused;
	we cannot walk or move our arms;
	we find it very difficult to breathe;
	our tongue, lips or nails are blue
	or we have convulsions (we move as if a mouse was jumping around inside us).