Aug 12, 2016

Interviewer: When is a fever bad enough that you should go to the ER? We'll examine that next on The Scope.

Announcer: This is "From the Frontlines," with emergency room physician Dr. Troy Madsen, on The Scope. On The Scope.

Interviewer: Dr. Troy Madsen is an emergency room medico at University of Utah Health Intendance. When is a fever bad enough to go to the ER? Dr. Madsen, shed some calorie-free on that for us.

Dr. Madsen: Yep. You know, it'due south interesting y'all bring that question upward because I've had people ask me even recently. They've said, "At what indicate is the fever just going to cook my brain and how loftier does it have to be to cook my brain"?

Interviewer: That can't happen. Right?

Dr. Madsen: I can't say I've ever seen it happen and I told them that.

Interviewer: Okay.

Dr. Madsen: And information technology's something that's out there. I call up hearing that besides, similar people saying, "Wow, you got to go along your fever down, or yous're only going to fry your brain." I tin't say I've seen that. Then when I call up of fever I don't call back of the accented number with the fever. We ascertain a fever as being 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or greater. And so I think of fever more in terms of what are the symptoms that yous're having or what kind of medical problems do you have.

This is a child, a young babe, less than, say, 12 weeks old, and they have a fever of 100.5 or greater, you got to go to the ER because in that location, we get concerned about a serious infection. If this is someone who has an immune system trouble, who's on chemotherapy, or mayhap has HIV, or something that'due south affecting their allowed system, once again, another reason to go to the ER. I'g not concerned well-nigh is it 105, is it 100.five, if they accept a fever, they need to have testing done.

Interviewer: If they are in that detail group?

Dr. Madsen: Exactly.

Interviewer: Okay.

Dr. Madsen: If they have immune system problems, if they're very immature, and then, of course, if they're very old, people who are very old also. It's interesting because very onetime people really don't get high fevers like someone in their 20s might. So in them, a fever or a temperature of 100.5, that's pretty meaning. And over again, potentially a sign of something going on that'southward very serious. Whereas the boilerplate person walking along, who's salubrious, who has really no medical issues, maybe they have a cough, maybe they have a fever upwards to 102, even 103, in my mind, that's not so concerning.

And so when I retrieve of fever, I retrieve of more the whole person, what kind of medical bug do they take. And then, beyond that, I call back of "Okay, what else is going on?" If information technology'southward someone who has a fever, who says the calorie-free bothers my eyes, my neck is stiff, I'm confused, or someone is reporting to me that they're dislocated, and so I think of meningitis. Fever with a really severe cough, or a cough that has been going on for a week, and won't go abroad, I recollect of pneumonia or a sinus infection. Certainly, fever is with your unary symptoms, back pain, nosotros call up about kidney infections and issues there.

So again, you're taking that whole picture. So I recollect the large take home point would be that I don't even ain a thermometer at home. I don't check my own temperature. I know if I'grand hot, or I'm common cold, or family unit fellow member is hot or common cold. I've heard some pediatricians say, "Become rid of your thermometer. Just don't utilize it on your kids unless they're the very young kids less than 12 weeks old," Because there, you are again looking at the whole picture. It's non just the fever.

Is the child lethargic? Are they feeding well? Are they eating? Are they still urinating, meaning that they're still having adequate fluids in their body? You lot're looking at everything there in addition to the fever.

Interviewer: That's kind of a tough paradigm for me to wrap my caput around because I retrieve a lot of people are merely driven by "Oh, 103 fever. That's called-for up. That'south a major problem." But it sounds like you're saying to take that as an indicator to maybe appraise, are in that location some other issues going on and those other bug are actually the reasons why you lot'd probably get to the ER?

Dr. Madsen: That's exactly information technology. You could have 103 fever with kind of a run of the manufactory cold, and you could feel admittedly miserable, only it doesn't mean you accept to rush to the ER.

Interviewer: Okay.

Dr. Madsen: And you can. If you're at all concerned, never hesitate to call your doc. Never hesitate to get to an urgent care or an ER. Merely in your mind, I want to remember of it as like, "Okay. This absolute temperature means you're ill or something less than temperature means you're non." Like I said, some people with 100.5-degree temperatures who have other bug, that's really serious. Whereas some other person on 103-degree temperature, probably very well, just could be a viral infection, and it isn't that big a deal.

Interviewer: Then this could be probably tough data for somebody to hear considering I'm imagining if they're listening to this, they're concerned nearly somebody in their life with a fever. If they don't fall in one of those two groups, the very young, the very old, they're going to desire to do something. But it sounds like what yous're saying is a fever should only indicate that mayhap you should look and see if there are other symptoms?

Dr. Madsen: That'southward exactly it.

Interviewer: Yeah.

Dr. Madsen: Yeah. I won't rush to get into the infirmary based on a fever alone. Look at the whole moving picture. Await at all the symptoms. Look at how the person is interim. If they're acting fine, and they're eating well, and drinking well, and they're alert, and they're non dislocated, and they've got a temperature of 102, they're probably okay. Y'all can give it some time. You can take some Tylenol, some ibuprofen, to bring the fever downward and see how they're doing.

Announcer: We're your daily dose of health, sciences, chat. This is The Scope, University of Utah Health Sciences Radio.

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