What may increase your child's risk for problems from a fever?
Many conditions, medicines, and diseases interfere with the body's ability to heal or fight infection. Your child may be at risk for a more serious problem from a fever if he or she has any of the following. Be sure to tell your child's health professional.
Conditions
- Younger than 3 months
- Problems or conditions present since birth (congenital)
- Premature birth or delayed growth and development
- A recent surgical procedure
- Travel outside the country
- Exposure to recent immigrants or nonnative people
- An animal, insect, or tick bite in the past 6 weeks
- Animal pets. Pets can carry diseases.
- Surgery to remove the spleen
- Eating game meat, raw meat, or raw shellfish
- Ethnic or family history of certain conditions, such as Mediterranean fever
Medicines
- Antibiotics
- Blood-thinning medicines, such as warfarin, heparin, and aspirin
- Corticosteroids, such as prednisone
- Medicines to prevent organ transplant rejection
- Medicines used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
- Radiation therapy
Diseases
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Cystic fibrosis
- Diabetes
- History of seizures
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
- Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
- Kidney disease
- Lymphoma
- Malnutrition or failure to thrive
- Sickle cell disease
| Author: | Jan Nissl, RN, BS | Last Updated: April 24, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics Thomas Emmett Francoeur, MDCM, CSPQ, FRCPC - Pediatrics | |
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