Febrile Seizures

What is a febrile seizure? A febrile seizure is caused by a sudden fever that causes the body to react by having convulsions. This type of seizure has been observed in babies but especially in toddlers. Up to five or six years old, a child might be affected by febrile seizures and may be more sensitive to have them again in the future when a fever suddenly affects the child. Here are a few facts about this type of seizure.

• This type of seizure is caused by the sudden apperance of a fever, not how high is the temperature level.

• This type of seizures is usually harmless and will not cause any brain damage. In this case, only a fever over 107 will cause brain damage, not the seizure itself.

• There are two types of febrile seizures. There is the simple and the complex febrile seizure. The simple febrile seizure usually lasts between a few seconds up but no longer than fifteen minutes. The complex febrile seizure usually lasts more than fifteen minutes and may display more than one seizure.

• Usually, you would notice that the child has a blueish skin colour because he is not breathing well, his face might be swollen, his mouth can be foaming and let a cry or growl out because of the muscular tension. The child would arch his back and either some or all body parts are affected by the convulsions. The child might vomit, bite his tongue and release involuntarily both urine and excrements. Make sure that the child is on the side if he is foaming at the mouth, has too much saliva or his tongue is blocking the airway. Loosen up any tight clothes.

• Do not restrain the child in any way. Do not put anything in his mouth.

• Following the seizure, your child might be exhausted and fall asleep. Have him checked out at the emergency room right away so the cause, the symptoms and the possible damages may be investigated and taken care by experienced medical staff. Share as much details and information as possible.

• Use some prescribed medication or some acetaminophen (Tylenol) to lower the fever.

• Watch your child closely as other seizures may occur, especially if the fever is not lowering fast enough.

• Check your child's temperature every four hours around the clock and give him some medication, according to the weight and age of your child, if needed. If the child has no fever at the time, keep an eye on him as it may reappear later.

• About five percent of children may experience febrile seizures. Of this amount, 2/3 will have seizures in a future episode. Of this amount, 1/3 will have a second seizure during the same episode or in the first 24 hours of this episode. Of this amount, only half will have a third seizure during that episode.

• If after two or three days, the fever is not going away, go see your family doctor to have other tests done as it might be more serious than evaluated at first.

• If your child has a high fever or has chills, cover him lightly as chills will suddenly rise the body temperature as would by bundling him up.

• Please note that usually, there are no symptoms that allow parents to notice the high fever before the febrile seizures happen suddenly so don't feel responsible or like you are a bad parent as it is not the case.

Please, treat the febrile seizures as you would for any other situation that involve seizures and follow the step mentioned in my previous article on how to help someone who is having a seizure.