Is 37.4 considered a low-grade fever?
Asked by
tan253 (
2958
)
January 10th, 2017
Ok, believe it or not this is not a paranoid question.
I’m actually asking as my daughter is quite often sitting at 37.3 or 37.4.
She quite often get’s sick, but she is at preschool so I’ve never questioned it but she did get bloods recently as she was vomitting for no reason and her IGa levels were low so we need to retest again soon.
I will go back to the Dr and ask these questions but I’m wondering if anyone has a child that is similar and it’s just ‘them.’
I am not overly concerned about temp as it’s also hot here at the moment, so I’m assuming her young body may not regulate as well as adults.(?)
By they way most of you know I suffer badly from hypochondria but I don’t have it with her it’s only with me.
I’m genuinely curious to see if some children just run ‘hotter’ than others.
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10 Answers
Yes. It is a mild fever, but how did you take it? How old is your daughter?
It would be a mild fever if taken orally; normal if taken rectally. A high fever if taken under the armpit.
It was in her mouth – orally. hmmm even if it’s hot – would the body respond as well or should the body at 4 be able to regulate?
It is still a very mild fever. Something to watch, and maybe give her children’s ibuprofen. That is the kind of temperature the office use will call “elevated”.
What if it goes high and then goes down again. I took it 2 hours ago it was 37.4 and now it’s back to 36.9 it does that quite often, I know sorry actually these are Dr questions aren’t they.
Technically, no. While there’s no broad consensus on what counts as a fever, even those who favor a lower threshold say that one’s temperature has to be greater than 37.5 ºC for even a mild fever. And yes, some people—including some children—just “run hotter” than others. My wife does, and always has. It used to freak her mother out a lot. Nevertheless, it’s worth keeping an eye on (especially until you get to talk to her doctor).
My normal temp is 36.6 C, so this would be elevated but not a fever. I would use ibuprofen for children.
My experience is with the Fahrenheit scale, and I’ve usually
used within 98.6F plus or minus 1 degree (which converts to 36.4 to 37.2 C) as a rule of thumb if the person is otherwise healthy.
What is your daughter’s normal temperature when she is healthy? people can have different baseline temperatures and it’s useful to know in cases where she might seem ill.
As a general note, don’t check temps (or other indicators) too frequently once you have the baseline info (unless there is an active illness which requires regular checks).
She normally runs hot – around 36.7 I’m 36.3 but when she’s super healthy and no bugs it’s around 36.7.
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