Investigation
Urinalysis is crucial in the assessment of every infant with a fever and in any older child who has fever with a definite source.
Important advice which parents should be given is how best to manage pyrexia at home. There are many old wives’ tales as to how best to manage temperature with anything from cold baths to warm blankets. There is a lack of evidence about opening windows or fanning as methods of reducing temperature, but tepid sponging offers no significant benefit over antipyretic agents alone. In studies looking at combinations of sponging techniques and drugs, sponging seemed to have no or only short-lived additive effects on the reduction in temperature. Adverse effects in some children included crying and shivering in those treated with sponging. Undressing alone had little effect on temperature.
A small study in adult volunteers with artificially induced fever showed that, during active external cooling, shivering was common, and both heat production and blood pressure were raised. Discomfort was also significant, a finding that is supported by some studies of tepid sponging in children.