parents about how to gauge how ill their
child is (Dyas et al 2007). McIntyre (2011)
stated that health education efforts should
concentrate on two areas: assurance and
advice. Parents should be assured that
fever can make a child with a minor illness
look and feel unwell, but fever is a natural
defence mechanism. Its presence indicates
that the immune system is working well to
aid recovery and provide future immune
protection against similar infections. It is
important to reassure parents that fever is not
harmful and it is the underlying infection or
illness that has the potential to cause the child
harm (McIntyre 2011, NICE 2013).
NICE (2013) recommends that if a child
is deemed well enough to be cared for at
home, parents should be given advice on
how to manage the fever with verbal or
written information on the warning signs and
symptoms of serious illness. Advice for parents
or carers looking after a feverish child at home
is to (NICE 2013):