What viruses can cause a high fever in a 2 year old, other than flu and roseola:?

What viruses can cause a high fever in a 2 year old, other than flu and roseola:?



Posting here because I’m looking for ppls answers with kids around our same age group.. really hoping mods don’t pull it into “health” because I’m looking for answers for this age group.



I’m really worried about twin A. He’s had a cough off and on for 2 weeks. 3 days ago his cough got worse and we needed to step up his asthma treatments. Yesterday evening, he had a fever of 102.2 rectally. Grandma took him to the Dr. (not regular pediatrician), who looked in his ears, listened to his lungs. Said she thinks it’s viral. And that his lungs sound fine. What really gets me is EVERY, and I mean EVERY time they’ve had their temperature taken under the arm it is 2-3 degrees higher rectally. His fever in the office at 2:30 was 102.4 UNDER THE ARM. They refused to take his temperature rectally, claiming it is considered abuse. WTF?? That’s a new one. Gotta love our progressive society that pushes ridiculous concerns over where thermometers go in toddlers in a medical facility with witnesses over health. So she says a fever over 105 take to ER. Which makes me so mad, because he likely has one that high but they won’t take it!



So, anyway, back at home grandma takes his temperature when he has Tylenol AND Motrin in his system, per Dr. instructions, and his fever has only gone down to 103.1.



So my gut is telling me the Dr. is wrong. I’m fearing pneumonia because his twin, 6 months ago, got rushed to the ER when his lips turned blue. OX saturation was fine. They were refusing to take x-rays or do any other tests as his lungs sounded clear. They finally took his temperature rectally and it was 104.5 so they did a blood panel after I begged. Turned out is showed he had a bacterial infection- somewhere. Their regular pediatrician, when she followed up, said they really should have done x-rays in a kid with asthma and pneumonia history, and that she likely think he had a little spot of pneumonia on his lungs because the “bands” in the blood test results were typical of it.



So now I’m terrified a similar thing is going on with Twin A, and the Dr. refused to take 1) his actual (not under the arm!) temperature seriously, and 2) neglected to do even a simple blood panel. I’m in a serious mommy freak out mode. Their temperature always spikes at night so I’m scared that if it is 103.1 NOW WITH Motrin and Tylenol, it will go much higher.



So can any of you tell me, are there ANY viruses your 2-4 your old has had, that causes a very high fever and junky cough other than roseola or the flu? Its likely Not roseola due to symptoms, and not theflu he’s had flu shots. I’m really hoping some of you have had this happen. IF so, what was it? What were your experiences?



Also, what is your gut? Should I trust the Dr.? Do you think I’m right, that something else is going on?

 

:grouphug: I'm sorry you are going through this...I have not had this happen...but I have had kids in my class (4 yrs) have high fevers with fifths disease. I would trust your gut and take him to the er if you are worried..peace of mind is worth a lot!

 

My doctor's office always take the temp with an ear thermometer. I don't do rectal temps, but I certainly don't consider it abuse. That's weird that they said that. Under arm temps definitely aren't reliable.

Both my girls run super high temps just with the common cold. Karina's temp a couple of weeks ago hit 104.7. That was super high for her. Annelise regularly gets 103 temps with a cold. I always alternate tylenol and ibuprofen every 3 hours when their temps get that high. Even then they still hover around 101 sometimes.

If you are really worried, I'd see if you could take him in to urgent care over the weekend and see someone else. Personally, I would probably alternate tylenol and ibuprofen over the weekend. If he is still running a temp on Monday, take him to see your regular pediatrician. That's how I would handle it, but you need to do what makes you comfortable.

 

RSV could be one. There is a really nasty cold going around here where kids having pretty high temps for 4 or 5 days before it's going down. If she checked his throat and ears, he probably doesn't have strep throat or an ear infection. I did have one at 18 months that got RSV with pneumonia. If it isn't going down with the meds and you are concerned, I'd probably make a trip to urgent care or and ER. If nothing else, they'd probably do some additional testing that could put your mind at ease especially over the weekend.

 

We just had a high fever virus last week with the twins. One got it and the other didn't at first. We thought it was bacterial because one was currently taking antibiotics for an ear infection that's why the other caught it and she didn't. So we called the pediatrician's office to insist it must be bacterial and not viral for that reason. They and s stood firm on the viral stance and said they were seeing a lot of kids with this. Sure enough the other came down with it a few days later. It started off with fevers spiking very high very quickly and vomiting. Fevers were running as high as 104.6 with both a temporal and ear thermometer. We had to give them tylenol and ibuprofen overlapping around the clock to keep fevers under control. They both had some mild cold symptoms with it and it lasted about 5 days.

 

Rota virus - although it would come with vomiting and diarrhea.
Hand, foot and mouth.
Croup - although it would be with the distinctive cough

Rectal temperatures will always be higher than underarm temps. Our pedi always told us to add 1 degree to an underarm temp.
If alternating tylenol and motrin doesn't keep it under control, you could try a bath with coolish water. We even did a bath once in the ER with one of our guys who had croup.

 

My son had croup over the holidays and had a pretty high fever. Like a PP said, the cough with croup is very distinctive (very barky sounding).

 

Kawasaki's Disease is consistent with the high fever (especially over a longer period of time, like a week or two), but not really the cough (although some people think it can be triggered by something viral). There are a few other symptoms like the skin peeling on the fingers, but mostly it's diagnosed by eliminating everything else. I hope he feels better soon.

 

There are so many random virus' out there that it could be :hug: You have to do what is best for you and your child so if that means going to the er then go!
I have high fever kids, they will run a 103 fever for a couple days and have absolutely no other symptoms.
I do not do rectal temps, never have and I honestly would be REALLY upset if my Ped did one. However I've NEVER had a ped do one under the arm :blink: They usually do the one that goes around the ear and forehead. But before that was the ear one.
I do sometimes do the underarm one at home and it does say to add 1 degree...
I hope he's feeling better soon. I personally would stick to the motrin and if that brought it down to 102 or less then I would just let it run it's course. Fevers aren't bad unless they get too high.

 

We had strep come through our house a couple weeks ago and it caused high fevers. My nephew also had the same and ended up with scarlet fever as well. Our ped was surprised bc its not usually seen in toddlers but we took them to ER and they said their throats and ears were clear but when we learned my nephew had it (we play a lot with him) we took them to the ped the next day and they swabbed and sure enough it was positive. So trust you instinct...even though their throats look fine it could be strep!

 

My one little guy always spikes high temps. His temp his 105.7 with his last virus (Hand, Foot, & Mouth---but he hit 105 when he had roseola, too) and, even though I'm a nurse, I flipped. The pediatrician insisted I didn't have to bring him in (which I deep down knew)...kids can tolerate high temps. The big worry is how fast they spike them (they can get febrile seizures if their temps spike too quickly). They no longer recommend you alternate Tylenol & Motrin, but I always do if my kids are over 102 (just make sure to space them at LEAST 3-4 hours apart).

In the hospital we are not allowed to do rectal temps unless specifically ordered by a physician. We ONLY do underarm temps if a child is under 1, otherwise we use temporal (across the forehead). For underarm temps, we always add a degree. Rectal temps will always run higher, typically 1 degree more than an oral would. I'm not sure if that's one of the reasons society has strayed from them or not. I know a big thing we were educated about is the risk of injury to the rectum by doing rectal temps.

The rule of thumb around here is that if your child has a temp greater than 101 for 3 days, they should be seen. If your little guy's ears, lungs, & throat looked ok, then I'd wait it out a while longer. It's so awful seeing your child so miserable, though, isn't it? However, if at ANY point your child appears dehydrated (not wetting/peeing, dry lips/mouth, no tears, super lethargic, etc), then he needs to be seen immediately. With fevers that high, I always push Pedialyte (both at home & at the hospital)...it rehydrates them faster.

Good luck. I hope it's a viral thing that will pass quickly. Most viral temps around here lately have been lasting 5-7 days & typically peak at night. Hang in there...and hope the little guy gets well soon!

 

Strep Throat.
When my DD was almost 2.5 years old she had a high fever (104) for a few days, no other symptoms. It would go down with motrin and she was eating okay and was fine once the fever went down, but when the motrin wore off she would seem tired. Finally I took her to Urgent Care on Saturday and they did a strep test and she tested positive for strep throat.

 

So, how is he today?