If you think that your child needs medical attention, please go to or contact your physician or health care provider.
Fever is the body's reaction to infection.
There are many theories for why this happens, including the idea that most germs can't replicate well at higher body temperatures and that some parts of the immune system works better at higher temperatures. While fever is considered a rise in body temperature, not everyone's body temperature is the same. There is a new device in which a pacifier has a thermometer, but the infants have to suck continuously for 3 to 5 minutes for it to work, which is unlikely. Seizures due to fever can occur in the age range of 4 months to 6 years, but is most often associated with an abrupt rise in temperature, rather than an extremely high fever. The reason for treating the fever, then, is an issue of comfort for the child.