Febrile seizures in children are one of the conditions most people fearold. This situation is oftenconnectwith epilepsy and the risk of mental retardation as a result. Is that right?
Febrile seizures in children are thought to occur due to a drastic increase in body temperature. Generally caused by infection and is a response from the brain to fever that usually occurs on the first day of fever. In general, febrile seizures in children are experienced by infants aged 6 months to children aged 5 years.
Are Fever Seizures Dangerous?
Complex febrile seizures are often associated with an increased risk of epilepsy, as well as with unexplained sudden death in children.sudden unexplained death in childhood/SUDC). However, this is not proven. In fact, most febrile seizures in children are not associated with an increased risk of death in childhood or adulthood.
Most cases of febrile seizures have no long-term impact. A simple febrile seizure will not cause brain damage, learning difficulties, or mental disorders. In addition, febrile seizures are also not an indication of epilepsy in children, namely the tendency to have repeated seizures due to abnormal electrical signals in the brain.
Recognizing the Characteristics of a Fever Seizure on Children
Symptoms of febrile seizures in children can vary, ranging from mild, such as staring with a glare, to severe, such as jerking body movements violently, or the muscles become tight and stiff.
In general, during a febrile seizure, children experience the following conditions:
- Loss of consciousness and sweating.
- His hands and feet spasmed.
- High fever, more than 380C.
- Sometimes foam comes out of his mouth or vomits.
- His eyes will sometimes also be upside down.
- After subsides, looks sleepy and falls asleep.
Based on the duration, febrile seizures can be categorized as follows:
- Simple febrile seizure
Most common, with a seizure duration of a few seconds to less than 15 minutes. Seizures that occur in all parts of the body will not recur within a 24-hour period.
- Complex febrile seizures
Occurs more than 15 minutes in one part of the body and can recur within 24 hours.
Causes of Fever Seizures
The exact cause of febrile seizures is not known. But in the majority of cases, febrile seizures are closely related to high fever due to flu virus infection, ear infection, chicken pox, or tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils).
In addition, febrile seizures in children are also relatively common after immunization, such as DPT/Td (Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus/vaccine repeat), and MMR (Mumps-Measles-Rubella). However, it is not the vaccine that causes febrile seizures, but because of the fever experienced by the child.
Genetic factors also increase the tendency of febrile seizures. One in three children with complex febrile seizures has a family member who has had febrile seizures.
After one occurrence, a febrile seizure may recur, especially if:
- There is a close family member who has a history of febrile seizures.
- The first febrile seizure occurs before the child is 1 year old.
- The child has seizures even though his body temperature when the fever is not so high.
- The period between the child's onset of fever and seizure time is relatively short.
The good news, almost all children can recover as before after experiencing a febrile seizure.
How To Handlehis?
It is important to remain calm when dealing with febrile seizures in children. In general, seizures occur at the beginning of the child's fever. Giving him fever-reducing drugs, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, is only useful to make the child more comfortable with a body temperature that is not too high, but does not prevent the onset of febrile seizures themselves.
Avoid giving aspirin because it can risk triggering Reye's syndrome in some children and can lead to death. Diazepam, lorazepam, and clonazepam may be prescribed by a doctor if your child has complex febrile seizures or recurrent seizures.
If your child has a second febrile seizure when you haven't been to the hospital or to the doctor:
- Don't hold back your child's convulsive movements. But place it on a safe surface such as a rug on the floor.
- To avoid choking, remove it immediately if there is anything in his mouth when he is convulsing. Do not put any medication in his mouth while the child is having a seizure.
- To prevent him from swallowing his own vomit, place him on his side, not on his back, with one arm under his head and tilted to one side.
- Calculate the duration of the febrile seizure. Call an ambulance or go to the emergency room immediately if the seizure lasts longer than 10 minutes.
- Stay close to him to calm him down.
- Remove sharp or dangerous objects from the surroundings.
- Loosen the clothes.
To diagnose the cause of febrile seizures, the doctor will perform several examinations, including urine tests, blood tests, or examination of spinal fluid.lumbar puncture) to find out if there is a central nervous system infection, such as meningitis.
The doctor can suggest electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brain activity, if the child has a complex febrile seizure. In addition, if the seizures only occur on one side of the body, then the doctor may recommend an MRI examination. If the seizure is accompanied by a serious infection, especially if the source of the infection has not been detected, then your baby may need to be hospitalized for further observation.
Febrile seizures in children should immediately be checked by a doctor. Especially febrile seizures lasting more than 10 minutes, accompanied by symptoms of shortness of breath, stiff neck, vomiting, and the child looks very sleepy.