All my life I’ve heard that high fevers are much less dangerous in very young children/babies than they are in adults.
Last week, my 17YO daughter asked me why.
Gosh, I dunno. If I had to make a WAG, it’d be something along the lines of the adult’s brain already being fully formed and stuff, so if damage is done, it’s easier for the baby’s/young child’s brain to repair itself.
Am I even close?
I’m not a medical professional, but my wife is a nurse…
Anyway, she says that children’s temperature regulating systems are not as developed as those of adults. A young child may therefore develop a high fever from a relatively minor illness (e.g. a common cold). So the main issue may simply be controlling the fever (i.e. with medication, cool baths, etc.) but there may not be much else to worry about.
In an adult, though, a very high fever is almost always evidence of a serious underlying problem, such as an infection.
Again, I am not a medical professional. YMMV.
I can’t remember the last time I had a pt whose fever was considered dangerously high, adult or child. Some fever producing infections are dangerous, the fever itself, not so much.