It can be concerning when we feel like our children are always sick. Parents know between the months of October and April are the highest times for sickness. Especially if your child goes to school. Children who attend school are exposed to new environments, new pathogens, and new germs daily. Not only that, there are many different viruses that are forever mutating.
So your child may have gotten one virus and had immunity to it, but that doesn’t mean they won’t catch another virus that has the same symptoms, but they don’t have immunity.
For most children, having about 12 illnesses a year is normal. Children under the age of 7 have immature immune systems, which makes it easier for them to pick up sickness.
What is a persistent fever?
A persistent fever is a low grade fever that ranges between 100.5- 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit. It becomes persistent if the fever stays in this range for at least 2 weeks. A persistent fever can also be if it runs on a schedule. Run a fever for 3 days and within 5 days you have a fever again that lasts 3 days.
Common Fever Causes
Fever usually means your body is fighting an infection or illness. Common causes of a persistent fever are respiratory infection, UTI, medications, stress, cancer, or chronic disorders.
Chronic disorders could be something like thromboembolic disease, arthritis, lupus, gout, thyroiditis, or serotonin syndrome.
If your child is growing and thriving developmentally there is usually no concern of a persistent fever or what seems like constant sickness.
There are lots of things that can cause a fever. The usual cause is an illness or infection such as colds, ear infections, croup, strep throat, or the flu. Fever is usually an indicator that your body is fighting off an infection.
Vitamin deficiencies may play a role in why your child is running a persistent or chronic fever. Low vitamin D affects your immune system and how it functions. Which can lower your immunity to certain illnesses and diseases, this can make you fall sick all the time making you prone to the cold, flu, fever, allergies, asthma, or eczema.
Low vitamin D can also cause sustained fatigue, poor bone health, hair loss, slow wound healing, and severe muscle pain.
Another vitamin that may affect your immunity is vitamin B12. There have been a few studies that low vitamin B12 can cause a low persistent fever. Low vitamin B12 can also cause low immunity health which can cause you to fall sick often. Low vitamin B12 symptoms are fatigue, pale or yellow skin, headaches, depressive symptoms, GI issues, difficulty concentrating, pain and inflammation of mouth, vision disturbances, or muscle cramps. A healthy diet to make sure you get enough vitamin D and vitamin B12 can help boost your immune system to help your body be ready to ward off all the varieties of sickness out in the world.
Warning Signs & Complications
There are reasons to be concerned if your child is always sick or has a persistent fever. If they are losing weight and getting sick often you may want to see your doctor.
Other reasons of concern are no bounce-back after each sickness, this may look like they are never recovering before they are sick again. This could also be if your child has to go to the hospital for every sickness to get repetitive IV antibiotics to get over a mild sickness.
If your child has pneumonia twice or more, more than a few sinus infections, or 6 or more ear infections this may be a sign of concern. Recurrent bacterial abscesses and recurrent thrush.
A recurrent fever that has no other symptoms along with it may be a sign for an underlying condition like an immune disorder. A family history of immune disorders may also be a warning sign.
Reaching out to your doctor if any of these are present may be best.
Prevention
To help your child fight off infection you can do a few things.
One is to teach them proper hand washing. Or to keep hand sanitizer available and ready if your child isn’t always happy to wash their hands often. Kids like to touch things and surfaces wherever they are.
Help your child keep a healthy diet and stay hydrated with plenty of water.
What your child eats can help boost their immune system. Making sure they get enough vitamin C, and vitamin D can be essential in keeping their bodies strong and ready to fight infection.
Sleep is also important in keeping your child well. Make sure they get enough quality sleep each night.
Sneezing and coughing etiquette, of sneezing or coughing in your elbow can teach your child how to not spread germs to others.
Usually consistent fevers, sickness, and the feeling that your child is never well is usually just normal especially in children who attend school or daycare.
Persistent fevers can be a sign of underlying health conditions! #HealthSurgeon
Read More: Night Time Fevers
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4366991/#:~:text=Severe%20vitamin%20B12%20deficiency%20may,mimicking%20the%20above%2Dmentioned%20conditions.
https://emerginnova.com/6-bad-signs-and-symptoms-of-vitamin-d-deficiency/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-b12-deficiency-symptoms
https://pediatricassociates.com/health-and-wellness/when-to-be-concerned-if-your-kid-is-always-sick/#:~:text=The%20main%20reason%20your%20child,tricky%2C%20mutating%20all%20the%20time
https://health.choc.org/why-is-my-child-always-sick-a-pediatrician-answers-your-questions/
https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/parenting/the-constant-cold-why-kids-are-always-sick-and-what-to-do-about-it/
https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/health/other-issues/what-to-do-about-recurring-illnesses/
Purium’s Immune Shield is the all-natural, proactive support for your child’s immune system. Just a few drops can keep children healthier as well as re-balance little bodies when they aren’t at 100% strength.
