Child With Fever-Most Common Approaches Used in India

Child with acute fever is a common thing for children. Parents frequently says that they found their child running fever without any obvious reason, but there must be a reason though of no significance, which has caused this fever.

They got anxious about the fate of this fever, which is quite obvious. These fevers can present without any other symptoms suggestive of an underlying cause or any evolving disease process.

In this situation, mostly people approach this condition with these three approaches.

1. Ignored by father, but mother takes care: This approach is a most common approach seen in low socioeconomic group. This is because they usually spend very less on health service unless there is any emergency condition. Father usually ignores because he has to pay money. Mother usually takes care of child, but usually is incapable give a good care and first aid due to lack of education.

2. Taking care by both parents and do some basic first aid at home: This is second most used approach used. Parents asks to child to take rest and fulfills their demands on bed and monitor temperature and applies cold wet bandage to head to prevent further increase of acute fever.

3. Parents brought child to doctor: This is the third most used approach for child with acute fever, which is increasing with the increasing income and improving medical service availability.

In my personal experience and believe, the second most used approach i.e., taking care by both parents and doing basic first aid for acute fever at home is the best approach for a child with acute fever, but sometimes it is difficult to apply i.e., due to irritability caused by fever child usually do not allow to do any first aid i.e.,. applying wet cold bandage, but in such situation homeopathic medicines can be very useful.

Taking child to doctor with acute fever is an increasing approach used by people is a very good option, but unfortunately there is still a huge number quack practitioners who give antibiotic treatment for every child with fever routinely which is most unnecessary and affects child's health negatively and sometimes fatal complications arises and thus this approach is in my view is the second best approach not the best to recommend a lay man, but once again if child is brought to a homeopathic physician who practices only homeopathy is certainly best approach.

The first approach i.e., only mother takes care of her child who is usually incapable to do so. I think ANM and ASHA can play a great role in this regard. They should teach rural mothers at least about the most two common and fatal illnesses of child i.e., pneumonia (fever) and diarrhea. Government should open child homeopathic dispensaries and fresh homeopathic graduates can be posted on a relative low pay scale or on a temporary basis on at 10 villages basis. This step can improve both quality of child health and also quality of homeopathic physicians as there are lots of homeopathic physician largely practice allopathic medicines because they do not get support in their early homeopathic practice.