Parents ‘lack knowledge’ about what constitutes a fever

Most parents lack sufficient knowledge about what constitutes a fever in young children, research has found.

The study, by a team of researchers attached to UCC and Cork Mercy University Hospital expressed concern the knowledge of so many adults about correctly identifying fever was “deficient.”

The results of the study, which were published in the medical journal BMJ Open, reveal almost two-thirds of parents identified fever at temperatures that were either above or below the recognised fever level of 38C. Their answers ranged from 36C to in excess of 40C.