CAUSES OF HEADACHES IN CHILDREN: INFECTIONS
Headache from fever occurs much more frequently in children, for two reasons. Firstly, an infection in a child usually causes a much higher fever than the same infection would in an adult: a mild viral infection producing a temperature of only 99.5° F (37.4° C) in an adult might produce a fever of 103° F (39.4° C) in a child.
Secondly, the higher the temperature, the more powerful the headache, and children get many more high fevers than adults. As we’ve just seen, part of this is because some illnesses produce high temperatures in children, and not in adults. But there is a second and more important factor at work: children are simply much more vulnerable than adults to being infected by the germs that are present in the community at the time. The reason is quite simple. A person is vulnerable to any illness he hasn’t met before, but once he’s had the infection, he develops immunity to it, so he can’t get it again. This is why (with very few exceptions) it’s only possible to have an illness like mumps once. After the initial infection the body recognises the mumps virus, and on every subsequent occasion that this virus tries to gain entry, the immune system locates and neutralises it.
Lastly, and very importantly, don’t forget meningitis is a cause of fever and headache. Meningitis is more common in children, so get into the habit of checking for a stiff neck every time your child gets a temperature. That way, if it is meningitis, you’ll be giving your child the best possible chance of getting over it. Meningitis in the very young doesn’t always give a stiff neck: a bulging fontanelle (the soft bit at the top of a baby’s head), vomiting, irritability and/or drowsiness, are among the things to look for. And remember that in meningitis immediate medical treatment may save your child’s life.
But meningitis is rare. Don’t get over-anxious about the possibility of your child having it. Just check that neck, routinely, each time he or she gets a temperature.
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