What is a febrile convulsion?

A febrile convulsion is a seizure or fit that happens because of fever, which is a temperature higher than 38°C. The rapid rise in temperature causes an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain.

Febrile convulsions usually happen in children between six months and six years old. Febrile convulsions that happes beyond this age range should be further investigated to make sure that there are other reasons such as infection or epilepsy.

It can be very frightening to see your child having a febrile convulsion, but children usually recover completely from febrile convulsions. Most febrile convulsions don’t cause long-term problems or brain damage either.

Symptoms of febrile convulsions

Symptoms of a febrile convulsion usually include:

• body stiffness and/or jerky movements
• loss of consciousness (blacking out)
• eyes rolling back in the head
• shallow breathing or altered breathing
• deep sleep for an hour or so afterwards.

Most febrile convulsions don’t last longer than a few minutes. Febrile convulsions almost always stop by themselves before you get the chance to seek medical treatment.

What to do if you think your child is having a febrile convulsion

Stay calm and remove any harmful objects so your child doesn’t injure himself.

Watch exactly what happens, so you can describe it later. If you have a smartphone or camera, take a video of the convulsion.

Time the febrile convulsion.

Once the convulsion has stopped, place your child on a soft surface, lying in the recovery position on her side to keep her airway open. Stay with her and give her reassurance.

Monitor your child’s breathing. If your child stops breathing, call an ambulance immediately and start CPR for babies or CPR for children over one year. Also ask for an ambulance if the febrile convulsion lasts longer than five minutes.

Does your child need to see a doctor about febrile convulsions?

Yes. Usually your child should see a doctor if she has a febrile convulsion. It is especially important to take your child to the doctor or go to a hospital emergency department if:

• it’s your child’s first febrile convulsion
• you’re not sure whether your child has had a febrile convulsion
• your child has febrile convulsions often.

Children don’t usually need to be admitted to hospital after a febrile convulsion, unless your child is younger than 1 yr of age, or your doctor is concerned about the condition that caused the fever – for example, pneumonia or meningitis.

Tests after a febrile convulsion

A child who’s had a febrile convulsion probably won’t need tests.

Sometimes doctors might order blood or urine tests, or a chest X-ray, to work out what condition caused the fever.

Your child might be sent for an EEG if she’s having repeated febrile convulsions, but this won’t usually happen after a single febrile convulsion.

Prevention of febrile convulsions

There’s no guaranteed way to prevent febrile convulsions.

You can lower your child’s fever and make him more comfortable by using paracetamol or ibuprofen and taking off extra clothing. Sometimes a febrile convulsion will be the first sign of a fever. 

In most cases, treatment with anticonvulsant medication.to prevent future seizures is not recommended.

More about febrile convulsions

Children generally only ever have one febrile convulsion. However about 30 to 35 percent of children who have a febrile seizure will have another febrile seizure. .

About 3 in every 100 children will have a febrile convulsion.

Febrile convulsions tend to run in families and affect boys more than girls.

Epilepsy is when a child has or is at risk of having repeated and unpredictable seizures. Most healthy children who’ve had a febrile do not develop epilepsy later. The risk that a child will develop epilepsy after a single, simple febrile seizure is only slightly higher than that of a child who never has a febrile seizure.