Febrile seizures

A febrile seizure is a convulsion (also called a fit) that can happen when a child has a fever. You may also hear it called a febrile convulsion.

Febrile seizures are quite common and aren't usually serious. Most children make a full recovery afterwards.

Get emergency help or go to the hospital emergency department if:

• your child is having difficulty breathing
• this is your child's first seizure
• the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes

• your child has had febrile seizures before
• the seizure lasts less than 5 minutes
• your child has signs of dehydration like sunken eyes, dry mouth or no tears when they cry

If your child is having a febrile seizure, place them in the recovery position. Here's how:

• Lay them on their side, on a soft surface.
• Turn their face to one side.

This stops them swallowing any vomit, keeps their airway open and helps prevent injury.

Stay with your child and try to note how long the seizure lasts.

Don't put anything in your child's mouth during a seizure, and that includes medicine. There's a small chance they might bite their tongue.

A febrile seizure shows up as a convulsion that happens while a child has a fever. A high fever is usually 38C (100.4F) or above.

These seizures often come on during the first day of the fever. But the height of the fever doesn't tell you when a seizure will start. A child can have a seizure even with a mild fever.

There are 2 main types of febrile seizure: simple febrile seizure and complex febrile seizure.

During a simple febrile seizure, your child may:

• become stiff
• twitch their arms and legs
• lose consciousness
• wet or soil themselves
• vomit or foam at the mouth
• roll their eyes back

The seizure usually lasts less than 5 minutes, though it can go on for up to 15 minutes. Afterwards, your child may be sleepy for up to an hour.

A simple febrile seizure doesn't come back within 24 hours, or during the rest of your child's illness.

Complex febrile seizures are less common than simple ones. A complex febrile seizure can:

• last longer than 15 minutes
• cause symptoms that only affect one area of the body
• happen again within 24 hours
• happen again during your child's illness

Your child may not fully recover from a complex febrile seizure within one hour.

Doctors can often diagnose febrile seizures just from your description of what happened, so try to tell them as clearly as you can. It helps them to know:

• how long the seizure lasted
• what happened
• if your child recovered within an hour
• if your child has had a seizure before

Sometimes your child may need extra tests to help find out the reason for the seizures.

Most of the time, febrile seizures don't need any specific treatment.

If a high temperature has caused the seizure, bringing it down can help your child feel more comfortable. Children's paracetamol and ibuprofen can lower a high temperature. They work as antipyretics, which means they reduce fever, and they are painkillers too. You can't give both at the same time, but if one doesn't work, you may want to try the other later.

It may also help to take off any unnecessary clothing and bedding, which can help bring your child's temperature down.

Preventing dehydration matters during a fever, so make sure your child drinks plenty of fluids.

A doctor can give you more advice about treating a high temperature.

Doctors don't know exactly what causes febrile seizures, but they're linked to a rise in temperature.

A high temperature can come from infections like:

• chickenpox
• flu
• middle ear infections
• tonsilitis
• a urinary tract infection (UTI)

A febrile seizure can also happen when a child's temperature drops from a high level.

If febrile seizures run in the family, a child may be more likely to have one. In rare cases, a febrile seizure can happen after a child has a vaccination.

Febrile seizures happen most often in children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years.

If your child has had complex febrile seizures, there is a small chance that the child will go on to develop epilepsy. Epilepsy is a possible complication of febrile seizures of this kind, but the chance of it happening is small.