A third of children under six who go to hospital with a fever might be doing so unnecessarily and could instead be treated by their GPs, according to new Australian research.
Analysis of hospital emergency department admissions showed in most of these cases, kids were simply given fluids to drink and paracetamol to reduce fever.
Researchers at the University of Tasmania say educating parents about managing fever, and in particular managing dehydration, may reduce the overall burden on the health system.
"Parents' fear of fever, or 'fever phobia', has been well documented, both nationally and internationally, over the past three decades," they wrote in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
"It has been reported that many parents are unable to determine what a normal temperature for their child is and are excessively concerned about the harm that they expect to be associated with fever, such as brain damage and seizures."
To investigate the impact of 'fever phobia' on the health-care system, the researchers looked at all patient admissions to the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department between January 2013 and December 2015.
In total, there were 165,806 emergency presentations, with children under the age of six accounting for 17 per cent all emergency presentations.
Of these children, there were 459 presentations (0.3 per cent) to the ED with a primary diagnosis description of 'unspecified fever'.
Further analysis showed of all presentations, 141 (30.7 per cent) were classified as potentially avoidable, "GP-type presentations" as defined by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
In most (88.8 per cent) of these cases, the only therapy administered in the ED was fever-alleviating oral medication such as ibuprofen or paracetamol and/or oral fluids.
The researchers say further investigation is needed to determine whether these could be managed in the primary care setting.
