Febrile seizures
- Article
- 2021-03-09
Febrile seizures are convulsions or fits in infants or small children caused by a fever or febrile illness. The seizures can come before the fever. Usually during a febrile seizure, a child loses consciousness and shakes uncontrollably. Less often, a child becomes stiff or twitches in only part of the body. Most febrile seizures last a minute or two; some can take only a few seconds, while others can take more than 15 minutes. About one in 25 children will develop at least one febrile illness. Febrile seizures usually occur in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, with a peak in the second year of life. The older a child is when the first febrile seizures occur, the less likely the child will have more febrile seizures because they will spend less time in the risk group.
Therapy
A child with a febrile seizure usually does not need to be hospitalized unless the attack is protracted or is accompanied by a serious infection. Preventive treatment using anti-siseic acid medications on a daily basis is not recommended due to the potential for harmful side effects. Children particularly prone to febrile seizures can be treated with fever with medication to reduce the risk of a new febrile seizure, but this only slightly reduces the risk and does not affect the long-term prognosis. For people with a history of long-term febrile seizures, seizure-ending medications can be used at home at the time of an attack.
Prognosis
The vast majority of febrile seizures are short and harmless. There is no evidence that brief febrile seizures cause brain damage. Multiple or prolonged seizures are a risk factor for epilepsy, but most children who develop febrile seizures do not develop the recurring seizures typical of epilepsy. Certain children with febrile seizures are at an increased risk of developing epilepsy. These children include those who have a febrile seizure that lasts longer than 10 minutes and affects only one part of the body, or febrile seizures that recur within 24 hours. At particularly high risk of future epilepsy are people with a history of very prolonged (more than 30 minutes) febrile seizures that can cause injury to an area of the brain called the hippocampus.
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