Should you go to the hospital if you have a fever of 103-104?

[Magnum357]

I had an extremely high fever when I had, I think, just a cold a little while ago, that went to 39.9 or something, which I believe is 104 on the celcius scale. Should I have gone to the hospital, or could have done some serious damage ?

 

[minendo]

I generally run around 103-105 when I get a fever and I never go to the hospital.

 

[SWirth86]

Originally posted by: Magnum357
I had an extremely high fever when I had, I think, just a cold a little while ago, that went to 39.9 or something, which I believe is 104 on the celcius scale. Should I have gone to the hospital, or could have done some serious damage ?

104 in Celcius and your blood would be boiling.

The highest I've been is around 102.5

 

[PowerEngineer]

I'd think that you would do well to consult your doctor when your temperature runs that high (especially if it doesn't drop with aspirin or tylenol).

 

[UsandThem]

Should you go to the hospital if you have a fever of 103-104?

My son (who is 3 months) had a 102.8 tempature just the other day. My wife called the on-call nurse, and she said that if lasted for more than one day, then to bring them in. His tempature when back to normal after two days.

I think you are fine if it hit 104, and then went down. Drink plenty of water and it doesn't break, go to the doctor.

 

[rgwalt]

I would say that you definitely should see a doctor. If you can break the fever with over the counter drugs, then its a good sign. A low grade fever helps your body fight infection. A high grade fever (above 101 or 102) can potentially be harmful. The proteins in your cells start denaturing (melting or unfolding), especially your brain cells.

Ryan

 

[Magnum357]

I'm fine now. This was about a month and a half. The fever broke after about 8 hours, then came back, broke, blaw blaw. I don't think you can do long term damage from a high fever though can you ?

 

[rgwalt]

Well, I think you can do long term damage from a high fever, depending on how high it is. Yours was getting into the danger zone, but what you REALLY have to be concerned with is temps of 104-105 and up.

Ryan

 

[supermer]

My son's pediatrician told us that fever lower than 107 is generally harmless for adults. However, children under 1 year should be seen by a doctor whenever they have a temp no matter how low it is.

 

[hollowman]

anyone over 39.9 celcius shoud go to hospital. below 39.9 should just STFU and go to sleep. :Q

 

[vegetation]

104 is low, even 105 is OK. It's when you start to trip 105.9 then you need medical attention.. But if you start hallucinating then you better call 911.

 

[tcsenter]

My son's pediatrician told us that fever lower than 107 is generally harmless for adults. However, children under 1 year should be seen by a doctor whenever they have a temp no matter how low it is.

Well, not quite. Children are far more resilient and capable of tolerating higher temps that would be dangerous for an adult. The problem is that the area of the brain responsible for temperature regulation isn't as well developed in small children as it is in adults. So that if a child's temp continues to increase, they may need intervention to keep the temp from reaching dangerous levels whereas an adult can be left to his own auto-regulatory devices, usually.

A temperature of 104 is HIGH for an adult. Children can hit 104 from the slightest illness or infection. If my mother had a dollar for every time I had a temperature of 104 as a child...wait...maybe that's why I have these unexplained seizures?

j/k

That's not to say that you shouldn't be concerned about a 104 degree temp in a child, because you cannot know whether it will go higher nor how quickly it may increase.

Edit: The last time I had a temp of 104 as an adult they wanted to keep me for observation. You bring a small child into the ER with a temp of 104 and its 'ho-hum come back if it goes higher'.

 

I'd go to the hospital for anything above 104 F.

 

[Squisher]

All depends. If it's an infant and the fever can't be brought down giving it a tepid bath then it's time to seek medical help.

All others, take some advil, drink some fluids, get plenty of rest, ...........