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Apr 30, 2024 · Children with COVID-19 may have serious or mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Symptoms may show up from 2 to 14 days after contact with the virus that causes COVID-19. The most common symptoms are fever and a cough, including a barking cough linked to croup.
- Overview
- Temperature range
- Other things to know about fever and COVID-19
- Other symptoms of COVID-19
- When to seek care
- The bottom line
A fever is when your body temperature is 100.4°F (38°C) or greater. See a doctor if temperatures are at least 100.4°F (38°C) for infants, 102.2°F (39°C) for children, and 103°F (39.4 C) for adults.
COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, can start anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks after exposure to the virus.
Fever is one of the ways your body tries to fight off infection. For that reason, it’s a common symptom of COVID-19, which typically gets reported by those who have it.
However, not everyone who gets COVID-19 will develop a fever.
According to the CDC, you have a fever if your temperature is 100.4°F (38°C) or greater, no matter what the cause.
Read on to find out about fever as a symptom of COVID-19 and other symptoms that require medical care.
In addition to being new, COVID-19 has often been unpredictable. As common a symptom as fever is, there is no definitive temperature range for this condition. Some people who test positive never run a fever. Others spike very high fevers.
A large review of multiple studies across nine countries observed 24,420 adults with COVID-19, and 78 percent ran a fever at some point during their illness.
A later review of studies involving 17,515 adults and children with COVID-19 uncovered similar results. Of all the adult participants, 79.43 percent ran a fever during their illness. Low- and medium-grade fevers were also more likely to occur in this population than high fevers.
Researchers also noted that fever was less likely to occur in children, especially during the early days when symptoms begin. They found that 45.86 percent of 373 children in China experienced fever. The authors conclude that over 50 percent of children under 18 years old with COVID-19 presented without fever.
Despite the lack of a specific temperature range, it is clear that fever can indicate serious illness. The majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients have fever as a symptom. However, running a high fever does not mean you will have a serious outcome.
A study involving over 7,000 COVID-19 patients in the New York City area found that initial high fever upon hospital admission did not correlate significantly with death.
However, persistent high fevers throughout the course of illness were significantly correlated with death due to COVID-19. People whose fevers spiked to 104°F (40°C) or higher had a mortality rate of 42 percent.
This same study found that abnormally low body temperatures were associated with the poorest outcomes. Those with a body temperature under 96.8°F (36°C) had the highest death rates.
COVID-19 may present with one or more of these symptoms:
•cough, this is the second most common symptom after fever
•chills
•loss of taste or smell
•difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
•exhaustion or fatigue
Fever can be an indication of many illnesses, not just COVID-19. However, if you have any COVID-19 symptoms and may have been exposed to the virus, speak with a health professional immediately. There are medications and treatments that can help reduce the possibility of serious disease.
If you run a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or greater, get tested. Early testing can help ensure better outcomes.
No matter what the possible cause, high fevers such as these should always prompt a call to a health professional:
•Infants: rectal temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher.
•Toddlers and children: temperature over 102.2°F (39°C).
•Adults: temperature of 103°F (39.4 C) or higher — potentially a sign of serious COVID-19 disease.
COVID-19 does not have a temperature range associated with it. People with COVID may spike high fevers or have no fever at all. Very high fever is associated with higher mortality rates among people with COVID-19. Too-low body temperature can also be indication of serious COVID-19 disease.
- Corey Whelan
Jun 22, 2022 · Fever and cough are common COVID-19 symptoms in both adults and children; shortness of breath is more likely to be seen in adults. Children can have pneumonia, with or without obvious symptoms. They can also experience sore throat, excessive fatigue or diarrhea.
What are COVID-19 symptoms in kids? In most cases, COVID-19 symptoms in kids are milder than the symptoms experienced by adults with the virus. Sometimes, infected children show no signs of being sick at all. Possible symptoms of COVID-19 infection in children include: Fever. Chills. Cough. Shortness of breath (dyspnea). Sore throat. Muscle aches.
How do I know if my child has COVID-19? Your child should be tested for COVID-19 if they have any of the following symptoms: Fever; New sore throat; New cough (not related to chronic illness) New shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; New runny nose/nasal congestion; New loss of taste or smell; New muscle ache
Dec 22, 2021 · What This Study Adds: Using data from 2293 hospitalized children primarily admitted for COVID-19 in 14 states during March 2020 to May 2021, we found that specific underlying conditions were associated with increased risk of severe COVID-2019, and these varied by age group.
Dec 31, 2022 · Fever. Runny nose. Cough. Vomiting. Diarrhea. Some children and teens have been hospitalized with a condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) or pediatric...
