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Not associated with increased long-term mortality
- Febrile seizures are not associated with increased long-term mortality or negative effects on future academic progress, intellect, or behavior.
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What happens if a child has a febrile seizure?
Can seizures cause sudden deaths in children?
Do children with febrile seizures have recurrent seizures?
Apr 1, 2019 · A febrile seizure is a seizure occurring in a child six months to five years of age that is accompanied by a fever (100.4°F or greater) without central nervous system infection. Febrile...
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Usually, a child having a febrile seizure shakes all over and loses consciousness. Sometimes, the child may get very stiff or twitch in just one area of the body.
A child having a febrile seizure may:
•Have a fever higher than 100.4 F (38.0 C)
•Lose consciousness
•Shake or jerk the arms and legs
Febrile seizures are classified as simple or complex:
See your child's doctor as soon as possible after your child's first febrile seizure, even if it lasts only a few seconds. Call an ambulance to take your child to the emergency room if the seizure lasts longer than five minutes or is accompanied by:
•Vomiting
•A stiff neck
•Breathing problems
•Extreme sleepiness
Request an appointment
Infection
The fevers that trigger febrile seizures are usually caused by a viral infection, and less commonly by a bacterial infection. The flu (influenza) virus and the virus that causes roseola, which often are accompanied by high fevers, appear to be most frequently associated with febrile seizures.
Post-vaccination seizures
The risk of febrile seizures may increase after some childhood vaccinations. These include the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. A child can develop a low-grade fever after a vaccination. The fever, not the vaccine, causes the seizure.
Factors that increase the risk of having a febrile seizure include:
•Young age. Most febrile seizures occur in children between 6 months and 5 years of age, with the greatest risk between 12 and 18 months of age.
Most febrile seizures produce no lasting effects. Simple febrile seizures don't cause brain damage, intellectual disability or learning disabilities, and they don't mean your child has a more serious underlying disorder.
Febrile seizures are provoked seizures and don't indicate epilepsy. Epilepsy is a condition characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures caused by abnormal electrical signals in the brain.
Giving your child medications
Giving your child infants' or children's acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) at the beginning of a fever may make your child more comfortable, but it won't prevent a seizure. Use caution when giving aspirin to children or teenagers. Though aspirin is approved for use in children older than age 3, children and teenagers recovering from chickenpox or flu-like symptoms should never take aspirin. This is because aspirin has been linked to Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, in such children.
Prescription prevention medications
Rarely, prescription anticonvulsant medications are used to try to prevent febrile seizures. However, these medications can have serious side effects that may outweigh any possible benefit. Rectal diazepam (Diastat) or nasal midazolam might be prescribed to be used as needed for children who are prone to long febrile seizures. These medications are typically used to treat seizures that last longer than five minutes or if the child has more than one seizure within 24 hours. They are not typically used to prevent febrile seizures. Request an appointment By Mayo Clinic Staff Mar 03, 2023 1.Febrile seizures fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Febrile-Seizures-Fact-Sheet. Accessed Jan. 12, 2021. 2.Millichap JG, et al. Clinical features and evaluation of febrile seizures. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Jan. 12, 2021. 3.Millichap JG, et al. Treatment and prognosis of febrile seizures. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Jan. 12, 2021. 4.AskMayoExpert. Febrile seizure (child). Mayo Clinic. 2019. 5.Subcommittee on Febrile Seizures. Febrile seizures: Guideline for the neurodiagnostic evaluation of the child with a simple febrile seizure. American Academy of Pediatrics. 2011; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-3318. 6.Wong-Kisiel LC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. Jan. 13, 2021. Diagnosis & treatment 1.Diseases & Conditions 2.Febrile seizure symptoms & causes
Feb 14, 2021 · Febrile and nonfebrile seizures can be fatal in children with or without an epilepsy diagnosis and may go unrecognized by parents or physicians. Sudden unexpected infant deaths, sudden unexplained death in childhood, and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy share clinical, neuropathological, and genetic features, including male predominance ...
- Jenna Harowitz, Laura Crandall, Declan McGuone, Orrin Devinsky
- 2021
Earlier research had reported that children who died suddenly and unexpectedly were 10 times more likely to have had febrile seizures than children who did not die suddenly and unexpectedly. Febrile seizures are also noted in one-third of SUDC cases registered at NYU Langone Health.
Apr 23, 2022 · Home / Health Library / Symptoms / Febrile Seizures. Febrile seizures are seizures that happen in children because of a fever. These seizures are usually short-lived and harmless. The overwhelming majority of children who have them will recover quickly and won’t experience any long-term effects or complications.
Nov 30, 2021 · It’s not uncommon, however, for a child between 6 months to 5 years to experience a seizure triggered by a fever, which is defined as a body temperature of 100.4° or higher. This is called a febrile seizure. Febrile seizures occur in approximately two to four percent of children, most commonly between 12 to 18 months old.
Nov 28, 2023 · Young children between the ages of about 6 months and 5 years old are the most likely to have febrile seizures. Children are at the greatest risk of having a febrile seizure at age 2. The older a child is when the first febrile seizure occurs, the less likely that child is to have more as there will be less time spent in the age group at risk.
