Doctors: Parents Shouldn't Fret Over Kids' Fevers

CHICAGO (AP) - Doctors are advising parents of young children to chill out when it comes to childhood fevers.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has come out with a report that advises against treatment every time a child's temperature inches up.

Most often, children's fevers are caused by viruses and they will go away without medicine and without causing any damage.

A co-author of the study, Dr. Henry Farrar, says parents tend to over-treat fevers, even waking up sleeping kids to give them fever-reducing medicine. He says "if they're sleeping, let them sleep."

The report was released online Monday in the journal Pediatrics. It doesn't recommend any temperature cutoffs for when to treat or call the doctor. It emphasizes that a fever is not an illness but rather a mechanism that helps fight infection.

Report co-author, Dr. Janice Sullivan, says parents should use the pain killers if the child is not feeling well. She says that fevers are important in the recovery from an illness.

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