By Palesa Ndinisa
With weather conditions being unpredictable and erratic, this undoubtedly has a negative impact on children- as they have an enfeeble immune system compared to adults. Febrile seizures are convulsions or seizures that occur in young children who age from the age of 6 months to 6 years. These convulsions are triggered by a fever, especially from a common infection where the rapid temperature changes cause abnormal brain activity, leading to shaking, loss of consciousness and stiffening. Seizures usually last under 5 minutes and stop on their own. Though they may be frightening, they are usually harmless and do not indicate epilepsy.
Medical doctor and top 5 Mis SA finalist, Nelly Mashile, currently completing community service in paediatrics at Tambo Memorial Hospital provided the newspaper with guidance on the difference between febrile seizures and epilepsy. According to Dr. Mashile, these seizures are classified into two types; simple febrile seizures- which are self limiting and last less than 5 minutes. They cause no neurological deficit after a convulsion, have a good prognosis and very rarely develop to epilepsy. Another type is complex febrile seizures; this type lasts longer than 15 minutes, are recurrent within the same febrile illness or occur within 24 hours, have a focal onset, have post-ictal, and; focal neurological abnormalities. Complex febrile seizures can eventually cause epilepsy. Poorly controlled epilepsy causes neurodevelopmental delays and learning difficulties.
“Febrile seizures have an age limit, precipitated by fever with no intracranial infection. Epilepsy is a disease of the brain characterised by: at least two unprovoked (or reflex) seizures occurring > 24 hours apart. An epileptic seizure is due to a transient occurrence of signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. To manage a child’s fever, parents can start with removing all clothes and blankets when a child is burning up, lower their temperature with a wet cloth and give medicine for fever relieve, an example would be fever related symptoms (temperature > 38.5 °C): • Paracetamol, oral, 15 mg/kg/dose 6 hourly,” attested Mashile.
The doctor furthermore stated that the best way a parent can stabilise a child during a seizure would be to place a the child on the floor on a safe area to ensure that they don’t fall on any hard object as that may cause trauma. Tilt the child to a left lateral position to ensure that the airway stays open and call for medical help. Mashile added by pointing out that measuring the time of seizures help doctors in determining the kind of seizure a child has. In essence, the passionate young doctor mentioned that it is possible for children to outgrow febrile seizures, only if the parents or guardians know what to do when the child is experiencing seizures and seek medical attention early. “Doctors can tell whether a child has febrile seizures or epilepsy.
The most important thing that doctors do with all patients is history taking. We diagnose the patient based on the history taking and the investigations are just to prove the diagnosis we already suspect. Therefore doctors know when it’s febrile seizure or epilepsy. Immediately seek medical attention when your child is having a seizure. Do not assume the cause, let it be the doctors who inform you on the possible cause of that seizure and the best medical management,” graciously concluded Dr. Mashile.
