Just in time for cold and flu season, a study just published in the journal Pediatrics looked at 31 different studies totaling over 5,000 children as to the most effective way to treat fever in children. The study looked at acetaminophen alone, ibuprofen alone and a combination of the two.
The results showed that the combination of acetaminophen and ibuprofen either taken together or alternating the drugs was the most effective treatment. Ibuprofen alone was also shown to be more effective than acetaminophen alone.
Critics of the study pointed out that 1) not all fever needs to be treated. If the child is active and not uncomfortable there’s no need for treatment and 2) adding the two medicines together was often confusing for the parents. To keep it simple, here’s my recommendation for the febrile child:
- For the first dose, use ibuprofen as recommended for the child’s weight and age. Two hours later, if the child is still febrile, give acetaminophen as recommended for the child’s weight and age.
- Two hours after that, if the fever persists use ibuprofen again. Two hours after that if needed use acetaminophen.
Look at a real time example to simplify this even further, (as most fever occurs in the evenings):
- 6 p.m. give ibuprofen.
- 8 p.m. if still febrile, give acetaminophen.
- 10 p.m. if still febrile, give ibuprofen.
- 12 midnight, if still febrile, give acetaminophen and so on.
Hope this helps so that the whole family can get some sleep!
Dr. Barnett is a contributor at KnoxTNToday for a weekly column, DocTalk, providing his expertise on health and wellness management.
