Dr. Anthony Amoroso serves as the founder and owner of Brazos Valley Charting in College Station, Texas. Also an emergency medicine physician at US Acute Care Solutions, Dr. Anthony Amoroso works in a busy ER that sees 55,000 to 60,000 patients per year.
In many cases, fevers go away on their own, but other times, a trip to the emergency room is necessary, particularly when an infant or child is running a high fever.
For infants under 90 days old, emergency care should be sought is the fever goes above 100.4 degrees. This threshold increases to 102.2 degrees for babies between 90 days and 36 months. Children 3 years and older who have a fever of 102 degrees for two days or longer must be taken to the emergency room.
Beyond these fever thresholds, infants and children who have a fever with additional symptoms may also need emergency medical care. Some of the symptoms to watch for include rash, vomiting, and difficulty breathing.
Fevers are not as much of a threat to adults unless they last more than three days above 101 degrees or reach 103 degrees. Adults also need medical treatment immediately if the fever presents with mental confusion, severe headache, stomach pain, seizures, or persistent vomiting.
