In this clip, Daniel Allen, D.O. discusses how fevers help fight infections. This board-certified family medicine physician practices at West Valley Medical Group. Learn more about Dr. Allen here: https://westvalleymedgroup.com/physicians/profile/Daniel-Allen-DO
Is your toddler showing signs of an ear infection? Schedule an appointment at an AMITA Health Medical Group location near you: https://www.amitahealth.org/medical-group/primary/family-medicine
Toddlers are especially predisposed to ear infections because their developing eardrums create a natural breeding ground for bacteria and fluid buildup, says Ryan Fitzgerald, DO, an AMITA Health Medical Group primary care doctor based in Plainfield, IL. And if they’re attending preschool, that bacteria can run rampant. That’s why it’s important for parents to recognize the signs of an ear infection in their children, particularly if they’re pre-verbal.
An untreated ear infection (or recurrent ear infections) can hinder a child’s hearing development and have lifelong consequences, including hearing loss. Proactive treatment is key to your child’s auditory health and ensuring that their developing brains are able to learn how to hear without disruption.
SYMPTOMS OF EAR INFECTION
* Pulling or tugging at the ear
* Fever or high temperature
* Changes in appetite
* Child reports that they feel like “they’re still on an airplane” or “have water in my ear”
* Dizziness
* Headache
COMMON TREATMENTS FOR EAR INFECTION
* Antibiotics (bacterial ear infections)
* Identification of social factors for the infection (at home, at daycare, etc.)
* Antihistamines
* Reintroduction of bottle use to minimize ear pain
Call 855.MyAMITA (692.6482) to schedule an appointment today.
Learn more about Dr. Fitzgerald and schedule a checkup today: https://doctors.amitahealth.org/ryan-fitzgerald-plainfield-family-medicine
Find an AMITA Health primary care doctor near you: https://www.amitahealth.org/doctor
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AMITAHealth/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AMITAHealth
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/AMITAhealthorg
PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/AMITAHealth/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/AMITAHealth/
AMITA HEALTH BLOG: https://www.amitahealth.org/blog/
Why do we get a fever during infection?
Want to Learn More? Join Our FREE Facebook Group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1153328328045266/
Video Transcript:
Hey guys. Today we’re going to talk about fevers during infections. It’s actually a pretty common question that shows up when I’m teaching classes as well, and so I thought I’d bring this up so that way we can speak more about it, that way we can really understand why a fever actually happens in an immune response. It actually is a systemic response to invading organisms, okay? It’s not caused by invading organisms.
Our body intentionally raises the core temperature, and that’s simply because the leukocytes and the macrophages are releasing pyrogens which increase the internal temperature. They release these pyrogens, letting the hypothalamus know that it wants to increase temperature in order to combat an invading organism. Our body actually benefits from having an increased temperature. It is with full intention with our immune responses that our immune response wants this to happen, because it actually kind of kneecaps a bacterial infection, or a microorganism infection to the point where it might actually be able to take an advantage of this infection and kill it before it spreads any further.
Basically, what increasing the temperature does is it allows for the liver and spleen to hold onto zinc and iron. What zinc and iron are beneficial for organisms or bacterial growth is that it actually assists that, okay? It allows for rapid growth of bacteria, so when the spleen and the liver are able to hold onto zinc and iron, it doesn’t allow bacteria to grow nearly as much, or nearly as rapidly would be more accurate.
Another thing that allows is increased temperatures allow for metabolic rate of tissues; it increases for metabolic rate increases, so that allows for a lot faster cell repair. When something is damaged, and the bacteria moves onto more healthy tissues because that’s what it likes to feedback off of, increased temperature allows for the increased metabolic rate of tissue repair, and it kind of follows in behind so that way we’re not causing any more damage, or we’re not leaving damaged cells just kind of unattended there.
So, those are the kind of things that a fever can help us. Now obviously, it can lead to a severe dehydration for prolonged infections, and so having a fever initially is very, very useful in order to kind of help the body fight organisms or microorganisms; however, prolonged infections and prolonged fevers can be very dangerous because of the severe dehydration that can precede that as well.
If you have any more questions about fevers during an infection, please email me or give me a shout-out on the page, and we’ll talk soon. Thanks, guys.
Want to Learn More? Join Our FREE Facebook Group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1153328328045266/
Master Your Medics
https://www.masteryourmedics.com/pages/about-us
400+ TOTAL Videos in 30 subjects, all in our exclusive membership http://masteryourmediccourses.thinkific.com PASS EMT/Paramedic school RIGHT NOW!
Over 6000 Paramedic/EMT Students HELPED!!
35 Full courses!
http://masteryourmediccourses.thinkific.com
Advanced Pharmacology Course (30+ Videos) http://masteryourmediccourses.thinkific.com
Anatomy and Physiology Course (50+ Videos) http://masteryourmediccourses.thinkific.com
4 Lead AND 12 Lead ECG Course (20+ Videos)
http://masteryourmediccourses.thinkific.com
Acid – Base Course (10+ Videos)
http://masteryourmediccourses.thinkific.com
Stop stressing out, and start mastering EMT and Paramedic School.
https://www.masteryourmedics.com/pages/about-us
Goals that MasterYourMedics strives towards
– Slash your study time in HALF!
– Actually RETAIN the knowledge you need.
– PASS your exams with little stress!
Stop stressing out every day of medic school, it’s time you had a mentor to teach you to the level of MASTERY.
http://masteryourmediccourses.thinkific.com
EMT and Paramedic School is so stressful and tough. Master Your Medics will teach you to be the medic you always dreamed of being.
Suggested Videos
Mastering Cardiac Action Potential
Mastering Cushings Triad
https://youtu.be/6BPuPDDVXxc
Mastering Diabetic Ketoacidosis
