Febrile Seizures
What are febrile seizures?
Febrile seizures are convulsions brought on by a fever in infants or
small children. During a febrile seizure, a child often loses consciousness and
shakes, moving limbs on both sides of the body. Less commonly, the child becomes
rigid or has twitches in only a portion of the body, such as an arm or a leg, or
on the right or the left side only. Most febrile seizures last a minute or two,
although some can be as brief as a few seconds while others last for more than
15 minutes.
The majority of children with febrile seizures have rectal temperatures
greater than 102 degrees F. Most febrile seizures occur during the first day of
a child's fever. Children prone to febrile seizures are not considered to have
epilepsy, since
epilepsy is characterized by recurrent seizures that are not
triggered by fever.
How common are febrile seizures?
Approximately one in every 25 children will have at
least one febrile seizure, and more than one-third of these children will have additional febrile
seizures before they outgrow the tendency to have them. Febrile seizures usually
occur in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years and are particularly
common in toddlers. Children rarely develop their first febrile seizure before
the age of 6 months or after 3 years of age. The older a child is when the first
febrile seizure occurs, the less likely that child is to have more.
Next: What makes a child prone to recurrent febrile seizures? »
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