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Body Temperature |
What is normal Body temperature range for children. From lowest to highest?
(14 Jan 2010)
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The temperature of the human body plays a significant role in the way the body is able to combat a certain infection. This is also one of the chief indicators of the presence of a medical problem. Essentially though, the body temperature is a measure of the body’s ability to generate as well as get rid of heat. The body is also able to maintain its temperature within a specific and narrow bandwidth in-spite of the large variations of temperature present outside the body. When the body experiences very high internal temperatures, the blood vessels in the skin expand and carry any excessive heat to the surface of the skin, causing sweating which helps cool the body. When the body feels that it is too cold, the blood vessels will become narrow in order to reduce the amount o blood flow to the skin thereby conserving body heat. A person feeling substantially cold will also start to shiver – a process of involuntary, rapid contraction of the muscles in order to generate more heat.
The normal body temperatures for children are the same as an adult human and are considered to be between 36 to 36.8 degrees Celsius or 96.8 to 98.2 degrees Fahrenheit. In a child, any temperature that exceeds 36 degrees Celsius or 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit is considered to be high and is medically classed as a fever. As mentioned earlier, a fever is as much a part of the immunity system as it is a symptom of a medical condition. When the body is infected by a virus, it will try to create an environment that is hard for the virus to live in. Since most viruses are used to living and breeding in moist, warm areas, excessive heat is not a condition in which they thrive. However, when the body is not able to contain the infection on its own, the fever could drag on for days and utilize extra resources within the body in order to fight off the infection. This could leave the child very weak.
Some of the most common triggers of a fever include the flu, ear infections, tonsillitis, kidney or urinary tract infections. Common childhood medical conditions like chickenpox, measles and a whooping cough can also result in fever. High body temperatures may also be brought on by overdressing a baby or child on rather hot environments as their body are still not completely able to regulate their body temperature.
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answered by M T on 14 Jan 2010, 8:18:15
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