Fever seizures

Fever seizures (febrile seizures) are uncontrolled muscle spasms and unresponsiveness in a child. They usually last 1 to 3 minutes and are seldom serious.

Fever seizures are not a form of epilepsy. A seizure is likely to be fever-related if:

  • There is one seizure in a 24-hour period.
  • The seizure lasted less than 15 minutes.
  • The seizure affected the entire body, not just one side of the body.
  • The child is age 6 months to 5 years old.
  • The child does not have nervous system (neurological) problems.
  • The child has had fever seizures before.

Current as of: June 26, 2019

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: William H. Blahd Jr. MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine & Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine & H. Michael O'Connor MD - Emergency Medicine & David Messenger MD - Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine

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