Causes of Your Little One's Fever at Night

When your little one has a fever at night before going to bed, of course you are worried because your sleep will be disturbed. Many diseases can cause this increase in body temperature, and you need to consult a doctor to find out the exact cause.
This article will give you an overview of several diseases that have symptoms in the form of fever that occurs more often after the afternoon so that you have information before discussing it with a doctor.

Causes of Fever at Night

Infections cause most fevers that occur in children at night, and the causes of these infections can vary from bacteria to parasites. However, some cases of fever can also occur due to autoimmune diseases.

Typhoid

Typhoid is one of the infections that is often found in children and is characterized by a fever that goes up and down. Body temperature increases more often at night, and this is related to the body's response to fighting the infection.
The cause of typhoid is the bacteria Salmonella typhi, which usually enters your little one's body through food. When S. typhi enters the body, the body will naturally try to inhibit the development of the bacteria by responding with an increase in temperature.
These bacteria are more active after the afternoon, causing the body to provide a greater immune response at that time. As a result, his temperature also increases at night, so he has a fever more often at that time than during the day.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is another infection that is also often found in children and causes fever, especially at night. The cause is a germ called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is transmitted to your little one through coughing by someone else who has the germ.
This germ develops actively in your little one's body throughout the day. During the day, his body is still actively carrying out a resistance mechanism against the germ through its hormone called cortisol.
However, after nightfall, the production of cortisol in his body naturally decreases. This causes his body to have to work harder to fight the germ by causing a reaction in the form of an increase in temperature. This causes him to appear to have a fever more often at night.

Autoimmune Disease

Autoimmune disease is a disease that also often causes fever at night, and this is caused by the body's immune system attacking itself. There are many examples in children, and the most common are lupus and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
In this disease, the body experiences problems with its immune system, this is because the system creates excessive inflammation that interferes with the body itself. The effects of this inflammation vary, and one of them is an increase in body heat.
During the day, this inflammation rarely occurs, because the body still produces large amounts of cortisol and cortisol will inhibit this inflammation. But at night, the amount of cortisol is always lower, so it is not enough to prevent inflammation and fever.

Consult a Doctor

Not always fever at night is caused by the above diseases. There is also a fever that occurs overnight and subsides the next morning, and your little one does not experience it again the next night. Conditions like this are only caused by the flu and do not need to be worried about.
However, if the fever has occurred for three consecutive nights, it is very important to consult a doctor to prevent complications. For example, infection can cause complications in the form of sepsis, which will damage important organs and ultimately threaten life. Autoimmune diseases can also damage organs in the long term and interfere with your little one's quality of life.
Consulting a doctor will provide accurate diagnosis results based on intensive examination and the symptoms shown. Thus, if a serious problem is found, it can be followed up properly.
While consulting with an expert, you can help relieve your little one's pain by providing NUTRITION that can strengthen his/her Double Body Resistance. Strong Body Resistance will inhibit infections that attack your little one, and also increase his/her body's ability to fight the effects of autoimmune diseases that he/she may experience.
You can give this NUTRITION to your little one through milk. To find out what milk can strengthen this Double Body Resistance, let's look at the following page: 7 Brands of Milk That Are Good for Children's Immune Systems.

Reference:
National Library of Medicine. Circadian rhythms in immunity and host-parasite interactions. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9285061/
Medical News Today. What is baby teething fever? Accessed 02 October 2024. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/baby-teething-fever.