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What is the cause of fever after an attack of jaundice in a child?

Prof HPS Sachdeva
Prof HPS Sachdev,
Senior Consultant Pediatrics,
Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research,
New Delhi

Q: My son aged 9 years had jaundice last month. After 15 days he felt better and started eating normal food without much oil. Last week he had viral fever and after 4 days medication also, he is still having 100 degree fever and complaining that he is not able to walk. Please advise.

A:First, it is important to establish if the earlier attack of jaundice (probably viral hepatitis) had completely healed. This can be determined by blood tests (liver function tests). If indeed it had healed and also your history suggests that, then the current episode appears to be a fresh infection by another agent. If improvement is occurring, you should give it a total of about 7 days to settle down. If after this period the fever has not settled down completely, you will need to consult a pediatrician.