Q: My four years old daughter had low grade fever accompanied with this cough, cold and throat pain, which got cured with medicines. We did urine routine test to rule our UTI and blood investigation to rule out Malaria and dengue. The doctor said she had none of them. She attended school for a week but and now has started complaining of stomach ache. She has got fever again. Why is she getting recurrent bouts of fever?

A:Recurrent or prolonged fever in a child warrants a complete physical examination by a pediatrician to rule out chest congestion, enlarged lymph nodes/liver/spleen, murmurs in the heart etc. Blood tests must include complete blood counts, Widal, blood and urine cultures, chest X-ray, liver function tests, Mantoux and based on these tests, if indicated , tests for rat fever, certain viruses like Epstein-Barr, etc. Other very rare serious causes of fever are tested only if these tests don't provide an answer. Most commonly, in an otherwise well child going to school, who is active with good appetite, the cause of the fever will be a prolonged virus infection or recurrent infections caught from other kids within a short span. Some viruses may cause fever, stomach pain, cough & cold, body aches etc. for a few weeks. The symptoms resolve on their own without any need for antibiotics or anti-virals. But this should be confirmed by blood tests and physical examination by a paediatrician.