I know that a fever can cause a seizure but can a seizure cause a fever?

Question

I know that a fever can cause a seizure but can a seizure cause a fever? My nephew just had his 2nd seizure and unlike the first when he came out of this one and got to the hospital he had a fever... All tests are normal but he does have something wrong with his hearing... Just wondering.... Thanks In Advance...

Answer 1

No. There has to be an infection present for the fever to be present. A fever is the bodies way of fighting an infection and a seizure is often the bodies reaction to a fever either spiking suddenly or dropping suddenly - unless it is neurologically related, then fever would have nothing to do with it at all.

Answer 2

There is such condition as febrile seizres which usually occurs in some children (usually before the age of 2 yrs). Febrile seizure is usually benigh, also it sdoes scares parents. If a seizure in a child with fever is noted, we need to make sure it is not seisures due to an infection in the brain or meninges. Usually a child with febrile seizures will have a brief episode, the child is acting fine when the fever is controlled and he is interacting well. A child with febrile seizure history should be treated with medications for fever (not aspirin) even if they do not have a fever while they go through a cold. Just remember to check the temperature because fever is a good parameter that tells us something about the cause (viral,bacteria, etc). To answer your question about the hearing, it is important to determine if the hearing loss is because of ear infection (fluid behind the eardrum) or if it is from birth (you should know if he passede the newborn hearing test). So , yes that needs to be checked. Some physicians use diazepam via rectally to control febrile seizures. I do not recommend it! (it alters the state of alertness of the child and THAT is a parameter crucial to have "how is he acting"/ Having a second febrile seizure after 3-5 yrs of age poses a possibility of seizure disorder. Not necessarily epilepsia (frequent bad convulsions). Seisures (if prolonged, and prolonged means seizing for over 20 minutes (that is bad and needs quick attention to stop it) these recurrent and prolonged seisure cause fever because the repetitive contractions of muscles in the body and the activity of the brain generate fever or elevate the body temperature.

The take home message is: febrile seizure (diagnosed as such) is benigh. Fever plus seisure, plus ill looking child means go to the ER soon. A child wirh above, but playful and interacting well most likely does not have meningitis or encephalitis. A child with febrile seizure will outgrow it.  A child with febrile seizure will not automatically have epilepsy. and YES frequent prolonged  seizures (status epilepticus) can elevate the temperature (fever). I hope this helped clarify some doubts.