Can teething cause fever with diarrhea in a 10-month-old?

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Many thanks for your query.

Very often we put down these symptoms to teething, but this usually is a viral illness - a viral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Teething by itself does not cause these symptoms; it is just that it is at the same age that they start teething that they get the more viral illness, as the mother's antibody in the child's blood dies down, and the child has not yet grown their own antibodies. So it is a coincidence, rather than a cause.

Viral illnesses, as a general rule, start getting better three to five days after the onset, though on rare occasions it may take up to seven days. But we advise seeing the child in the emergency room (ER) or general practitioner (GP) surgery if there is no sign of improvement after three days, so if the child is not better by today, I would probably get her examined by a doctor.

Diarrhea may have been caused by the same virus that has caused the URTI; viruses like Adenovirus can often affect the gut and the respiratory tract at the same time. You need to make sure that you give her plenty of fluids and watch her urine output.

For viral fever, there is very little to do other than use Tylenol (Paracetamol) and Motrin (Ibuprofen). You cannot use Tylenol more frequently than every 6 hours, but it is very usual for viral temperatures to return before the next Tylenol is due, so we advise using Motrin at that time. Motrin, however, cannot be repeated before six to eight hours.

Making sure that the doses are right is essential. For a 19-pound child, Tylenol should be 120 mg per dose, and Motrin should be 50 mg per dose.

I hope that you get your answer.

Please let me know if you need any help.

Thank you.