Community health practitioners frequently prescribe or advise parents on antipyretic medications for children with fevers. This mini-review sets out to examine the evidence for the relative effectiveness of two of the most widely available and commonly used over-the-counter medicines - paracetamol and ibuprofen. A systematic literature search was undertaken to identify all studies comparing the...

Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) is a rare severe cutaneous reaction pattern, which, in the majority of cases, occurs in adults (males and females are equally affected). AGEP has rarely been described in the paediatric population (1, 2). Viral illnesses, vaccinations (e.g. anti-pneumococcal vaccine) and drugs (up to 90% of cases) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of AGEP...

Mangiferin, a C-glucopyranoside of 1, 3, 6, 7-tetrahydroxyxanthone, has been isolated from various parts of Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae). The conclusive structure of mangiferin has been established by various researchers using a wide range of chemical and spectral analytical techniques. Mangiferin has been traditionally used in some parts of world as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyreti...

Although physical methods of cooling are the treatment of choice for hyperthermia, their value in the treatment of fever remains uncertain. Methods involving convection and evaporation are more effective than those involving conduction for the treatment of hyperthermia. These same methods, combined with antipyretic medication, are preferable to immersion as treatment for fever in young children...

37 febrile children aged between 3 months and 6 years were treated with paracetamol in a dose of 15--20 mg/kg by either oral elixir or rectal suppository. The rectal route was found to have an equal antipyretic effect and offers a practical alternative in those children for whom the oral route is not possible.20

In a study of the febrile responses of rabbits to repeated intravenous injections of pyrogenic substances from Eberthella typhosa, Serratia marcescens, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the following observations were made: 1. A characteristic pattern of response to daily injections of the same dose of pyrogenic material was noted. This consisted of a progressive diminution in febrile response during...

Two hundred and ninety five children admitted with acute gastroenteritis from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996 to the Paediatric unit, University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, were reviewed. Eighty-nine percent of children received treatment before admission. Information regarding the type of treatment received were available in 152 (52%) cases. Eighty percent of them were prescri...

Mangrove plants are specialised plants that grow in the tidal coasts of tropic and subtropic regions of the world. Their unique ecology and traditional medicinal uses of mangrove plants have attracted the attention of researchers over the years, and as a result, reports on biological activity of mangrove plants have increased significantly in recent years. This review has been set out to compil...

Between March and August 2008 we undertook 2 cross-sectional surveys among 1375 residents of 3 randomly selected villages in the district of Gebiley in the North-West Zone, Somalia. We investigated for the presence of malaria infection and the period prevalence of self-reported fever 14 days prior to both surveys. All blood samples examined were negative for both species of Plasmodium. The peri...

Rats near term of pregnancy have an attenuated febrile response to intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) when they are studied at an ambient temperature below their thermoneutral zone. Given that nonshivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue is impaired in rodents near term of pregnancy, it is possible that the attenuated febrile response is forced by impairmen...