Current views of medical professionals on fever may cause a fever phobia

Fever is an extremely common symptom in children and the most common reason for visiting a pediatrician. There are many studies worldwide indicating that physicians and parents have a lot of misconcepts and conflicting results regarding fever. This is due to the methodological limitations of available studies in the field of fever, some disagreements in terminology, orientation towards patient comfort when making treatment decisions and lack of a holistic approach to the body reactivity. In this study, we sought to identify the knowledge, attitudes and misconcepts of primary care physicians regarding fever in children. This cross-sectional study was conducted in June-July 2024 with the participation of physicians and nurses at pediatric clinics (n = 209). Physicians, with verbal consent, independently completed the proposed questionnaire. In the study, a third of respondents had conflicting answers, whether a fever state should be considered a normal or pathological response in health disorder. All pediatricians recommend to bring the temperature down, and only 13.4% preferred to do it, if the child feels unwell. The overwhelming majority believes that fighting fever is not harmful to the body, although 72.2% note that administration of antipyretics may mask more serious problems. It is positive that 58.8% of doctors suggest bringing down the fever at > 39-39.5 °C, as currently recommended. A fewer number of respondents (13.9%) associate fever with a bacterial infection. There are misconcepts among health workers regarding fever after vaccination, during teething, the needs for physical cooling measures, mandatory watering, and indications for seeking medical care. All health workers have fears regarding the consequences of pyrexia, especially regarding convulsions, loss of consciousness, protein denaturation, and dehydration. On the one hand, this attitude demonstrates alertness and encourages a diagnostic search. On the other hand, it increases fear of fever. As a result, the instructions and definitions given to parents regarding fever treatment are often contradictory and incomplete. Most health care providers recognize the lack of knowledge in this area. By focusing on fever treatment, we suggest an impression for parents that fever is harmful and antipyretics are beneficial. Are there long-term consequences of such a daily struggle when the primary goal is to maintain health?