What is the difference between febrile seizure and epilepsy?
Febrile seizures occur in 2 to 4 percent of children younger than five years old. They can be frightening to watch, but do not cause brain damage or affect intelligence. Having a febrile seizure does not mean that a child has epilepsy; epilepsy is defined as having two or more seizures without fever present.
What is a febrile convulsion?
Febrile seizures (febrile convulsions) are fits that can happen when a child has a fever. They most often happen between the ages of 6 months and 3 years. It can be frightening and distressing to see your child having a seizure, particularly if it’s their first seizure.
Which of the following are signs or symptoms of a febrile convulsion?
The symptoms of febrile convulsions include:
- loss of consciousness (black out)
- twitching or jerking of arms and legs.
- breathing difficulty.
- foaming at the mouth.
- going pale or bluish in skin colour.
- eye rolling, so only the whites of their eyes are visible.
- your child may take 10 to 15 minutes to wake up properly afterwards.
What are seizures without convulsions?
An absence seizure causes a short period of “blanking out” or staring into space. Like other kinds of seizures, they are caused by brief abnormal electrical activity in a person’s brain. An absence seizure is a generalized onset seizure, which means it begins in both sides of the brain at the same time.
Do febrile seizures turn into epilepsy?
We know that between 2 and 4 percent of children who experience febrile seizures will go on to develop epilepsy – which involves recurrent seizures in the absence of a fever. Remember, this is 2 to 4 percent of the 2 to 4 percent of children who experience a febrile seizure.
What temperature is a febrile seizure?
Febrile seizures can be caused by: A temperature of 100.4˚ F or higher.
What triggers a febrile seizure?
Febrile seizures are seizures or convulsions that occur in young children and are triggered by fever. The fever may accompany common childhood illnesses such as a cold, the flu, or an ear infection. In some cases, a child may not have a fever at the time of the seizure but will develop one a few hours later.
What triggers febrile seizures?
Can febrile seizures happen during sleep?
A febrile seizure may occur at night when you and your child are sleeping. Since brief febrile seizures do not cause harm, missing a brief seizure is not important. The noises of a long febrile seizure would almost certainly awaken you.
How do you control a febrile seizure?
If your child has a febrile seizure, stay calm and follow these steps:
- Place your child on his or her side on a soft, flat surface where he or she won’t fall.
- Start timing the seizure.
- Stay close to watch and comfort your child.
- Remove hard or sharp objects near your child.
- Loosen tight or restrictive clothing.
What is the difference between convulsions and epileptic seizures?
However, it is also a symptom of epileptic seizure that manifests as a series of extreme jerky movements of the muscles that repeatedly contract and then relax. In a convulsion episode, the muscles contract abnormally because of rapid firing or brain activity that usually transpires during a seizure episode.
Is it compulsory for a seizure to have convulsions?
But it is not compulsory for a seizure to have convulsions. Convulsions are a major symptom of seizures among many other symptoms and it is not a must for the seizures to have convulsions.
What causes convulsions and seizures in the brain?
These electrical storms in the brain may be caused by illness, a reaction to a medication, or other medical conditions. Sometimes the cause of a convulsion is unknown. If you’ve had convulsions, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have epilepsy, but it could.
What are the different types of epileptic seizures?
Sometimes, epileptic seizures can cause a person to experience convulsions. The most common type is called tonic-clonic seizures. “Tonic” means stiffening while “clonic” means jerking. These movements describe the primary characteristics of the seizure.