Febrile Seizures

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Symptoms & Signs

A febrile seizure may be as mild as the child's eyes rolling or limbs stiffening. Quite often a fever triggers a full-blown convulsion that involves the whole body.

Febrile seizures may begin with the sudden sustained contraction of muscles on both sides of a child's body -- usually the muscles of the face, trunk, arms, and legs. A haunting, involuntary cry or moan often emerges from the child, from the force of the muscle contraction. The contraction continues for seemingly endless seconds, or tens of seconds. The child will fall, if standing, and may pass urine. He may vomit. He may bite his tongue. The child will not be breathing, and may begin to turn blue. Finally, the sustained contraction is broken by repeated brief moments of relaxation -- the child's body begins to jerk rhythmically. The child is unresponsive to the parent's screams.