Manejo del ni？o febril

introduction: fever is one on the main reasons for pediatric consultation, and sometimes paren tal concem to it may produce "fever phobia". this may lead to inadequate use of hospital emergency consultations and inappropriate treatments. objective: to elucidate the degree of perception, knowledge and treatment given by parents to the febrile children admitted to the si- hnn. materials and methods: we performed a prospective descriptive study including parents or legal guardians of those children admitted to the infectious diseases division of the hospital nacional de ni？os de costa rica, between january and april of 2001. to those who met inclusion and exclusion criteria, a questionnaire was given prior explanation of the study dynamics. results: a total of 100 questionnaires were collected. sixty one percent of those who were interviewed considered as essential the use of a thermometer to make the diagnosis of fever, and 43% defined fever as any temperature above 38°c. development of seizures was the most feared complication in 75% of parents. at home, seventy one percent of them have some type of treatment for fever. conclusions: this study demonstrates that many parents who were interviewed do not have an adequate knowledge of fever, its implications and treatment. this raises the necessity of promoting evidence-based information that may help parents to deal with this common and important symptom.