Febrile seizures typically do not cause long-term harm and are not linked to a child developing epilepsy.
They are linked to high fever, where epilepsy is a neurological conditioned caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
However, anytime someone suffers a seizure, they should seek immediate medical help. A neurologist can diagnose the reason for the seizure and a proper treatment plan.
Febrile seizures are, by nature, scary.
They happen to young kids, usually age 6 months to 5 years. They occur when the child is sick, brought on by high fever. The child may shake, convulse and even lose consciousness.
As a parent, that’s terrifying.
But is it cause for long-term concern that the febrile seizure could lead to epilepsy?
“By the book, no,” says Regional One Health neurologist Jesus Martinez, MD. “A febrile seizure is a benign syndrome that happens in children. Most kids who have a febrile seizure don’t go on to have recurring seizures like an epileptic patient would.”
He said there is no evidence febrile seizures injure the brain or make it vulnerable to epilepsy.
Dr. Martinez also noted febrile seizures and epileptic seizures are by definition very different.
Febrile seizures are caused by high fever. Kids who have one febrile seizure are at a higher risk to have another, but most children outgrow them by age 5. Adults do not have febrile seizures.
Febrile seizures occur in children and are brought on by a high fever. They typically cause no long-term harm and are not linked to a likelihood of the child developing epilepsy.
Epilepsy is a neurological condition caused by abnormal electric activity in the brain. It affects both children and adults. It is diagnosed after a patient has two or more unprovoked seizures.
Anytime anyone has a seizure, they should be evaluated by a doctor.
“If someone has a seizure and they were not previously diagnosed with a seizure disorder, go to the emergency room,” Dr. Martinez advised.
Doctors will evaluate the patient to determine the cause of the seizure. The considerations differ for children and adults.
“In children, if it checks all the boxes for a febrile seizure, they may just be treated with Tylenol to bring the fever down,” he said.
A child who is prone to febrile seizures may need to be monitored more closely. They might be prescribed medications they can take at the onset of fever to prevent seizures.
Dr. Martinez said kids can also have seizures for other reasons: a head injury, low blood sugar, a tumor, abnormal heart rhythm, etc.
Jesus Martinez, MD, is a neurologist at our East Campus. He can help patients with seizure disorders and other concerns.
Those issues can also cause seizures in adults. But for adults, a fever alone won’t cause a seizure.
“If an adult is ill with a fever and has a seizure, something else is going on,” Dr. Martinez said. “Doctors will likely do a lumbar puncture to test for meningitis or encephalitis.”
In other words, a seizure can mean a dangerous condition that requires treatment by a doctor.
But it does not necessarily mean epilepsy or a higher risk for epilepsy.
“An epileptic would have a seizure even without another condition being present,” Dr. Martinez explained. “Their brain is just wired differently.”
Dr. Martinez helps adult patients navigate seizure disorders and other neurologic conditions. He has special expertise in the field of epilepsy, having earned a fellowship in experimental/clinical epilepsy and neurophysiology at University of Virginia.