Dr.N.R.Jayakumar is a leading clinician, has established a reputed name in treating acute diseases presents an outline in treatment of pyrexia. He also lectures as Honorary visiting professor at Sri Sairam Homoeopathic Medical College, chennai. He is graduated from White memorial Homoeopathy Medical College and has done his post graduation at Ahamedabad Homoeopathy Medical College.

Pyrexia is an outward reflection of the internal derangement caused by Exogenous and Endogenous factors. Many Homoeopaths often puzzle in handling fever cases and arise doubts on their treatment, the doubt also being raised by the public. How will you control the High temperature? Is it possible with Homoeopathic medicines?
My simple answer to this question is if we select a right remedy for the right situation with maximum similarity, definitely the medicines will bring the temperature to normal in short period, even faster than the action of an antibiotics.
While treating the child especially in fever, parents are very much tensed and anxious until the temperature is reduced to normal. They may clarify many things with the physician, like
a) Whether the fever will be cured with homoeopathy?
b) Is the fever controlled in short period?
c) Can I give allopathic medicines while taking homoeo medicines for this fever conditions?
d) If I switch over to allopathic system of medicine from homoeopathy treatment, any complication or reaction will develop?

Many questions arise while handling a pediatric case for which we have to reassure the parents with suitable answers
How to approach the case
In case of adults the internal sufferings, intensity of the sufferings are expressed by the individuals, but in the infants and young children subjective symptoms are lacking. So a physician needs the following implications and also requires keen observation without prejudice.
1. Observation of the case
2. Understanding of the case and
3. Application of medicines
1. Observation of the case
General Observations of the Child
a) The child is obese or thin.
b) The child is sweating or not sweating
c) The child is toxic or nontoxic.
d) The child is calm or restless.
e) The child is sluggish or active.
f) The child is Intellectual or idiotic.
Particular Observation
We should observe the
1) Tongue of every child, which reveals the internal derangements- coated or clean, dry or moist, thirst or thirst less, like all the symptoms we need to cure the pyrexia.
2) Throat- Don’t fail to examine the throat and observe for sore throat, septic or follicular tonsillitis, ulcers in throat and deposition of white, creamy in tonsils.
3) Skin – To be observed for any rashes, urticaria, eruptive disease like chickenpox, measles, boils, abscess, etc.,
4) To observe the tip of penis in all male child, because of many children are affected by phimosis or narrow opening of urethra, this may lead to recurrent fever.
Auscultation
We should thoroughly auscultate the child to find out any respiratory disorders like acute bronchitis with wheezing, rattling or crepitations in case of pneumonia.
Investigations:
Many times the laboratory findings give the guidelines to approach the case. For example:
a) Presence of albumin, pus cells with turbid urine indicate the child with UTI (Urinary tract infection). It is helpful in inexpressive conditions of child.
b) Presence of bile salt, bile pigments in urine and elevation of bilirubin level indicates jaundice.
2. Understanding about the case
We should understand the suffering of children about the
· Cause of the fever
· Onset of the fever
· Modalities of fever
· Concomitant symptoms
· Peculiar and strange symptoms
Generally children easily get fever while exposure to chill air, riding against the wind, attending any functions with crowd of people, exposure to sea shore, eating ice-creams, sweets, drinking cold drinks etc. The common causes should be noted.
Then the onset of fever, with time modalities is very important to select the appropriate remedy. For example, once a boy studying
II Std told me, “I have fever and headache is unbearable from my second period onwards”. In that case I prescribed Nat.mur, on the basis of the 2nd period time 10:30 A.M. The boy was cured on the same day itself.
Another child was brought to me, his mother told, he was normal in health while being sent to the school in the morning, but while returning from the school he had fever, told by mother. On the basis of time modality i.e. 3:45 to 4:00 P.M (Evening school closing time), I had prescribed Lyco.200 few doses, the child was free from fever in the next 2 hours.
In acute fever searching of many symptoms are difficult. In that condition, we should select the medicines on the basis of causation and modalities.
Peculiar symptoms like thirst less during fever, difficulty of swallowing liquid than solids, one sided sweat during fever, or the characteristics of sweat, heat in the upper part of the body, but cold in lower extremities, moaning during fever should be noted to select the rapid and successful prescription.
And also the associated symptoms are carrying more importance for remedy selection. For example
· Fever with sore throat
· Fever with Catarrh
· Fever with urinary tract infection
· Fever with gastric derangement
These are the guiding associated symptoms to guide the physician to select the leading remedies to be identified from the group of therapeutics and, we should select the appropriate remedy in quick manner.
3. Applications on the case
After the keen observation and understanding the case we are going to apply the appropriate remedy in suitable potency, with reasonable repetitions of the dosage.
· For Highly sensitive children water doses (10pills + 1 cup water + ½ tsp + ½ hourly) until the recovery.
· For children who have drug resistance and lack of vitality reaction the medicines of low potency medicines (6C, 30C), has to be administered and should be repeated 4 pills ever 2 hourly until the recovery.
· When mental symptoms predominant, like delirium, dreams, etc., during fever high potencies like 1m, 10m (few doses) are sufficient to give recovery from fever.
Clinical Hints
· Fever with common cold: Aconite, All.cep, Ars.alb, Bell, Bry, Eup.perf, Gels, Nux.vom.
· Fever with sore throat: Ars.alb, Bary.carb, Bell, Lachesis, Lyco, Merc.i.r, Merc.sol, Streptococcinum.
· Fever with urinary tract infection: Acid.nit, Apis.mel, Ars.arb, Cantharis, Lyco, Mer.cor, Merc.sol, Nat.mur, Pyrogenium, Sarasaparilla, Sulphur.
· Fever with Gastric complaints:Ant.crud, Baptisia, Bry, Carb.veg, Ipecac, Lyco, Nux.vom, Puls.
· Fever with bronchitis:Aconite, Ant.tart, Ars.alb, Bry, Fer.phos, Ipecac, Lyco, Phosphorus, Thuja.
· Fever in Flu: Ars.iod, Bellisper, Bry, Eup.perf, Gels, Influenzinum, Puls, Rhus.tox.
· Fever with Measles: Ant.crud, Ars.alb, Bry, Gels, Kali.mur, Morbilinum, Puls.
· Fever with chickenpox:Ant.crud, Ant.tart, Bry, Merc.sol, Rhustox, Sulphur, Variolinum.
· Fever with typhoid: Acid.mur, Arnica, Ars.alb, Baptisia, Bry, Hyocyamus, Lachesis.
· Fever with Malaria: Ars.alb, Chin.sulph,China, Nat.mur, Nux.vom, Rhus.tox.