KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF CARE GIVERS ABOUT MANAGING FEBRILE CHILD IN MADINA REGION.

Introduction:Fever is a very common and basic symptom in pediatric population. Parents reaction to fever might put their child under risk of chronic hepatic toxicity in case of inappropriate use of antipyretics. We aimed to evaluate knowledge and attitude of care givers in Madina region toward a febrile child to determine if there is a risk of chronic acetaminophen hepatic toxicity. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted , questionnaire was used as a collecting tool (electronic and paper based)Pilot study and pre-test has been done to clarify any ambiguous question. Specific coding mechanism was set, data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program. Results: The vast majority of parents know their children’s weight and they know the exact definition of fever. However, their knowledge about antipyretics in different routs of administration, duration between different doses regardless of the route and their action in case of persistence of fever in terms of the use of cold compression, are not satisfactory for a symptom which is very common like fever. Conclusion and Recommendations: Physicians and pharmacists must explain to parents the appropriate dosing method of over the counter antipyretics. It is preferable that these medications are suspended based on physician’s prescription. Otherwise, Preparations which might lead to chronic liver toxicity should be replaced by other safe medications.