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Hello! Can I help you know if you have a fever? My name is Degree! I have always wanted to be a footballer, but I have had to follow the family tradition, so, I am a thermometer. I like being a thermometer. I help people find out if they have a fever. My work is very important: depending on the number that appears on the little screen I have on my tummy I can decide if a boy or girl goes to school or not. I have a lot of power and I have a dream: to be the first footballer thermometer in the world. |
Do you have a temperature?
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Your body temperature is usually between 36.5 and 37 degrees centigrade. When this temperature goes over 37.8º or a bit more (depending on where we put the thermometer), you have a fever. Between 37º and 37.8º it is said that you have a slight fever. |
Sometimes you might have heard: “the child has tenths of a degree”. That is the grandmother’s way of saying that you have a slight fever.
Fever is on your side
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Do you feel hot? That means that some kind of a war has begun inside you. The fever is fighting on your side to destroy some infection. The fever is part of the defences of the body, and warns us that there is something not quite right inside us. |
Fever is not an illness, but rather it is a way that our body defends us by reacting against infections. Therefore we should not try to eliminate the fever, but try to make it go down.
Super Degree to the rescue! The thermometer
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Often to find out if you are hot, your parents put their hand on your forehead. This gesture is very nice and tender, but it is not trustworthy. If you want to be sure, call Super Degree, that is, call me!
The thermometer is the instrument that will tell you if you have a temperature. It is a good idea that the thermometer is placed by your father, mother, babysitter or teacher, so that there are no mistakes with the results. Depending on the thermometer (we are not all the same) and your age, they will decide if it should be placed under your armpit, in your bottom, behind your ear or in your mouth. |
What should you do when you have a fever
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We can have a temperature for many reasons. A cold, the flu, a sore throat or a runny tummy can make our body temperature go up. Sometimes, we have a fever and also feel like playing. You can do it, but don’t get too excited. Stay at home with me, keeping your friend, Degree, near to you. Take the opportunity to sleep a bit more, watch television for a while, listen to the radio, read, draw pictures or play quiet games. What a pity: we won’t be able to play football. 😉 |
Even if you are not too hungry or thirsty, you should eat a bit and drink plenty of liquid. But avoid drinks which are fizzy or contain caffeine. The best is to drink water, fruit juice and soups.
And don’t dress warmly or cover yourself with blankets as if you lived in the North Pole. If you have a bath, try to make sure it is not too cold. The room should be ventilated.
Most important of all, if you have a sore throat, an earache, a sore tummy, or you feel very bad or you can’t walk, tell your parents, grandparents, teacher, babysitter or whoever is with you. Maybe you will have to see the doctor.
When the little screen that the thermometers have on their tummies goes above the number of 40º, the doctor must be called