Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1973, 48, 313. Study of antipyretic therapy in current use

pyretic therapy in current use. Several commonly used antipyretic therapies were compared in a series of 67 children. All regimens were more effective than exposure alone. Paracetamol and aspirin were comparable in antipyretic effect and superior to tepid sponging alone. The addition of tepid sponging to para-cetamol therapy did not further improve the antipyretic response. The effectiveness and value of antipyretic therapy in children remains controversial (Done, 1959; Cone, 1969; Smith, 1970). In particular, the relative merits of drug therapy and tepid sponging are largely untested. This study was undertaken to assess the relative efficiency of various anti-pyretic regimens in use at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Materials and methods 67 children aged between 6 months and 5 years presenting to the casualty department of the Royal Children's Hospital with a fever greater than 39 5 °C rectally (39 0 'C orally) were studied. Patients were excluded if either gastroenteritis or dehydration was present, or if antibiotics were considered necessary at the time of the study. 9 children were excluded for failing to achieve a response or to complete the 4-hour period of observation as defined in the method; 1 child was excluded after a febrile convulsion had occur-red during the course of the study. The patients were unclothed to the 'napkin ' area and were randomly distributed into 5 treatment groups (Table I). The groups were comparable with respect to sex, age, presenting temperature, and aetiologv of fever. A single dose of antipyretic agent was used i