7 Year Old Still Has Fever

Let the Doctor know.
Sometimes, they have to adjust the antibiotic... or prescribe another family of antibiotics. Some pneumonia strains don't respond to certain antibiotics.
But it has been only 2 days. Give it as directed... according to instructions. Very important. Also don't just stop giving it to him either.

Call the Doctor. Tell him/her what is happening... and see what he/she advises. That is what I would do. And plus because he has asthma.
I have asthma... and when/if I get Bronchitis or Pneumonia.. it can really affect the situation. Monitor him closely.
Does he have an inhaler? He should be on that too.

Give him lots of fluids... to keep the mucous thin.

But call the Doctor... and follow up.

take care,
Susan

Fever is your BEST FRIEND, unless its too high. The fever kills the bugs, so don't freak out over it, its your body's defense. As far as his cough is concerned, the meds are probably loosening up the junk in his lungs and he's trying to get it up. Be patient and give it more time. (I know its hard - my daughter's got a bad cough right now). This advise is coming from the doctors in my family. :)

My daughter has had pneumonia twice, once when she was 20 months old and again just after she turned 5. She's almost 9 now, so I don't remember exactly which medications she was on. She was hospitalized for 2 days both times and I know she was given antibiotics and motrin in the hospital. We were also given an antibiotic to give to her at home. I remember giving her a few breathing treatments while in the hospital, but she did not get them after she left the hospital, so from our experience, that's not always a long term course of treatment. But she does not have asthma.

Also from our experience, the cough got worse before it got better. When my daughter was sick, she had a fever, we had a very hard time getting her to eat or drink, and she became dehydrated. As she was given fluids and became rehydrated, her cough became worse. The doctor told us that that is normal. The doctor showed us the xray of her chest that was taken while she was still dehydrated. The white mass in her lung was pretty concentrated. After she had been given fluids for 24 hours, they took another xray and the white mass had expanded. This could be what is happening with your son.

If your not sure of anything, call your doctor. It's not fun to see them so sick and it does take a while to fully recuperate from it. Even after my daughter seemed better, she still tired out very easily for about another week.

Anything under 100 like a 99 is considered low grade and they don't really consider it a temp. in time with rest and lots of water or liquids will help. Also do they have him on a nebulizer with breathing treatments it usually tke 7 day to 10 to get btter from pneomonia. my son was on two different antibiotics he had it for 4 weeks. I would wait if he doesn't get any better tomorrow take him back if your tha concern. I really don't think going to urgent care is required but thats up to you. If you feel it than do it. As long as hes doing 4 breathing treatments and resting he should get better soon. the breathing treatments will have him cough more too. there to help clear the lungs.

You say he has a follow up appointment tomorrow, so you can talk to your doctor more then. I would think that things may not be better yet, but I wouldn't think they would be worse. I might call the pharmacy that you got the antibiotic at and find out how long it could take to work, and if you could add a cough medicine and/or Tylenol/ibuprofen to the mix. I've had pneumonia once and my daughter has had it at least once. Both times, along with the antibiotic we were given a stronger cough medicine for at night, and one for during the day (night one had codeine in it). So that tells me you might be able to add over the counter strength to help with the battle.

Typically when I have pneumonia I have a fever for then entire course of the acute illness... typically about 2 weeks. Low grade fevers one usually WANT with any kind of illness (when I get pneumonia the first three days I'm fighting to keep it below 104)... so 99-101 is a relief.

All that said....

Doctor Doctor Doctor....

Give them a call and touch base.

A friend of mine has a 2 yr old who had pneumonia at christmas and he had to have 2 lot's of antibiotics , it depends on how bad they were to start with. Keep giving the medication and be vigilant in giving it on time and see what the doctor has to say monday.

I hope he feels better soon

I would say take him back to the doctor. Both of my kids have had pneumonia and I had to give them breathing treatments in addition to antibiotics. If your doctor doesn't do anything then I would consider a second opinion.

do you have him on nebulizer too? if his fever is still presnet by monday call or take him back. the antibiotic needs to be strong enough (and appropriate) for pneumonia. my daughter had it when she was 2 and it took over 10 days before her cough got better.
EDIT: he should definitely be on albuterol and pulmicort (steroid) to strengthen his lungs. when my daughter was diagnosed with pneumonia she was put on a 5 day antibiotic and albuterol/pulmicort 4 times a day. it took good ten days for the cough to get mild. her fever lasted a few days too.

Depending on how deep the pneumonia is, it may take up to 3 days for the antiboitic to get the fever under control. If the fever is hanging out low - like 100-101, then the meds are probably working, it just take a bit longer. Just keep monitoring it. Watch him for wheezing. If you have concerns call your Ped. dr. That's what they are there for.

M.

It's only Saturday. Pneumonia is a tough bug. Just keep giving him his meds, keep him comfy, give him fluids and keep an eye on his temp. If it spikes up I'd call the doc but low-grade is to be expected with a bug like he's got.

Hi M. - I just went through this with my son (18 months old) last week. He had pneumonia and continued to have a low grade fever as well, even after being on antibiotics for a few days. I don't know from your post whether they were able to confirm that his pneumonia was bacterial or not - even if they gave him a blood and/or a sputum culture, they wouldn't have those results back yet probably. I am going to guess that your son has viral pneumonia and that they gave him an antibiotic just in case it wasn't - believe me, viral pneumonia is preferable, so lets hope that's what it is. It just needs about a week or so to run its course. So if it is viral, the antibiotics are not even really treating it - they are merely a precaution. If you think your son is worse, you should definitely take him in - a nebulizer makes them feel so much more comfortable and lets you relax about their breathing a little bit more. Hope he is feeling better soon.