[Fever phobia in the ultra-religious community in Israel].

Fever phobia has been described for over 30 years without significant prevalence change. NevertheLess, there is only minimal data about this phenomenon in IsraeL and within its varied sub-populations. The study goal was to examine the prevalence of this phobia among parents seeking care for their febrile child in an urgent care center (UCC), especialLy Charedi (ultra-religious) parents. The working hypothesis was that as the Charedi parents tended to be younger, and have Less formal education, they would be more LikeLy to have greater rates of fever phobia. Site: Two UCCs in Jerusalem and Modiin. A structured 38-item interview was conducted encompassing the original fever phobia questionnaire, demographic information, and knowledge and beliefs regarding fever. Parents of children who visited a UCC with a febrile child aged between 2 months and 10 years. A total of 349 interviews were conducted; 90% of the parents felt that fever could cause damage; 33% were very worried when their child has fever; 55% worried and 12% were not worried. It was found that there was lack of knowledge and false assumptions existed. For example, 1/3 of the parents defined fever < 37.7 degrees C as fever and 1/2 of the parents start treatment for fever < 38 degrees C. n contrast to the working hypothesis, the Charedi parents were less worried. The larger the family, the less likely the parents were to be worried. There continues to be both lack of knowledge and incorrect assumptions regarding fever in parents using UCC. Charedi parents are less worried, perhaps secondary to larger family size.