Introduction: In 1980, Schmitt was the first to coin the term "fever phobia" to describe parents’ unrealistic fears about fever. More than 35 years later, this unfounded fear remains. A survey is conducted in Spain to the workers of four public hospitals. Knowledge about fever in children is analyzed, being the main aim of the study.

Patients and methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional and multicenter study was conducted from 15th September 2015 to 15th October 2015. 4,830 anonymous surveys were sent by e-mail. A sample size of 450 replies was estimated as sufficient, with a miscalculation <4.4% and a confidence interval of 95% (50% heterogeneity). SPSS v22.0 was used for statistical data analysis.

Results: Out of 462 responses were received. Seventy five per cent were women, 56% were under 35 years old, 81% were healthcare professionals and 60% were parents. Results concerning fever knowledge were: 83% affirm that physical methods should be used (not recommended), 60% think that seizures could be prevented with early treatment of fever (false), 56% support that fever should always be treated, even if the child is healthy (wrong) and 41% encourage that antipyretics should be alternated (incorrect). Eighty six per cent of the workers recognized that the fever phobia exists. There are significant differences in responses depending on healthcare and non-healthcare professionals, on being parents or not, and even on gender.

Conclusions: A significant percentage of hospital workers, including doctors and pediatricians, are unaware of the existing recommendations on fever in children. This ignorance favors the persistence of fever-phobia, an infectious fear that leads to unnecessary treatments. Adequate transmission of information to families is needed, but every effort will be arduous while healthcare professionals do not believe their own recommendations.