Quite often, young parents have to face the fact that their children, while still very young, get pneumonia. This condition is very dangerous, it can cause serious consequences. This is why treatment should be started immediately. So advises all mothers and fathers Dr. Eugene Komarovsky. Pneumonia is an infectious disease that affects lung tissue. In most cases, infection occurs by airborne droplets. Let's try to figure out what signs of pathology a person has, how to get sick, what effective treatment is and what needs to be done for prevention.
Pediatric pneumonia: what is it?
Parents who worry about their babies often seek advice or help from a pediatrician, candidate of medical sciences, Evgeny Olegovich Komarovsky. Over the years, he has been giving very valuable advice on what the correct approach to treating babies should be.
Therefore, mothers and fathers say that Komarovsky is the real magician of our time. Pneumonia is characterized by infection with various bacteria, viruses and fungi. In common people, it is called pneumonia.
What can cause a baby to get sick?
Before starting the cure, you should understand what was the cause of the onset of the disease, because for each type of infection a specific program for the destruction was developed. So, in order:
- The kid got pneumonia due to the virus entering the body. There are a huge number of microorganisms that can cause symptoms of the disease: measles, influenza A and B, adenovirus, parainfluenza, and so on. So begins the inflammatory process in the lungs.
- There is bacterial pneumonia. It is caused by various types of bacteria - Staphylococcus aureus, Legionella, pneumococcus and others. This form of the disease is much more dangerous than the previous one.
- Pneumomycosis, or pneumonia of fungal origin. This is a rather insidious and dangerous disease that is caused by pathogenic fungi. At first, you don’t have to guess that the child was sick. At first, this form of pneumonia cannot be distinguished from banal inflammation. But when the exacerbation begins, the lung tissue is damaged and cavities form. A fairly common cause of this disease is an inappropriate treatment in which antibiotics are used.
That's why you first need to figure out what form of pneumonia the baby has, and only then start complex treatment. All this is done not only so that the little one quickly gets to his feet, but also so as not to harm him with the wrong purpose.
We determine the first symptoms of the disease
And here Evgeny Komarovsky will help us. Pneumonia is a dangerous disease, especially for toddlers. A well-known pediatrician often said that the symptoms characteristic of this disease are often confused with the usual flu or respiratory viral ailments. Inflammation of the lungs does not begin immediately, but during the slow development of the pathological process. Therefore, it is not immediately possible to notice the first signs of this disease. In the initial stage (during the first few days), body temperature rises all the time.
So in most cases pneumonia begins in children. Symptoms and treatment Komarovsky describes in detail. Therapy should be appropriate for the condition of the baby. Subfebrile hyperthermia can occur for two to three days, and there will be no positive result from the use of antipyretic drugs. In parallel with this, the baby can sweat a lot and eat almost nothing.
From hyperthermia to drowsiness
But the first symptoms do not cause significant harm, as the subsequent ones, Evgeny Komarovsky is sure. Pneumonia in children continues with increased breathing and possible manifestations of shortness of breath. In some cases, parents may hear characteristic wheezing as the baby draws in air. He begins to worry for no reason.
The nervous state in which the child continues to be, leads to the fact that his night's sleep is disturbed, and recovery is much slower than my mom and dad would like. The consequence of this is a decrease in physical activity, the baby gets tired much faster, a drowsy state “attacks” it.
Warning: newborns are in danger!
According to Dr. Komarovsky, pneumonia begins to develop after some types of the virus enter the surface of the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx or respiratory lumen. The main pathogens due to which this disease begins to develop include streptococci, hemophilic bacillus and staphylococci.
After harmful bacteria enter the baby's body, they develop under favorable conditions. The consequence is edema of the affected lung tissue, a significant decrease in the amount of oxygen supplied to the other organs, and a deterioration in their functioning and motility. Due to the fact that the fluid has condensed inside the cells and the alveoli swell, pneumonia occurs. The baby's respiratory system works with great difficulty.
Not all types of infection can contribute to the development of a serious condition with pneumonia. But if a respiratory complication has occurred, then in the absence of the necessary and adequate treatment, the disease can develop into pneumonia.
The most vulnerable are children under one year old, Komarovsky explains. Infant pneumonia can be quite difficult. His immune system is weakened, and the structural features of the respiratory system can also not be discounted. Newborn babies have small lumens of the trachea, larynx and very narrow nasal passages. In addition to this, the tissues of their lungs are too sensitive, and the mucous membrane is still thin and fragile. When the causative agent of the disease enters the surface of the epithelium or alveoli, an acute reaction instantly occurs, expressed by characteristic symptoms.
We carry out diagnostics and prescribe treatment
Parents should not panic right away as soon as they realize that their baby is sick. After all, there are times when all the signs of pneumonia are, and this turns out to be the most common cold.
If there are suspicions that the baby has got pneumonia (and the signs have already been mentioned: lethargy, headache, fever, cough), then parents should bring their child to the doctor. Only a medical professional after carrying out the necessary studies can make the correct diagnosis. Diagnostic methods include: an x-ray (front and side of the lungs), a clinical blood test (to make it possible to determine the nature of pneumonia), listening to the lungs.
Most often, pneumonia in a baby occurs as a result of acute respiratory viral infections, laryngitis, tonsillitis, sinusitis, bronchitis and many other diseases.
Disease prevention
According to the pediatrician Komarovsky, pneumonia in newborns (or pneumonia) occurs when the lungs and bronchi are covered with thickened mucus. This is precisely the main factor in the violation of their ventilation. This is how the doctor builds his arguments Komarovsky. Pneumonia, recovery after which may take a sufficiently long period, should be treated in a timely manner. For the purpose of preventive measures, you can often walk in the fresh air, regularly ventilate the living room to maintain a humid climate in it, drink a lot so that the amount of fluid entering the body is sufficient.
Should there be a temperature?
Despite the conviction of a huge number of adults that pneumonia in babies should be accompanied by fever, this is not an axiom. Here is how Yevgeny Komarovsky describes it: pneumonia without temperature in babies is a completely understandable phenomenon. For babies who have not celebrated their first birthday, the thermoregulation system is still not working at full capacity. If the baby's body is weakened, then the severity of the inflammatory reaction in it is much less than in other children. Because of this, the body temperature during pneumonia may not change. Parents need to be attentive and sensitive to their crumbs in order to timely recognize changes in their behavior and well-being.
Adults should see changes in behavior: tearfulness, timidity, anxiety, anxiety. Since the child’s body becomes weaker due to illness, he gets tired faster, he wants to sit on a stool, lie on a pillow or in his mother’s arms. The baby may feel a general malaise, complain of pain in the whole body, some discomfort.
Pneumonia in children and symptoms can be quite complicated. Komarovsky, a pediatrician with many years of experience, describes all this in great detail. The main thing is to establish the correct diagnosis in time, get a doctor’s appointment and in no case self-medicate.
What and how to treat?
Many parents who have children from birth to 7 years old trust everything that one of the country's best pediatricians, Yevgeny Komarovsky, will say. Pneumonia (how to determine it, was described above) is not a reason to panic. The doctor explains that a specific treatment procedure has been developed for each form of the disease. For example, with the viral course some special therapy is not required, with the bacterial antibiotics will come in handy, but to cure the fungal form, you cannot do without complex antifungal drugs.
It is important to remember that the development of asymptomatic pneumonia in children is dangerous: late diagnosis in the absence of fever and cough can lead to complications, many of which will become irreversible. Therefore, take care of your children and seek qualified medical help on time.