Angina is an acute infectious disease associated with inflammation of the tonsils. The causative agents of angina are various microorganisms, such as streptococci, pneumococci, staphylococci and others. Favorable conditions for their successful reproduction, which provokes inflammation, include hypothermia of the child, various viral infections, malnutrition or poor quality nutrition, as well as overwork. What is angina in a child of 2 years? What are its symptoms, and what to do with sore throat to parents? The answers to these and other questions can be found below.
Why does a child have a sore throat?
According to available statistics, tonsillitis is the most common disease among children in the autumn-winter season. The most susceptible to the disease are those children who do not eat well, eat not very healthy food. If a child rarely leaves for fresh air in the village and is deprived of active games and training, you need to understand that any hypothermia for his immune system is very stressful. It is enough to take one sip of a cold drink or once to cool the legs in winter, and the multiplication of pathogens in the gaps of the tonsils is inevitable.
List of all factors influencing the development of the disease:
- weakened immunity;
- poor, irrational nutrition;
- transferred viral infections;
- close contact with a sick person.
In view of all of the above, you need to constantly work to improve the immunity of the child: take him out to fresh air, temper, perhaps give some kind of medication for prevention, if the attending pediatrician confirms the advisability of taking them.
If, nevertheless, the child falls ill, do not despair. The main thing is to do everything correctly and in a timely manner. Often, parents can confuse a sore throat with the flu or a common cold, which can cause a late appointment with a doctor. Let's try to understand the difference and be able to distinguish the symptoms of angina from other diseases. How to understand what exactly is viral tonsillitis in a child? What are its symptoms?
The main symptoms and signs of angina
There are several varieties of the disease, and the symptoms will vary depending on the variety. Depending on the depth of
inflammation of the tonsils in a child, there are:
- catarrhal tonsillitis;
- lacunar tonsillitis;
- follicular tonsillitis;
- ulcerative-filmy sore throat.
In addition, angina in a 2-year-old child can be primary (general intoxication and damage to the tissues of the pharyngeal ring) and secondary (against the background of other infectious diseases). There is also a specific form of the disease when fungal lesions occur.
According to the causative agent, angina is classified into:
- bacterial, purulent;
- fungal;
- diphtheria;
- viral.
What are the main signs of a sore throat in a child? The main symptom of the disease is pain when swallowing, a significant increase in body temperature (38-40 degrees Celsius), general weakness, headache, and the appearance of diarrhea or vomiting (with severe intoxication). At the same time, the baby becomes very moody. These are the symptoms that parents see. Symptoms of a sore throat in a child that a doctor detects are enlarged loose tonsils of bright red color. A plaque noticeable to the naked eye appears on the mucous membrane, which is easily removed with a cotton swab. Other symptoms include swollen lymph nodes in the neck and under the jaw, and their soreness.
Even if the parents are sure that their child has a sore throat, you still need to visit a doctor who will diagnose the type of disease and prescribe treatment. Unfortunately, without the help of a doctor it is almost impossible to determine the degree of the disease and its variety. For viral, fungal and bacterial tonsillitis, most likely, different treatment will be prescribed. This is affected by the general condition of the child and tests in which doctors are better versed. We recommend to do without self-medication!
Do I need hospitalization?
In most cases, a sore throat in a 2-year-old child can be treated at home, but there are cases when hospitalization cannot be avoided. What are these cases?
- The presence of concomitant serious diseases - diabetes mellitus, renal failure and others.
- Complications of a sore throat (for example, abscesses).
- Severe intoxication - respiratory failure, vomiting, convulsions, confusion of creation, temperature that cannot be brought down.
Despite the fact that treatment in a hospital is more effective, many doctors advise to be treated at home in order to avoid any additional infection.
Catarrhal sore throat. Symptoms in children. Treatment
When a child has a catarrhal sore throat, the temperature does not rise too much, but the baby becomes lethargic, complains of pain during swallowing and slight nausea. With catarrhal sore throat, the inflammatory process is not very intense, so the use of antibiotics is not always appropriate here. Often, antibiotic treatment is replaced with a local throat spray. Previous generations treated such a sore throat exclusively with gargling with herbs. The main condition for children with catarrhal sore throat is bed rest, heavy drinking, and gargling. Treatment until complete recovery lasts about a week.
Follicular and lacunar tonsillitis. Features
The first step is temperature. With angina in children, it can reach 40 degrees. Follicular and lacunar forms are very difficult, accompanied by convulsions and fever. With the follicular form, the tonsils are covered with pustules, with the lacunar - with a light yellow coating on the so-called "gaps" between the lobes of the tonsils. Both forms are treated equally: an antibiotic is selected. This task lies entirely with the doctor: which antibiotic for sore throat is the best for children to prescribe. For this, it is necessary to pass a smear for bacteriological culture to determine the sensitivity of pathogens to a specific drug. As a rule, such a sore throat in a child of 2 years old is treated in a hospital.
How is bacterial angina different from viral?
Viral tonsillitis (the scientific name for tonsillitis) is characterized by the absence of purulent plaque in the throat, which simply swells and turns red. Symptoms of viral sore throat resemble the most common viral disease: cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat and throat. A child with bacterial angina feels only local manifestations of angina and intoxication. With herpetic sore throat, vesicles appear on the tonsils, turning later into sores.
How is the treatment going?
As the famous pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky says: "Angina in children is a disease that begins suddenly and is quite acute." In his opinion, the only way out is a timely and clear course of treatment.
So that the disease does not drag on, it is necessary to strictly follow the recommendations of the attending pediatrician. A sick child with a sore throat most often needs a drink, antibiotics, antipyretic drugs, antihistamines (anti-allergic) drugs. It is also necessary to gargle, take vitamins.
It is important to remember that the throat with angina is allowed to be treated only by rinsing and local preparations. In no case should you use compresses, inhalations and warming ointments on the neck!
A very important aspect of the treatment of sore throat is gargling. However, it is very difficult for children of two years to explain exactly how to carry out this procedure. Therefore, special sprays and aerosols are more often used. Antibacterial agents are prescribed, as well as decoctions of sage, calendula, chamomile. These herbs have proven to be very effective in treating the throat, especially with purulent tonsillitis.
It should be borne in mind that a small child can hold his breath when spraying a spray, which can provoke lingospasm. Breasts, as a rule, are treated with a dummy medicine or a stream is directed towards the cheeks. Absorbable tablets in the mouth are also not very suitable for children under 2 years of age, as they either chew them or spit it out. In this case, the throat with angina is better treated with alternative means.
Many drugs can cause an allergic reaction, so taking them is accompanied by taking antihistamine drops.
Knock down the temperature
The temperature with angina in children does not always go off easily. If the child has a high temperature, taking an antipyretic is appropriate only when the mark on the thermometer has already exceeded 38 degrees Celsius. The thing is that the active production of antibodies against pathogens occurs precisely during a fever, as the body itself tries to fight them.
If even at a temperature of 39 the child feels normal, pediatricians recommend that you wait for a while and not knock it down. If high body temperature is not eliminated with the help of drugs, folk “grandmother's” methods, for example, wiping with a damp towel, can go into the process. Sweating and lowering the temperature contributes to the abundant drinking of compotes from currants, raspberries or cherries.
General recommendations for taking antibiotics
Most doctors prefer penicillins, as their high efficacy in infections has been proven. Such drugs are quite easily tolerated by children. The course of treatment with any antibiotic, as a rule, is 7 days (but not more than 10).
Doctors often prescribe topical antibiotics in the form of a spray. With bacterial tonsillitis, antimicrobials are prescribed (for example, Biseptol).
Possible complications
If the treatment of angina is inadequate or belated, and the child’s immunity does not cope with the disease, the disease can cause the development of rheumatism, glomerulonephritis, rheumatic heart disease and other ailments. To exclude this possibility, you should choose only competent doctors who will monitor the course of the disease very carefully and competently. After recovery, it is necessary to pass all general tests, refuse vaccinations, establish a diet, breathe more fresh air. If, after an illness, a child complains of swelling, shortness of breath, pain in the chest or joints, you should immediately consult a doctor! Note that tonsillitis can be in a chronic form. In this case, you need to contact the otolaryngologist, who will talk about the prevention of exacerbations of the disease in more detail, depending on the specific case.