Often, parents of young children experience anxiety due to purulent chiria that appears on the baby's body. This is a rather serious and painful inflammation, sometimes requiring the placement of a child in a hospital. And it does not matter what the location of the boil is and what size it has reached. In any case, for a small child this is an immediate threat to life, for the elimination of which they sometimes resort to surgical intervention.
Sometimes purulent inflammations become multiple. Such symptoms indicate the occurrence of a serious disease - furunculosis. This ailment is classified as very dangerous. After all, he is capable of causing serious harm to the health of a small person.
Furunculosis in children (ICD-10 code - L 02) requires the provision of qualified medical care to a small patient. However, even before the start of therapy, it is necessary to find out the cause of this problem and to eliminate it in the first place. Only in this case the prescribed course of treatment will be complete and correct.
Infiltration
The disease goes through certain stages of development. The fact that boils appear on the body are signaled by unpleasant sensations arising at the site of localization of the focus of inflammation. They are accompanied by redness of the painful area and its swelling. This stage is called "infiltration".
Suppuration
The next stage of the pathology is the appearance in the center of the focus of inflammation of a thin point. In this case, only a few days pass from the beginning of the infiltration stage. The disease enters the phase of suppuration. The emerging point is nothing more than the emerging maturing pathogenic core. Over time, it increases in size.
Healing
Over the course of several days, progression of suppuration occurs. At the same time, soft tissues inflame to a large extent around the central point of the boil. With the maturation of inflammation, a suppuration breakthrough occurs. A similar process means the beginning of the healing stage of boil development. The exit of pus leads to the cleansing of the wound. The inflammation and soreness of the site is reduced. However, even after this for some time the remains of pus continue to emerge from the focus of the pathological process, in the composition of which inclusions having a dark scarlet color are found.
At the final stage of the pathology, the boil heals. This process leads to tightening of the hole and scarring of the tissue. Tissues located around the wound cease to hurt, their sensitivity decreases. The hue of the skin changes its pink color to natural.
Locations
Furunculosis in children (see photo below) may appear where there are hairs. These are elbows, neck, forehead, legs, arms and face.
Such an inflammatory process does not occur only on the palms and feet. The fact is that an abscess is formed in the hair follicle, affecting the sebaceous glands and connective tissues. When a boil appears, an increase in the nearest lymph nodes also occurs. A similar process provokes an increase in a child's body temperature up to 38-39 degrees.
When conducting competent treatment, boils located on the chest, pope, legs and arms do not leave any traces. Scars may indicate that abscesses were previously located in other areas.
Boils that have arisen on the lower or upper eyelid, in the nose or ears, on the forehead or neck carry a significant health risk, since their location is located near the brain and arteries. In the case of improper medical care and inadequate care for a small patient, furunculosis in a child threatens with the most serious complications, even death.
Judging by the reviews of the parents, boils that arose on the baby’s knees and elbows can easily be damaged. In this regard, suppuration of such a localization must be protected from injury. It should be borne in mind that if the boil does not work out on its own, then the likelihood of complications in the joints is high.
Classification
Regardless of its location, each boil that has arisen on the skin of a child can lead to the most unpleasant consequences. Specialists have developed a classification of such inflammations, which characterizes certain signs:
- solitary, which can be located on any part of the body;
- cystic-acne, occurring on the face of adolescents and flowing in the deep layers of the dermis;
- the pilonidal sinus - boils that occur in the intergluteal space due to rubbing clothes, sweating and physical inactivity;
- purulent hydradenitis, which is a large number of recurring boils, the localization of which are places of increased sweating (armpits, groin), which are the result of inflammation of the sweat glands.
Exposure to pathogens
What are the causes of furunculosis in children? Boils arise due to the fact that pathogenic microorganisms enter the hair follicles through the hair channels. In this case, the glands become blocked, creating an excellent environment for active reproduction of bacteria. As a result, the inflammatory process begins to develop. The immune system will certainly react to it in the form of the allocation of specific white bodies that enter into the fight against infection. It is this process that leads to the formation of pus. Its mass accumulates under the epidermis, which helps to remove microbes from the body.
There are several varieties of pathogenic microorganisms that cause the appearance of furunculosis in a child. Among them are staphylococci:
- golden;
- epidermal;
- saprophytic;
- beta hemolytic group A.
Despite such an extensive list, most often the reason for the development of furunculosis in a child lies in infection with Staphylococcus aureus. This pathogenic microorganism, as a rule, is present in the human body, but does not manifest itself in any way until the occurrence of certain circumstances. And only after exposure to provoking factors, Staphylococcus aureus activates, multiplies and leads to inflammation.
All the causes of furunculosis in children are divided into two groups - external and internal. Let's consider them in more detail.
External causes
In order to avoid the need for treatment of furunculosis in children (see photo and general view of pustules below), it is important for parents to know the causes of this disease and to take measures to prevent it.
It is believed that staphylococci, which provoke the onset of the disease, are almost everywhere. A child can pick them up in kindergarten, in the sandbox, in public transport, on the street, etc. However, in order for pathogenic microorganisms to begin their negative effects, weak immunity is needed.
External causes that contribute to the penetration of bacteria into the body are considered to be those that damage the skin. Among them:
- injuries, cuts and scratches;
- constant rubbing with shoes or clothes of skin;
- wounds resulting from combing by a child of insect bites or small pimples;
- non-compliance with hygiene rules, which contributes to skin contamination;
- blockage of the sebaceous gland;
- skin diseases caused by allergies.
Internal causes
All parents are well aware that most children have skin microtraumas. Nevertheless, furunculosis in them does not develop. The thing is that the mechanism of formation of this pathology is quite complicated. After all, there are also internal causes of furunculosis. And treatment (photos of pustular children are presented in the article) should also be aimed at eliminating them. These internal causes include:
- weak immunity;
- chronic gastrointestinal diseases, including dysbiosis;
- disruptions in metabolic processes;
- various endocrine ailments, including diabetes;
- diseases of the nervous system;
- hypovitaminosis;
- anemia (anemia);
- physical exhaustion resulting from malnutrition (in young children - malnutrition, in adolescents - anorexia);
- permanent physical overwork (they are sometimes observed in schoolchildren who are too active in sports);
- frequent hypothermia or overheating;
- weakening of the body after a child has had serious illnesses.
The danger of furunculosis
Judging by the reviews of doctors, parents should be especially worried about boils localized on the eyelid, on the nose, on the cheek, on the neck or on the scalp. The fact is that such an arrangement carries additional risks of developing sepsis or infection in the brain.
The boil, which is located on the leg, on the arm and on the body near the lymph nodes and blood vessels, also carries a potential danger. Indeed, in this case, there is a high probability of pus getting into the lymphatic flow or into the bloodstream, which then spreads very quickly throughout the body.
Judging by the reviews of parents, many of them do not understand how the infection enters the body. The explanation is quite simple. Pus from the surface boil comes out. If the boil is deep, then it breaks inside, which is a prerequisite for infection of the body.
Such a focus of inflammation is doubly dangerous for newborns and infants. That is why such babies are treated in a hospital. Older children undergo a course of therapy at home.
Quite dangerous complications can occur if there is no treatment or if it is not prescribed correctly. After all, this is fraught with the occurrence of extensive intoxication of the body and blood poisoning, which can lead to the death of the child.
In addition, furunculosis can cause:
- purulent lesions of internal organs;
- blood clots that impede normal lymph flow;
- other pathologies of the lymphatic system.
Furunculosis in the mother
The appearance of boils in a woman during pregnancy carries a danger not only for her, but also for her unborn baby. This disease significantly reduces immunity, which contributes to the penetration of infection into the body, causing:
- abscess;
- sepsis;
- meningitis;
- mastitis after childbirth;
- lymphadenitis.
The probability of negative consequences for the child is also high. Furunculosis during pregnancy is especially dangerous in the first trimester of fetal development, when the most important systems and organs of the baby are laid. The inflammatory process is reflected in the form of the development of some congenital pathologies in a child. Among them:
- heart disease;
- kidney pathology;
- problems with the central nervous system.
Subsequently, the child may experience a lag in mental and physical development. If furunculosis occurs in the mother in the 2nd or 3rd trimester, the probability is high;
- development of placental insufficiency;
- the occurrence of hypoxia;
- pregnancy fading;
- preterm birth.
Often in women who undergo furunculosis during pregnancy, infants with insufficient weight, meningitis and pneumonia are born.
Removal of pustules in infants
Treatment of furunculosis in children under the age of one must begin at the stage of the onset of infiltration, after consulting with a pediatrician first. Parents should keep in mind that such a home remedy, as warming up, is very dangerous for infants. Such a procedure can cause the capsule to open, as a result of which pathogenic bacteria begin to spread throughout the body. You can also not deal with squeezing purulent formations. You must wait for them to pass by themselves.
How to treat furunculosis in children up to a year? Such babies are prescribed all medical measures based on the clinical picture. In this case, the pediatrician takes into account the level of physiological development and the general condition of the child.
Regardless of the cause of furunculosis, treatment in children and newborns just born should be started by isolating them from the sources of infection. Before contact with the baby, adults must wash their hands thoroughly, put on clean shoes and home clothes. Wearing a gauze bandage is also recommended. What is the reason for such precautions? The fact is that, judging by the reviews of experts, many adults, without knowing it, are carriers of Staphylococcus aureus. Of course, for them he poses no danger. But if the infection gets on a sick child, it will further worsen his condition.
Antibiotics for furunculosis in children are an obligatory item in the course of therapy. Babies are prescribed by injection. Pediatricians sometimes prescribe antibacterial drugs to their young patients. This will completely destroy all infectious agents. In addition, blood thinners are recommended. Their action breaks up clots, which in infants form quite quickly, leading to the development of thrombophlebitis. Sometimes, for opening the boils in young children, an operative measure is necessary. Doctors drain wounds, removing surrounding tissue damaged during the inflammatory process. In the most severe cases, the baby is given a blood transfusion.
Removal of pustules in children over a year
Treatment of furunculosis in older children is carried out with the use of antibiotics only in the event of pustules on the face or on the head, as well as with an acute inflammatory process. In other words, if the child does not have a high temperature, and the pain occurs only in the affected area, then they are limited to the local treatment of the boil.
The development of furunculosis in a child should be accelerated. To do this, you need to apply a bandage soaked in ichthyol ointment or Vishnevsky balm to the focus of inflammation 2 or 3 times during the day. It is fixed with a band-aid and left for 2 hours. More than this time, you can’t keep the bandage. In this case, it will cause overheating, because of which a capsule with purulent contents may rupture.
Such dressings are done until a whitish-greenish spot appears in the center of the focus of inflammation, which is soft to the touch. A similar sign indicates the maturation of a purulent rod. The boil should open itself. After that, its base will begin to be rejected.