Dysentery is an infectious disease in which the large intestine is affected . Cases of infection occur regardless of the time of year. However, in the fall and summer they become more frequent.
This is due to a significant change in the nature of nutrition.
Dysentery in a child : epidemiology
The source of this infection can be both patients and carriers. They are contagious from the first day. A sick person in large quantities secretes the pathogen along with fecal masses. With contaminated hands, he infects surrounding objects. A healthy person touches them. As a result, the infection easily falls first on his hands, and then in his mouth. Less commonly, infection occurs through water. Even with clinical recovery, a person can remain a carrier of infection for a long time.
Signs of dysentery in children
The manifestations of the disease are very diverse. Symptoms depend on the individual characteristics of each human body. To a lesser extent, the type of pathogen affects the signs.
The incubation period on average lasts 2-3 days. In some cases, symptoms of general malaise are characteristic of the onset of dysentery: headache, weakness, fever, weakness, and sometimes vomiting. Then, intestinal phenomena join them. But basically the opposite is true. Dysentery in a child begins with an intestinal disorder: the stomach aches severely, the stool becomes fluid and frequent, mucus and blood streaks appear in it over time. It can retain fecal character, but acquires a green color. In severe cases, the number of bowel movements reaches 15-20 and even 30-40 times a day. The smell and fecal nature of the feces is not preserved. Now they consist only of mucus, in which subsequently an admixture of pus is detected with the naked eye. Straining during bowel movements is very painful. The stomach looks drawn in upon examination. In its lower sections pain is noted. With a mild form, symptoms of intoxication are barely expressed or completely absent. If dysentery is severe, the patient’s eyes fall, his haggard face is distorted by suffering, his eyes become dull. A sharp metabolic disorder further exacerbates intoxication.
Dysentery in a child : complications
They are rarely directly related to the disease itself, unless it is extremely difficult. But the secondary infection causes many complications, especially in very young children. Their development is promoted by poor conditions, vitamin deficiencies, and dystrophy. A common complication is bronchopneumonia. Stomatitis, gingivitis, purulent and catarrhal otitis, cystitis are frequent. Sometimes there are jade. Complications cause relapses and exacerbations. Often secondary toxicosis develops.
Dysentery: treatment in children
You need to start it with a strict diet. From food, it is necessary to completely exclude those foods that are rich in plant fiber, as they irritate the intestines. Dishes should be boiled well and served in mashed form. The transition to the usual diet is possible only after at least a month has passed since the day of full recovery. If the disease is mild, from the first hours you need to take Regidron powder. In severe cases, plasma-substituting saline solutions are administered intravenously. Antimicrobials are not always used. They are used only in severe cases of the disease. If the child's dysentery has dragged on, prescribe drugs that increase his immunity. For the speedy correction of the digestive process, enzyme preparations are used.