It is difficult to find a person who has never had bronchitis. Symptoms of the disease are known to almost everyone. The main ones are cough and fever. Many people think so, but they are mistaken. Firstly, because bronchitis can occur without coughing, and without fever. Secondly, because there are other diseases with similar symptoms.
Another misconception of patients is the assertion that this ailment occurs exclusively in winter from hypothermia. In fact, they can get sick in the heat and in severe frosts, dressing very lightly and pulling on themselves a bunch of blouses, felt boots, a fur coat, a hat. The causes of bronchitis are many. Each is "responsible" for a certain type of ailment. This article will discuss the symptoms of bronchitis of various etiologies in children and adults, the causes of their appearance and methods of treatment.
What processes occur in the bronchi
In simple terms, we all breathe through the lungs. But not only they are involved in supplying our body with oxygen. A large role in this process is assigned to the bronchi. Their inflammation is called bronchitis. Symptoms of the disease can occur immediately or begin manifestation in a few days. The bronchi are a transport system through which air from the environment enters the lungs, where it enters the bloodstream.
From the border of the larynx, a trachea begins in a person, which is a hollow tube. It has the largest diameter among all organs of the respiratory system. Its inflammation is called tracheitis. At the level of the 5th thoracic vertebra, it is divided into two bronchi - the right and left. The diameter of each is approximately half that of the trachea. The bronchi are also hollow tubes that enter the lungs. There they branch out into smaller tubules many times. The latter are called bronchioles, and their inflammation is called bronchiolitis.
From the inside, the bronchi are covered with mucous tissue with receptors and cilia (ciliary epithelium). Receptors secrete mucus so that the surface of the tubes does not dry out, and the cilia are involved in the process of cleaning the incoming air.
When any irritating agent enters the bronchi, an unconditioned reflex is immediately triggered. The muscles lining their walls instantly begin to perform contractile movements, trying to push the stimulus out. The person coughs.
If an extraneous agent penetrates the mucous membranes, they become inflamed. At the same time, receptors begin to secrete more mucus, which the muscles also try to remove. In humans, this process is marked by a wet cough with sputum. Thus, this symptom is protective for a person. The body, with the help of a cough, tries to protect itself from adverse aggressors trapped in the respiratory tract. Sputum is needed to envelop extraneous structures and interfere with their movement to the lungs.
Causes of the disease in children and adults
There are a lot of irritants that cause coughing. Therefore, symptoms of bronchitis may vary. Home treatment, which is practiced by most patients, does not always pay off, depending on the causes of the disease. They can be:
- Dust (most often provokes allergic bronchitis).
- Pungent odors.
- Tobacco smoke (causes smoker's bronchitis).
- Viruses (influenza, pneumogripp, rotavirus).
- Bacteria (streptococci, pneumococci and many others).
- Mushrooms (most often candida).
All the reasons from the list serve the development of inflammation in adults, but for children, even for babies, they are relevant. Do not wonder. In children, symptoms of bronchitis may appear not only from infection in the respiratory tract, but also from tobacco smoke. To remove them, parents must stop smoking in the children's room.
In children, bronchitis can also cause:
- Worms.
- Diathesis.
- Inflamed glands.
- Rickets.
- Adenoids.
If the disease is caused by these causes, it must be treated with medication.
However, there are frequent cases of coughing in children due to too dry indoor air. Many parents also call this bronchitis and are in a hurry to purchase medicines, although they only need to increase the humidity in the room. It should be in the region of 65-70%. You can find out it with a special device with a hygrometer. Sometimes such functions are built into an electronic clock. You can increase humidity by placing a bowl of water on the battery. This is the easiest way.
Cough in children can appear as a complication of rhinitis, sinusitis. With these ailments, the child begins to breathe through the mouth, which overdries the trachea and bronchi. For this reason, with nasal congestion, you often need to give the patient water with warm tea or at least plain water.
Bacteria and fungi in the bronchi fall from case to case. Their percentage of the total number of diseases is only 1%. The remaining 99% are viruses. Basically, bronchitis occurs against the background of influenza, SARS, rotavirus infection. Therefore, those who associate this disease with the winter period and with the common cold are partly right.
Classification
In medical practice, several types of bronchitis are diagnosed.
Depending on the nature of the course, these types are distinguished:
- Acute.
- Chronic.
- Obstructive.
Depending on the pathogenesis, bronchitis is distinguished:
- Primary (initially, inflammation occurs in the bronchi).
- Secondary (appears against the background of other ailments, which may be flu, measles, whooping cough).
Depending on the nature of the inflammation of the mucous membranes, these types of bronchitis are distinguished:
- Purulent.
- Hemorrhagic.
- Catarrhal.
- Ulcerative.
- Fibrous.
- Necrotic.
Consider the symptoms of bronchitis in children (2 years of age and older), as well as in adults.
Acute form
In children under the age of 3 years, bronchi of a smaller diameter than in adults. Therefore, bronchitis in them develops somewhat harder, often turning into an obstructive form.
In most cases, it is the viruses that enter the respiratory system by airborne droplets, that is, by inhalation of air in which microbes are present, that cause the disease. Therefore, the most likely possibility of infection is a child’s interaction with a sick person, and it doesn’t matter if her beloved is a mother, a friend in a kindergarten or an occasional passenger on a bus.
In children of 2 years old, symptoms of acute bronchitis can occur one or two days after contact with the source of infection. In the incubation period, while the viruses that have got into the bronchi are assimilated there and multiply, the baby may become lethargic, begin to refuse food, and from active games. Parents should notice that his voice is hoarse, a runny nose and sneezing appeared, and their eyes begin to turn sour. These are all indicators that an infection has entered the body. In the early days, as a rule, there is no temperature.
With these signs, the child needs to be given more to drink warm teas with honey (if there is no allergy to this product), you can put an antiviral candle at night.
On the second or third, and in some children on the fourth day (depending on the strength of the immune system), a sharp manifestation of the disease begins. Symptoms of bronchitis in children under 3 years of age are as follows:
- A sharp rise in temperature above 38 degrees.
- Sweating.
- Dyspnea.
- Husky voice.
- Malaise, lack of appetite.
- Fever (may develop amid high fever).
- Cough.
At first it is dry, because a sufficient amount of mucus is not yet produced in the bronchi. Soon cough with sputum begins. Since the bronchial tubes of young children are not yet sufficiently developed, their lumen narrows sharply, which causes breathing difficulties. Even without a stethoscope, you can hear wheezing in the baby's lungs, a characteristic whistle when inhaling and exhaling. If you do not carry out the necessary treatment, the small bronchi and bronchioles may close, the child will begin to suffocate. Also, the process of inflammation of the bronchioles is fraught with the occurrence of bronchopneumonia. Therefore, doctors, including the famous doctor Komarovsky, insist on treating bronchitis in young children only in a hospital. This is especially true for babies who do not know how to cough up sputum.
Treatment of acute bronchitis in children
The diagnosis is most often made based on the clinical picture. In rare cases, patients are prescribed a chest x-ray and a blood test. Since the likelihood that the bronchi are inflamed due to the penetration of bacteria into them is very small, with symptoms of acute bronchitis in children, they should never be given antibiotics.
It is important during this period to provide the baby with a plentiful warm drink, since the liquid helps to remove sputum with a wet cough and relieves pain during dry. It is useful to prepare for the child broths of wild rose, make teas with blackcurrant, raspberry, linden, chamomile, sage.
If the cough is still without sputum, it is necessary to take drugs that promote the secretion of mucus by receptors. These are "Oxeladine", "Prenoxdiazine" and others.
If sputum is already secreted by coughing, it is necessary to give the child expectorants and mucolytics: Ambroxol, Mukaltin, Bromhexin.
It is also necessary to drink the baby with antiviral drugs "Rimantadine", "Umivenovir" and others.
Helps to defeat the disease faster, proper nutrition. It should consist of light dishes. You can’t force feed your baby.
Bathing with bronchitis is not prohibited, provided there is no high temperature. It is important that the water in the bath is not too hot.
Street walks are also welcome. But you can’t wrap the child up much. Otherwise, it may sweat, which will further worsen the condition.
Acute bronchitis in adults
The main causes of this ailment in adults are the same as in children. The main one is contact with a sick person. Contributes to the occurrence of bronchitis, a decrease in immunity due to various factors:
- Past diseases of an infectious nature.
- Operations.
- Chest injuries.
- Stress.
- Fatigue.
- Unfavorable living conditions, poor nutrition.
- Age over 55 years.
- Hormonal disorders.
Symptoms of bronchitis in adults are not much different. With a temperature of 39 degrees and above, this disease does not occur often. Basically, it stays between 37.5-38 degrees. In the incubation period, adults feel a slight malaise, fatigue, headache, sore throat, as if something got there and want to cough up it.
Approximately on the 2nd day from the onset of the disease, pain behind the sternum appears, and a dry (unproductive) cough begins. He is quite painful, accompanied by very unpleasant sensations in the throat and trachea. In the same period, the temperature rises. After a couple of days, the cough becomes wet (productive). If the sputum produced is purulent, this means that a bacterial infection has been added to the viral infection. The cough may last long enough (more than a month).
If the inflammation affects the bronchioles, bronchopneumonia may begin. In this case, antibiotics are added to the treatment with antiviral drugs, otherwise the process can develop into pneumonia.
Treatment of acute bronchitis in adults
The first thing to do is quit smoking. Only in this case can positive dynamics be achieved.
Adults prescribe medications that expand the bronchi. Drugs of choice: “Salbutamol”, “Berodual”, “Eufillin”, “Phenterol”, “Theodart”.
Next, you need to take mucolytics and expectorants. Drugs of choice: "Lazolvan", "Bromhexine", "Thermopsis", "Ambrobene", "ACC".
If adults have symptoms of bronchitis and a temperature above 38 degrees, antipyretics are prescribed.
Antiviral therapy is carried out using the drugs "Viferon", "Genferon", "Kipferon" and their analogues.
Bacterial bronchitis
As already noted above, sometimes bacteria can also cause illness. Most often, they enter the bronchi with an infection already existing in the body. Sometimes bacteria can be picked up from a sick person in direct contact with him. With bacterial etiology, the symptoms of bronchitis in children Komarovsky calls the following:
- Rapid manifestation (incubation period is very small).
- A sharp rise in temperature to the level of 39-40 degrees.
- Signs of intoxication (vomiting, nausea, stool disorder).
- Lethargy (child "like a rag").
- Lack of a runny nose.
With such signs, only hospitalization is needed. The child should be tested, done by sputum. Treatment is carried out with antibiotics of the penicillin and tetracycline groups.
With bacterial etiology and the corresponding symptoms of bronchitis in adults, treatment at home is allowed. The patient needs to provide bed rest, plenty of warm drink. A course of antibiotic therapy is mandatory. Drugs of choice:
1. Penicillins (“Augmentin”, “Flemoxin”, “Amoxicillin”).
2. Cephalosporins ("Cefaclor", "Cefixime", "Klaforan", "Cefazolin").
3. Macrolides ("Erythromycin", "Clarithromycin", "Vilpramen", "Rovamycin").
4. Fluoroquinolones (Moxifloxacin, Levofloxacin).
Adults are also shown inhalation with a nebulizer and breathing exercises.
Chronical bronchitis
If the cough lasts more than 3 months for 2 years, they talk about the chronic form of bronchitis. Children under 3 years of age are not exposed to this diagnosis, even if the disease occurs every month. In such cases, the pediatrician notes on the child’s card that he is often ill.
In babies after 3 years, the frequency of diseases decreases due to the fact that at this age there is a restructuring of their respiratory system. If in the future there will be frequent symptoms of bronchitis in children (3 or more times a year), then they talk about the transition of the disease to a chronic form. In adults, this phenomenon is quite common. The reasons may be:
- Smoking.
- Work in hazardous industries.
- Long stay in ecologically unfavorable areas.
In children, the causes of this pathology are most often untreated or improperly treated infectious diseases, in particular acute bronchitis.
In a still fragile children's body, microbes easily penetrate from the bronchi and lungs into the blood, with the current of which they are carried through the body. At the slightest opportunity (hypothermia, any infection leading to a decrease in immunity) they are activated, which is manifested in exacerbation of chronic bronchitis.
In addition to infections, this form of the disease occurs for the following reasons:
- Exposure to respiratory system organs of allergens (pollen, odors, food).
- Reflux of the stomach.
- Stress.
- The use of certain drugs.
- Weather fluctuations.
- Tobacco smoke. In this case, the patient (child) is not required to smoke. A sufficiently long time to be in a smoky room.
Chronic bronchitis treatment
With relapses (the appearance of characteristic symptoms of bronchitis), treatment at home is carried out according to the classical scheme:
- A plentiful warm drink.
- Light food, not irritating to the esophagus and stomach, quickly digested.
- Antiviral drugs.
- With a dry cough, drugs that relieve the symptom.
- With a wet cough - mucolytics and expectorants.
- If the temperature is high, you can give your child an antipyretic.
- In chronic bronchitis, doctors often attribute vitamin complexes in order to strengthen immunity.
Alternative medicine
For all types of bronchitis in children and adults, treatment with physiotherapeutic methods is welcome. These include:
- Inhalation.
- Compresses
- Rubbing.
- Breathing exercises.
- Massage.
If the child has vivid symptoms of bronchitis, Komarovsky recommends using alternative methods in conjunction with the main treatment.
Inhalations can be done only with the help of a nebulizer, while you need to use solutions of agents that help remove sputum (a decoction of licorice, anise root, essential oils). It is unacceptable to place solutions with an antibiotic in a nebulizer. Komarovsky warns that making inhalation with hot steam is not only not useful, but also harmful, as this slows down recovery.
Compresses on the chest and rubbing can be performed only if the child does not have a temperature.
Respiratory gymnastics is especially useful for chronic bronchitis. It affects the muscles of the bronchi, the diaphragm, the general condition of the respiratory system, the quality of the bronchial secretion.
Massage Komarovsky recommends performing in order to improve bronchial drainage. The child needs to be seated on his knees with his back to be asked to take a deep breath and cough. In this case, it is necessary to easily compress the ribs of the baby.
Allergic bronchitis
This disease is diagnosed equally in adults and in children. Many allergens can cause it:
- Pollen of plants.
- Household or street dust.
- Smoke.
- All kinds of smells.
- Insect bites.
- Mold.
- Animal hair.
In addition, the symptoms of allergic bronchitis can occur after using certain toothpastes or other means to care for or treat the oral cavity, teeth, and also after eating food or medicine.
Allergic bronchitis can be seasonal (for example, a reaction to plant pollen) or permanent.
In the first case, we can note the approximate time of the beginning of its manifestation, which is quite bright. A person appears:
- Runny nose.
- Sore throat.
- Tearing.
- Sweating.
- Cough worse at night.
The temperature is usually absent. In rare cases, it rises to levels of 37.2-37.5 degrees.
In the second case, the symptoms of bronchitis are lubricated. A person can constantly feel a slight malaise. Many have nasal congestion, frequent sneezing, coughing, and a temperature in the region of 37.0-37.2 ° C.
The general well-being of patients in both cases is non-critical, they do not need bed rest.
With this disease, it is very important to determine which allergen causes it and (if possible) eliminate it.
Drug treatment should be comprehensive. It includes such drugs:
1. Antihistamines ("Erius", "Claritin").
2. Enterosorbents (prescribed if there are signs of intoxication).
3. Bronchodilators for inhalation with a nebulizer.
Also, the doctor may prescribe drugs that help cough up sputum (Mukaltin, Bronhosan) and relax muscles (Intal and analogues).
It is important to daily clean the room with a vacuum cleaner and a wet rag, to provide the necessary humidity in the room.
Smoker's bronchitis: symptoms and treatment
This disease in adults proceeds in the form of chronic bronchitis and begins to manifest itself with smoking experience of more than 10 years. Nicotine blocks the work of the cilia located in the epithelial layer of the bronchi, which allows toxic substances to enter the lungs and cause inflammatory reactions.
This type of ailment has several stages.
On the first, bronchitis can occur without coughing. The smoker's symptoms are lubricated and are expressed in quick fatigability, frequent headaches, sore throat, shortness of breath during exercise. A mild cough may appear only in the morning.
In the second stage, the cough becomes more frequent, moist. Sputum, which stands out in this case, has a yellowish color. All signs that existed earlier are progressing.
And on the third cough becomes a permanent occurrence. It is lingering, tormenting, growing in the wind, especially in wet cold weather. Due to deformations that have occurred over the years in the respiratory system, the patient has oxygen starvation, problems begin not only with the lungs, but also with other organs - the liver, stomach, heart, eyesight weakens, immunity decreases, and brain activity is impaired.
The treatment of a smoker depends on the stage of the disease.
At the first, when symptoms of bronchitis without coughing are observed, it is enough to quit smoking, go in for sports, often get out into the countryside, take a ticket to the sanatorium. It is very useful for such people to organize a balanced diet, diversify the menu with dishes containing vitamins, and visit the pool.
In the subsequent stages, drug treatment is necessary.
The doctor, as a rule, prescribes bronchodilators:
1. Adrenomimetics (Ephedrine, Epinephrine). They relieve attacks of respiratory failure.
2. M-chiloblockers ("Atropine", "Berodual").
3. Inhibitors of phosphodiesterase ("Theophylline", "Eufillin"). They relax the muscles in the bronchi, improve ventilation.
4. Corticosteroids ("Dexamethasone", "Prednisolone"). Assign mainly in the third stage.
Mucolytics and anti-inflammatory drugs are also prescribed, and if pus is present in the sputum, then antibiotics are also prescribed.
Bronchitis without cough
This phenomenon also occurs with this ailment. Causes:
- The initial stage of the disease, manifested by malaise, runny nose, sneezing, headache.
- Chronic form, more commonly seen in adults. Symptoms of bronchitis without coughing are fatigue, hard breathing, shortness of breath, excessive sweating. In children, chronic bronchitis without coughing is observed only during periods of remission.
- The cough center is depressed, due to which the receptors do not work. There are urges to cough, but they are not realized. This is more often observed in babies due to imperfection of their nervous system.
If there is no cough at the beginning of the development of bronchitis, no need to worry. In a couple of days, this symptom will certainly appear.
If sore throat, chest pain, shortness of breath, but no coughing are observed for a long time, you need to undergo an examination to find out the cause of this phenomenon. Based on the results, the doctor prescribes treatment.
Prevention
Due to the fact that bronchitis is a viral disease in 99% of cases, it is difficult to completely exclude it from the list of your health problems. Doctors advise:
- During a flu epidemic, exclude being in crowded places.
- Strengthen the immune system.
- Workout.
- Go to the countryside at least once a week.
- Provide the necessary humidity in your home.
- Make a good diet as a rule.
- Eliminate stress.
- Quit smoking.
- Organize the correct daily routine.
- Ventilate your home more often.
- At the first sign of bronchitis, do not take antibiotics.
These simple methods will help to resist the disease, and if it does occur, they will contribute to a speedy recovery.