Pneumonia prevalence is one of the first places in the world. According to WHO statistics, annually 150 million children under the age of 5 years with pneumonia are registered in the world. So what is pneumonia in children and what does it look like? The signs of this disease we will consider in this article.
Is pneumonia contagious and how does it occur
Inflammation of the lungs has a viral, bacterial and fungal form. But there are rare cases when this disease can be contagious. As a rule, these are its species that were caused by pneumococci. With pneumonia in children, the symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of a viral infection, and in the vast majority of cases, it is just a complication of acute respiratory infections. With this disease, the virus can cause inflammation in the bronchi, and the mucus produced due to this, accumulated in the lungs over time, disrupts the ventilation of some area in them. Bacteria settle there and an inflammatory process occurs. Thus, pneumonia in a child appears mainly under the condition of accumulation and thickening of mucus at the time of acute respiratory infections.
How to detect the presence of pneumonia in children: signs by which it can be determined
There are symptoms that can help parents suspect a child has pneumonia :
- The patient has an obsessive wet cough, and breathing becomes rapid and shallow.
- The baby's health is unstable: after improvement with a catarrhal disease, a sharp deterioration suddenly occurs.
- The so-called "cold" lasts more than a week.
- Trying to take a deep breath causes a child to cough. This can be a serious reason to think about the presence of pneumonia in him.
- The appearance of shortness of breath at a low body temperature.
- The lack of effect of taking antipyretic drugs.
All these signs of pneumonia in children (or at least some of them) require immediate contact with a pulmonologist to establish a diagnosis and treat the child.
What to do to detect pneumonia?
If it is not possible to consult a pediatrician, if you suspect pneumonia, you must call an ambulance. The doctor will certainly listen to the patient and, in the presence of moist rales characteristic of pneumonia, will make a diagnosis. But to confirm it, you need to take an x-ray. It allows you to most accurately establish a diagnosis. After all, sometimes it happens that outwardly it is quite difficult to determine the presence of pneumonia in children. Her signs on the x-ray are better visible, which means that these indicators will be priority. To determine the causative agent of this disease, a sputum and blood test is done. Only after this treatment will be prescribed.
How do “extraneous” diseases cause pneumonia?
Why sometimes, with a diagnosis of acute intestinal infection, a child may develop pneumonia in a few days? In addition to all the known organs involved in blood purification (liver and kidneys), the lungs are also related to the process of its filtration. With any disease, the pulmonary filter can be damaged, and, accordingly, a focus of inflammation, damage by bacteria will appear.
High temperature, causing thickening and stagnation of blood, also causes a complication in the form of inflammation. So the appearance of pneumonia in children, the signs of which we have analyzed, can be secondary, that is, one that comes as a result of other diseases that weaken the body and open the "gate" of infection.