We will figure out how to treat pneumonia in children. Inflammation of the lungs is a serious infectious disease that affects all people of all ages. Children are no exception. Currently, an increase in the number of respiratory diseases is observed, and directly pneumonia is the most dangerous of them. Therefore, parents should know what pneumonia is, you need to be able to recognize this dangerous disease and be aware of what you need to do in case of pneumonia in children. Consider in detail this disease, find out the reasons as a result of which it is formed, and also find out how to treat it.
Lungs as an important organ of the human body
The lungs perform the function of supplying oxygen to the tissues, so the defeat of such an important organ can lead to serious consequences. Oxygen enters the lungs during inspiration. In special vesicles (alveoli), the process of enriching human blood with oxygen is carried out. In parallel, carbon dioxide is released from the blood into the alveoli, which is released to the outside during exhalation. The inner surface of the organ has a mucous membrane that protects the lungs from negative influences from the outside. Symptoms of pneumonia in children should be known to all parents.
Each lung includes ten segments, they, in turn, are grouped into lobes. In the right lung there are three such lobes, and in the left two. Against the background of pneumonia, the infection affects the internal structures of the organ, which greatly complicates breathing and gas exchange. This, in turn, can be detrimental to other organs, especially the heart.
The signs of pneumonia in a child will be discussed below.
Lung function
Gas exchange is far from the only function of the lungs. This important body also takes part in the following processes:
- The process of regulating body temperature.
- Removal of toxins from the body.
- The process of filtering harmful substances.
- Adjust the amount of liquid and salt.
- The process of blood purification.
- Synthesis along with the neutralization of proteins and fats.
Against the background of infectious diseases of the digestive system, poisoning, injuries and burns, the load on the lungs many times increases, so they can not cope with the elimination of toxins. This can provoke pneumonia in children.
Inflammation of the lungs: varieties of the disease
In approximately eighty percent of cases, we are talking about damage to the lungs by different strains of bacteria. In childhood, pneumonia is associated with the following three types of bacteria:
- Pneumococcus.
- Mycoplasma.
- Pulmonary chlamydia.
True, bacteria of other species can also be a source of the disease. These include staphylococci, streptococci, Klebsiella, hemophilic, intestinal and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and in addition, tuberculosis mycobacteria and others. Much less often, the lungs can suffer from the influence of pathogenic fungi, even less often pneumonia is caused by helminths.
Symptoms of pneumonia in children are most often caused by pneumococci. At a young age, children are often susceptible to mycoplasma pneumonia. As for adolescents, they are mainly exposed to pathology caused by chlamydia. Inflammation of the lungs is usually divided into the following types: focal, segmental, drainage, croupous, left-sided and right-sided pneumonia.
Focal form
With a focal form, there are only some foci of inflammation, and with a drain they merge together. With segmental type, one of the segments of the lungs is affected, and with croupous, the pathological process covers the entire lobe. With the development of bronchopneumonia, not only lung tissue, but also the bronchial mucosa suffers. As a rule, bronchopneumonia is a consequence of bronchitis.
Purely viral pneumonia is less common. The causative agents of this form are influenza viruses and adenoviruses. Bilateral pneumonia is most often caused by pneumococci and hemophilic bacillus. The atypical form of pneumonia in children is mainly caused by mycoplasmas or chlamydia. This type of pneumonia can last longer and is difficult to treat with antibiotics. Hospital pneumonia is most often caused by staphylococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella.
Pathology Features
Left-sided pneumonia in children is most often more difficult than right-sided pneumonia. This is because the lungs have an asymmetric structure, and on the left side of the path already. This factor makes it difficult to remove mucus, contributing to the rooting of the infection.
It is well known that children are more likely to experience pneumonia than adults. There are several reasons for this fact. Firstly, children have weak immunity. In addition, the respiratory system in children is not as developed as in adults. The narrowness of the respiratory tract in a child provokes stagnation of mucus, making it difficult to remove.
In infants, breathing is carried out using the movement of the diaphragm, which is affected by the state of the digestive system. Violation of its work, such as bloating, is immediately reflected in the lungs, in which congestion occurs, which lead to an increase in the number of pathogens. Infants have weak respiratory muscles, which do not allow them to cough up phlegm properly.
Manifestation of the disease
Symptoms of pneumonia in a child depend on their age. True, it is worth noting that with all types of pneumonia, respiratory failure is noted. This is expressed in rapid breathing with the development of pneumonia, which usually does not occur with infectious pathologies. The ratio of heart rate and respiratory rate is normally three to one. But with pneumonia, the ratio can be, for example, two to one. Thus, if the child’s pulse is one hundred, then the respiratory rate will be more than fifty breaths per minute. Despite the frequency, breathing is usually shallow and shallow. What other symptoms of pneumonia do children have?
In addition, with pneumonia there is another symptom - high fever. Hyperthermia with pneumonia, as a rule, is significantly higher compared to other respiratory diseases and can reach forty degrees. True, this symptom is not observed with all types of disease. Signs of developing SARS in children include the presence of subfebrile temperature. Sometimes it happens that in the first days the temperature rises to high values, and then decreases. And in children up to a year due to imperfections of the immune system, the temperature can remain subfebrile even against the background of severe forms of pneumonia. Symptoms in children do not end there.
Other respiratory symptoms include coughing. As a rule, it is observed when not only the lungs, but also the bronchi were affected by the infection. In practice, just such a scenario most often occurs. The cough is usually not completely dry and is associated with the discharge of sputum. Sometimes in the early days of the disease, a dry cough may appear, which later turns into expectoration of sputum. The variety of its manifestations is characterized by bilateral croupous type of pneumonia. In children, the symptoms of the disease with this form will include not only a cough, but also sputum mixed with red blood cells from damaged capillaries.
Signs of intoxication
With pneumonia in a child, symptoms will include signs of intoxication in the form of headaches, nausea, and dizziness. With some types of pneumonia, chest pain and near hypochondrium may appear.
Symptoms of pneumonia in infants are not as pronounced as in older ones. Often, they include only a low-grade fever with a cough. In this regard, the recognition of the disease is difficult at the age of up to a year. In this case, more attention should be paid to the presence of indirect symptoms - the appearance of lethargy, low muscle tone along with refusal of the chest, anxiety and frequent spitting up.
Now we find out what causes the disease in children.
Causes of pneumonia
For reasons of occurrence, pneumonia is divided into primary and secondary type. The primary forms include cases that arise due to infection of a person by pathogens. Secondary pneumonia includes diseases that are complications of other respiratory ailments, such as bronchitis, flu, and so on.
There is viral pneumonia in children.
Most often we are talking about secondary pathologies. Viral respiratory diseases often provoke pneumonia, preparing the ground for it by significantly weakening the immune system.
Rarely, pneumonia passes from person to person. As a rule, the causative agents of the disease already live in the body before it begins and simply wait an hour to attack the lungs. The activation of pathogenic microflora is triggered by an infectious disease of the respiratory tract or the flu, and in addition, a weakening of the immune system, for example, as a result of hypothermia and so on.
A special group of cases of pneumonia include hospital infections that occur in hospitals. Hospital forms cause special strains of bacteria that have increased antibiotic resistance. The most common symptoms of pneumonia are in children with fever.
The disease can be caused by congestion in the lungs, which are associated with long bed rest. In infants, congestion in the lungs can cause intestinal infectious diseases, in which bloating occurs, as a result of which normal ventilation of the main respiratory organ is disrupted. In addition, the occurrence of this disease can contribute to frequent spitting up, in which vomit with pathogenic microorganisms may partly enter the lungs.
Pneumonia without temperature in a child is very dangerous.
In the event that the disease occurs in a newborn, the following two reasons can serve this: he was infected in the hospital or was infected in the womb. Other factors contributing to the disease include the following: stress, vitamin deficiency, malnutrition along with passive smoking due to others.
Symptoms and treatment of pneumonia in children are often interrelated.
Treatment
Treatment of an acute form of an ailment in a child can be carried out in a hospital or at home. The choice is made by the doctor, which depends on the following factors:
- Age of the child.
- The general condition of the child.
- The alleged form of the disease.
- Parents have the opportunity to provide the necessary care for a sick child.
- The presence of smoking relatives in the family.
In that case, if you do not cure the acute form of pneumonia, it can become chronic and last up to six months. The treatment of pneumonia in children is carried out mainly through the appointment of antibiotics. Of course, during the first examination, the doctor is not able to accurately determine the type of pathogen. In this regard, antibiotics of general effect are first prescribed. Subsequently, with the accumulation of diagnostic data, the previous appointment can be canceled or confirmed.
The effectiveness of antibiotics for right-sided pneumonia in a child is evaluated in the first days after administration. In the event that, against the background of its use, the patient's condition improves, for example, the temperature decreases and the symptoms subside, then drug therapy with this drug is continued. In the absence of improvements, another drug is used. At this point, the doctor may already have accurate data on the infection, which will help to correctly determine the drug. Are antibiotics effective for pneumonia in children?
Among the drugs that are permitted in pediatric practice, antibiotics from the category of macrolides and cephalosporins are especially common. True, the choice of other agents, for example, amoxicillins, penicillins or sulfonamides, is not ruled out. Fluoroquinolones or tetracyclines are less commonly used. It is also worth considering the age of the child, for example, at three years some drugs may be suitable, and from five years others.
In any case, the choice of the drug is not easy. A doctor with great practical experience should certainly do this. Otherwise, the use of antibiotics can only do harm.
In the event that the child has pneumonia, as a rule, oral antibiotics are prescribed. True, in severe forms of the course of the disease or when taking antibiotics causes the baby to nausea with vomiting, parenteral administration of medications is prescribed. Most often this occurs with symptoms of pneumonia without coughing. The child may have other unpleasant symptoms.
The dosage of medicines indicated by the doctor should also be strictly observed. Irregular use can negate the therapeutic effect due to the fact that in the blood there will not be a sufficient concentration of the substance. In the event that the patient shows signs of improvement, you can not stop taking the tablets, the course of treatment is very important to complete.
Among the negative factors that are associated with the use of antibiotics, it should be borne in mind that they adversely affect the intestinal microflora. Therefore, always in parallel with antibiotics, you should also take probiotic agents.
Antipyretic drugs
As part of the treatment of pneumonia in children, it should be noted that it is not recommended to reduce the temperature with the help of antipyretic drugs because hyperthermia acts as a protective reaction and mobilizes the body to fight the infection. Naturally, a lot depends on the temperature. In the event that it exceeds thirty-nine degrees, such an overheating of the body will adversely affect the patient's condition, so in such cases it is worth giving the child an antipyretic. Paracetamol and other non-steroidal drugs are most often used as antipyretic drugs.
In addition, it is very important to give the patient as much as possible to drink, since with pneumonia the body loses a large amount of fluid due to excessive sweating. In addition, heavy drinking allows you to quickly remove toxins from a sick body. But with signs of pulmonary edema, fluid intake should be limited.
Usually, pneumonia in children is combined with the appearance of mucus in the bronchi and cough, due to which it is excreted from the respiratory system. In this regard, an important category of drugs are drugs aimed at relieving cough. They are divided into three main categories: mucolytic, expectorant and bronchodilator. Mucolytic drugs lower the viscosity of mucus, and expectorants facilitate its excretion. Among expectorant and mucolytic agents, Bromhexine is often used along with Ambrohexal and Acetylcysteine. Among bronchodilators, which are designed to relieve spasms, the most commonly used is Eufillin. The use of antitussive drugs is strictly contraindicated, since they lead to stagnation of sputum in the lungs.
We examined how the treatment of pneumonia in children and the main symptoms of pathology are carried out.