Mycoplasma, symptoms in children: causes, treatment and prevention

Mycoplasma is a group of diseases that is characterized by an infectious lesion of the body by aggressive environmental agents - mycoplasmas. They, getting on the mucous membranes of the oral, nasal cavity or eye area, cause focal inflammation of the urinary tract, visual analyzer, musculoskeletal system, upper and lower respiratory sections.

Microbial infection

In total, there are more than 70 varieties of mycoplasmas in nature, while some of them can be transmitted not only by airborne droplets, by contact, but also through sexual intercourse, causing various difficult to diagnose sexually transmitted diseases. They, in turn, are easily transported to all family members living with an infected person and using the same household items - bedding, towels, other utensils.

Before you agree to the therapy prescribed for your baby, you should pay attention to the advice of professional doctors. Regarding the symptoms and treatment of mycoplasma in children, Komarovsky makes some warnings. This disease is one of the so-called "commercial" diagnoses, which also include ureaplasma and chlamydia. In this regard, the doctor recommends an in-depth examination and consultation with two specialists. In addition, you need a competent approach and timely treatment, so you need to go to the hospital when the first symptoms appear.

Causes

Factors contributing to the development of the disease in children:

1. Decrease in the body's immune forces.
2. Genetic predisposition.
3. The presence of a disease in any of the relatives.
4. Infection from a peer that is a carrier of the virus. In this case, the transmission of the virus occurs by airborne droplets when talking, playing or using other people's household items.
5. In adults, infection occurs through sexual contact without the use of contraception.
6. Transmission during the period of gestation or during the passage of the baby through the birth canal of the mother. This route of transmission of the virus is most dangerous for the life of the child, as newborn children do not have strong immunity. The disease proceeds with an increase in subfebrile body temperature. May develop in children with low resistance to infection.
7. Low birth weight on the Apgar scale. Children born prematurely or on time, but with a small body weight, constitute a special risk group for infection with a microplasma infection.
8. Diseases of the genitourinary system. For timely treatment should undergo various laboratory tests for the differential diagnosis of mycoplasmosis from related conditions. To prevent disease, it is necessary to isolate the patient from contact with outsiders.

Symptoms

Symptoms of mycoplasma and chlamydia in children are almost identical. It begins to manifest itself actively only when the so-called incubation period, which can last from several days to a couple of weeks, ends. A feature of the manifestation of mycoplasma symptoms is that, first of all, the infection affects the nasal mucosa and upper respiratory tract, then it goes down to the bronchi and lungs. At the same time, it should be noted that in the absence of timely treatment, mycoplasmosis in children can cause pneumonia (pneumonia).

Similarity to ARI

If we examine in detail the symptoms of mycoplasma in children, then it is obvious that it has much in common with the signs of acute respiratory disease, namely:

• elevated temperature, and its degree is characteristic of an inflammatory infectious process in the body (37.5);
• the child has a stuffy nose;
• headache, the child is lethargic and inactive;
• redness, pain, soreness in the upper respiratory tract;
• if the mycoplasma bacteria began to spread upward on the mucous membrane of the eye, then the child may show signs of conjunctivitis (characteristic redness of the sclera, lacrimation, sticky eyes in the morning);
• if the infection began to spread down to the bronchi, then the child has a dry cough.

Similarity to pneumonia

If adequate drug therapy is not started in a timely manner or if it turns out to be ineffective, mycoplasma affects the children's lungs, and as a result, pneumonia develops. Symptoms of mycoplasma in children, for which treatment and diagnosis are necessary, are as follows:

• body temperature rises to 39;
• coughing attacks become more prolonged and difficult to tolerate by the child;
• with expectoration, sputum and mucus appear;
• the general condition of the child worsens sharply (weakness increases, headache, nausea may appear).

Kinds

Manifestations of the disease directly depend on the method of transporting the virus. There are only 3 groups of infection, these types and symptoms of mycoplasma in children depend on the causes:

1. Respiratory It leads to the development of pneumonia, tracheitis, laryngitis, otitis media, pharyngitis. Identification of the causative agent of the underlying disease occurs in a hospital setting. The incubation period is quite easy and lasts only 2 weeks. Initially, the patient has a rare dry cough, weakness, general lethargy. Further, body temperature may fluctuate slightly from 36.9 - 37.4 degrees, as with a common cold. In the midst of the disease, there is a significant rise in body temperature to 38 - 39 degrees, but without catarrhal manifestations (runny nose, other colds).
2. Contact. Permanent presence with the source of infection - a person who can provoke the disease through a contact-domestic way. Even with complete protection of the respiratory tract, bacteria remain on the surface of the table, door handles and other furniture.
3. Genitourinary. The genitourinary system is susceptible to two main types of bacteria:

• Mycoplasma genitalium. It is considered one of the most dangerous infections. In the initial stages, the disease manifests itself as ordinary urethritis. The healing process takes from 10 to 30 days;
• Mycoplasma hominis. It is located on the mucous membranes of the urinary tract in a sleeping state.

A healthy person does not manifest himself in any way, but upon activation of this microflora, serious inflammatory changes can occur that entail the development of complex multicomponent diseases that are not amenable to classical therapy.

Therapy

Self-medication of the disease in a child is impossible. Diagnosis of symptoms of mycoplasma in children, even in laboratory conditions, is difficult. For this purpose, fluoroscopy, a clinical blood test, culture techniques, cytology, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay are quite laborious procedures. After the diagnosis is made, a decision is made how the therapy will be carried out - inpatiently or in domestic circumstances.

Therapy with medicinal substances is performed, most of all - with symptomatic agents, that is:

• antipyretic - with increasing temperature;
• coughing - when coughing;
• bactericidal - in serious forms of the disease, however, doctors in this case take into account the fact that mycoplasmas are not susceptible to drugs approved in pediatrics.

In order to protect your own child from mycoplasmas, you should exclude his interaction and contacts with infected people. To do this, absolutely all family members should be tested for the source of the disease.

The timely detection of mycoplasmosis in a child has a very significant role in order to eliminate these bacteria until they have done destructive work.

Drug treatment

Mycoplasmosis is activated by more than 100 types of pathogens. Each of them is susceptible to a specific medication, while insensitive to others. Mycoplasmas are immune to penicillin, sulfonamides, but can be treated with antibiotics from the category of macrolides, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines. Mycoplasmas die under the influence of disinfectants, when boiling and irradiating with ultraviolet light.

The courses of therapy and the substance of the doctor are prescribed strictly personally in each case. Treatment depends on the symptoms of mycoplasma in children (cough and fever). As a rule, therapy covers the following substances:

• antibiotics
• immunomodulators;
• adaptogens;
• mycoplasma immun.

Antibiotics

The main group of drugs for treatment is antibiotics. When selecting them, several conditions are taken into account:

• age and gender of the patient;
• the existence of concomitant diseases and allergies;
• the presence of pregnancy;
• kind of bacteria.

The doctor develops a model, and determines the type of antibiotic use (injections, tablets, ointments or suppositories). Children are prescribed medications that show the least negative effect on the digestive system. Drugs are required to restrain the increase in the number of microorganisms and their reproduction. The following types of medications are most often prescribed:

• "Azithromycin";
• Wilprafen
• "Tetracycline";
• Sumamed
• Doxycycline.

Tetracyclines

In mild cases, it is prescribed to cure substances from the tetracycline category:

• Minocycline
• "Metacycline"
• Doxycycline
• Tetracycline.

Macrolides

Often used and macrolides. This group of drugs includes:

• Erythromycin;
• Macropen
• Roxithromycin;
• Wilprafen
• "Klacid";
• "Azithromycin".

Fluoroquinol antibiotics show excellent results in many patients. When used in the genitals, urine and kidney tissues, a concentration of a substance is formed that exceeds the dose, which can suppress absolutely all pathogens of sexual infection. Ofloxacin is considered a strong substance in this category. Ciprofloxacin is less effective.

The bacterium is found in healthy children, but the disease is expressed only in a few, as soon as immunity decreases. It is for this reason that it is so important to use fortifying agents.

If the disease has become chronic, then changes in immunity occur. The synthesis of interferon is inhibited. For this reason, drugs that act on the nonspecific dynamics of the body will be included in the cure scheme. These may be proteolytic enzymes. They dissolve the areas of adhesions and release the pathogen, making it easily accessible for the influence of medicines, and renew the body's ability to create personal interferon.

Alternative treatment

Treatment of mycoplasma infection with folk remedies is impossible without taking antibiotics, since the main source of the problem cannot be eliminated only with the help of herbs and other drugs. Traditional methods of exposure relieve pronounced symptoms and accelerate recovery.

Effective auxiliary compositions for bacterial damage are:

1. Infusion of St. John's wort and meadowsweet. You can cook it quite easily. It is enough to take 6 tablespoons of grass in a ratio of 2/1 and brew them in boiling water. Stirring the broth periodically, let it brew for 3 hours, strain and take 3 times a day 20 minutes before meals.
2. Chamomile cleanser. Chamomile pharmacy must be brewed in 500 ml of boiling water, allowed to cool and infuse. You can not cover the container. After the liquid cools down a little - it can be used for external use.

Prevention

Preventive measures that help prevent a child from becoming infected with mycoplasmosis are almost identical to the usual precautions against viral respiratory infections. Prevention of mycoplasma symptoms in children can lower the risk of infection:

1. If possible, do not take your child to crowded places (this is especially important during an outbreak of colds).
2. It is necessary to monitor the state of the child’s immunity and strengthen it in every way. Regular walks in the fresh air, a balanced diet, including the use of fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins, can help with this (to avoid allergic reactions to fruits, you need to carefully monitor the child, consult a doctor on time).
3. To prevent infection with urogenital mycoplasmosis, you should very carefully adhere to banal hygiene standards (the child should have his own towel, it is not allowed to use someone else's linen). This is especially true in families where there is already a person infected with mycoplasma.
4. In order to avoid congenital mycoplasmosis in the baby, the expectant mother must undergo appropriate diagnostics for mycoplasma before conception.