Can there be pneumonia if the child is active? How to recognize the first signs of pneumonia in children

One of the most serious diseases of the respiratory system in childhood is, of course, pneumonia. Parents are very frightened by this diagnosis, considering it almost a death sentence. I hasten to reassure you - if pneumonia is recognized in time, recovery occurs quite quickly. And the pneumonia itself goes away without a trace. And now I will dwell on everything in more detail.

Pneumonia is an acute infectious and inflammatory process that primarily affects the respiratory part of the lung tissue, usually caused by bacteria, and manifested by symptoms of varying severity:
- general reaction of the body to infection (signs of intoxication - deterioration of general condition, appetite, fever, etc.);
- local changes in the lungs during examination of the baby (shortening of percussion tone, weakening of breathing, wheezing);
- infiltrative darkening on radiographs caused by filling of the alveoli with exudate (inflammatory fluid);
- cough (infants may not have one);
- respiratory failure - DN (shortness of breath, participation of auxiliary muscles in the act of breathing, etc.).

The incidence of pneumonia per year is about 15-20 per 1000 children in the first three years of life and about 5-6 cases per 1000 children over 3 years of age. Predisposing factors to the development of pneumonia in young children are perinatal pathology, aspiration syndrome as a consequence of vomiting and regurgitation syndrome, congenital heart defects, rickets, other hypovitaminosis and deficiency conditions, including immunodeficiencies. A factor directly predisposing to the development of pneumonia is cooling the child.

Causes of pneumonia.

The causative agents of this disease differ in children of different age groups. They are also different in children with altered immunity, weakened patients and those undergoing hospital treatment.
The vast majority of community-acquired (“home”, “street”) pneumonias are the result of activation of the endogenous (own) bacterial flora of the nasopharynx, although exogenous infection is also possible. With an acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI), cooling or other stress factors, this flora can be “activated”, leading to the development of pneumonia.
The most common causative agents of pneumonia in children aged 6 months to 5 years who become ill at home are pneumococcus and Haemophilus influenzae. During epidemic seasons (August-November), the importance of mycoplasma as a causative agent of pneumonia in children of early preschool and school age increases. In adolescents, the possible role of chlamydia pneumonia as a causative factor of the disease should be taken into account.

Viruses play a role in the development of pneumonia, mainly in children of the first year of life.
In weakened children with regurgitation and aspiration of gastric contents, with cystic fibrosis, the most common cause of pneumonia is Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and less often - Moraxella (Branchamella) catharalis. Pneumonia caused by the Legionella microorganism is rare in children.
One should also keep in mind the forms caused by fungi or Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

There is a separate group of nosocomial pneumonias that develop in children during hospitalization for other diseases. Such pneumonia is caused either by “hospital” strains of pathogens, usually highly resistant to antibiotics (staphylococci, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas - Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus), or by the autoflora of the patient himself. Their development is facilitated by antibacterial therapy administered to the patient, since it suppresses the normal pulmonary microflora, to which the child has some degree of immunity. As a result, the road is “opened” to the colonization of the lower parts of the respiratory tract with bacteria alien to it. Hospital-acquired pneumonia is also called hospital-acquired, or “nosocomial”, and they develop 48 hours or later after hospitalization.

The mechanism of development of pneumonia.

Pathogenic microorganisms most often enter the lungs through inhaled air - aerogenically. Previous acute respiratory viral infections and diseases that lead to a weakening of the child’s immune mechanisms predispose to the settling of microbes on the bronchial mucosa. ARVI play an important role in the development of bacterial pneumonia. Viral infection increases mucus production in the upper respiratory tract and reduces its bactericidal activity; disrupts the functioning of the mucociliary (cilia on the surface of the bronchi) apparatus, destroys epithelial cells, reduces local immunological defense, thus facilitating the penetration of bacterial flora into the lower respiratory tract and contributing to the development of inflammatory changes in the lungs.

When infected, inflammatory swelling of the small air bronchus develops. This leads to disruption of ventilation and restriction of air flow into the alveoli, where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. Atelectasis (collapse of the alveoli) and inflammation of the lung tissue occurs. Due to disruption of gas exchange processes, oxygen starvation of all organs develops.

Complete reverse development of changes in uncomplicated inflammation occurs within 3 weeks. Atelectasis or purulent process in the inflamed area of ​​the lung requires 4-6 weeks to resolve. Recovery in the presence of pleural damage can take up to 2-3 months.

Everyone gets sick, but children in the first years of life are more likely to get sick.

Why? Because the body of our babies has a number of features that facilitate the onset of the disease and contribute to the chronic course of pneumonia. The younger the child is, the more pronounced these features are, the greater the risk of contracting pneumonia, and the more severe its course will be.
First of all, the respiratory system. Like most organs and systems of the baby’s body, it is at the stage of formation. In babies, especially the first months and years of life, the lung tissue is immature, the airways are relatively smaller in size, they are narrower. This plays into the hands of the infectious agent, because it leads to a decrease in gas exchange in the body.

The mucous membranes of a baby's airways are delicate, rich in blood vessels, but in cases of infection they swell too quickly, impairing ventilation. The ciliated epithelium, which, like a carpet, covers the entire mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, is still immature, fragile, it very easily loses its main function - the removal of sputum during inflammatory processes. The lungs themselves are less airy in babies. This greatly facilitates the development of infection. And the abdominal type of breathing (with the active participation of the anterior abdominal wall), which is typical for the youngest children, brings its own problems: any troubles in the tummy (bloating, enlarged liver, the presence of air in the stomach) complicate gas exchange and increase the severity of pneumonia.

That is why quite often an infection that has entered the child’s body, almost without feeling any obstacles, quickly spreads and, as a result, leads to damage to the lung tissue with the occurrence of pneumonia.
Immunity, a cigarette and even... your education! These seem to be different things, but, according to statistics, they also determine the possibility of your child getting sick. It is known that in children, especially infants, immunobiological protective reactions are imperfect. And the slight vulnerability of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and all the features of the respiratory organs that we have listed cause increased sensitivity of the lung tissue to viruses and microbes. Pneumonia occurs more often and is more severe in babies who are on artificial or mixed feeding and suffer from rickets, malnutrition and exudative diathesis. Why? Because all these diseases are accompanied by a deterioration in the barrier function of the bronchi, a decrease in the content of immune defense factors and a disruption of metabolic processes in general. Passive smoking, that is, inhaling air along with cigarette smoke, in addition to the direct toxic effect on the respiratory system, helps to reduce the supply of oxygen to the body. As for the education of adults, it is obvious that the volume and quality of child care and, of course, knowledge of the child’s body and the ability to organize an environmentally friendly life in one’s home depend on this.

Symptoms of pneumonia.

Signs of the disease.
After infection, with the development of pathogenic microflora in the lungs, inflammation begins, which is accompanied by an increase in body temperature. Unlike ordinary respiratory diseases, in which the elevated temperature drops already on the second or third day, with pneumonia the temperature lasts for more than three days, at a level of about 37-38 degrees (the so-called “pulmonary” temperature). Sometimes a drop in elevated body temperature after the use of antibacterial agents is considered in favor of pneumonia.
An accurate diagnosis can be made using an x-ray, but there are also external signs of the disease:
- pallor and cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle;
- flaring of the wings of the nose, rapid breathing (with the participation of auxiliary muscles of the chest);
- very easy fatigue;
- unreasonable sweating;
- child's refusal to eat.

There is no characteristic “pneumonia” cough; it can be mild, superficial, or absent altogether, or it can be severe, paroxysmal, like whooping cough. Sputum production is not typical for pneumonia; it appears if inflammation affects not only the lungs, but also the bronchi.

The diagnosis of pneumonia is usually made by a pediatrician at the bedside of a sick child due to the presence of signs of pneumonic intoxication and respiratory failure. There is a saying that in children, especially young children, pneumonia is “better seen than heard.” This means that such symptoms as pallor and cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle, rapid breathing with the participation of auxiliary muscles of the chest, swelling of the wings of the nose, very rapid fatigue, unreasonable Sweating, a child's refusal to eat can be signs of pneumonia even if, upon listening, the pediatrician does not yet detect changes above the surface of the lungs. Subsequently, during an X-ray examination, signs of inflammation of the lung tissue are found.

When the pleura is involved in the process, severe pain appears in the chest associated with breathing and coughing. Often such pneumonia is combined with characteristic rashes and occurs with damage to an entire lobe of the lung or a segment with a pleural reaction and is called “lobar” (from the Scottish word “croup” - thin membrane).
Extrapulmonary symptoms of pneumonia also include tachycardia (increased heart rate), jaundice, diarrhea, muscle pain, skin rashes, and confusion. In young children, convulsions sometimes develop against the background of high body temperature.

During auscultation (listening to the lungs), the doctor detects changes characteristic of pneumonia - peculiar wheezing at the height of inspiration (crepitus) or moist rales of various sizes. Very often, the first auscultatory sign of pneumonia may be weakening of breathing in the affected area, and not the presence of wheezing.
With chlamydial pneumonia, changes in the pharynx and enlargement of the cervical lymph nodes are often detected. Atypical mycoplasma pneumonia can occur with a slight nonproductive cough, hoarseness, and low-grade fever.

Classification of pneumonia in children

Focal. Lesions are often 1 cm or larger in size.
- Focal-confluent - infiltrative changes in several segments or in the entire lobe of the lung, against which denser areas of infiltration and/or destruction cavities may be visible.
- Segmental - the entire segment is involved in the process, which, as a rule, is in a state of hypoventilation and atelectasis.
Inflammation of the lungs can lead to pulmonary complications (pleurisy, abscess and bacterial destruction of lung tissue), broncho-obstructive syndrome; acute respiratory failure (pulmonary edema). Extrapulmonary complications include acute cor pulmonale, infectious-toxic shock, nonspecific myocarditis, endocarditis, pericarditis; sepsis (more often with pneumococcal pneumonia); meningitis, meningoencephalitis; DIC syndrome, anemia.

Diagnosis of pneumonia.

General symptoms are the basis for the clinical diagnosis of pneumonia, taking into account the fact that in young children, signs of DN and intoxication come to the fore in pneumonia, and local physical changes in the lungs often appear later.
Analysis of data regarding the prevalence of various symptoms of pneumonia made it possible to propose the following diagnostic scheme for the first examination of a patient with acute respiratory disease (ARI).

If, upon examination, the child, regardless of the temperature level and in the absence of obstruction, has:
- increased breathing (60 per minute in children in the first months of life, 50 per minute in children 2 - 12 months, 40 per minute in children 1 - 4 years old);
- retraction of intercostal spaces;
- moaning (groaning) breathing;
- cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle;
- signs of toxicosis (“sick” appearance, refusal to eat and drink, drowsiness, impaired communication skills, severe pallor at elevated body temperature), then the condition is regarded as severe with a high probability of pneumonia.

These patients should be prescribed an antibiotic and referred to the hospital.

If the child does not have the signs listed above, but has:
- temperature 38° C for more than 3 days;
- local physical signs of pneumonia;
- asymmetry of wheezing,
then the presence of pneumonia should be assumed. These patients need to have a blood test done and sent for radiography; if it is impossible, prescribe an antibiotic. Patients with signs of respiratory failure must be hospitalized
If a child with acute respiratory infections and signs of bronchial obstruction has:
- asymmetry of wheezing;
- “inflammatory” hemogram,

In this case, pneumonia should be excluded and an X-ray examination should be prescribed. Patients with signs of respiratory failure are subject to hospitalization.

If a child has a febrile temperature for 1-2 days in the absence of the above signs, then he should be observed at home as a patient with an acute respiratory infection without pneumonia.

In addition to the indications for hospitalization listed in the diagram, factors such as premorbid background (hypotrophy, constitutional anomalies, etc.), low social status of the family, and psychological characteristics of the parents should be taken into account.
In addition to clinical findings, the diagnosis of pneumonia is confirmed by radiological data. In acute pneumonia, typical radiological signs are revealed.

Child... x-ray? Are you surprised and alarmed? Is it necessary to do this examination specifically for your child? Or maybe it would be better to use other diagnostic methods?

The X-ray method is especially important in the diagnosis of respiratory diseases in children. Therefore, if, after examining a small patient, your doctor suspects acute pneumonia, he, in addition to other laboratory tests, will certainly prescribe a chest x-ray. Why? It is necessary to confirm the diagnosis of pneumonia in order to prescribe sufficient treatment. The image obtained during the examination will show the exact localization of the inflammatory process: on the right, left or both sides. This is especially necessary when the child has previously suffered from pneumonia. In this case, it is important for the doctor to record whether the location of the lesion coincides with the previous case of inflammation. If this is the case, then maximum attention should be paid to treatment, because there is a danger of developing chronic pneumonia, which is much more difficult to cope with.

In bacteriological and virological studies of mucus from the throat, nose, and sputum, viral-bacterial associations are usually isolated, that is, a combination of various respiratory viruses and bacteria. To diagnose mycoplasma or chlamydial infection, enzyme immunoassay, immunofluorescence and DNA polymerase methods are used.

Blood tests for pneumonia reveal an increase in the number of leukocytes with a shift of the formula to the left (signs of inflammation), toxic granularity of neutrophils, and acceleration of ESR. However, the absence of inflammatory changes in blood parameters does not exclude the presence of pneumonia in a child.

When studying the function of external respiration, the so-called “restrictive” type of ventilation disorders is more often recorded, which is associated with a decrease in the elasticity of the lung tissue. With concomitant bronchitis, the “obstructive” type of disorders may predominate, which is caused by obstruction (blockage) of the bronchi with lumps of sputum.

In the case of a complicated course of pneumonia, abnormalities are recorded on the ECG, liver and kidney function indicators.

Treatment of pneumonia.

Pneumonia is an insidious disease and requires constant monitoring; at any moment the child’s condition can worsen, so you should not risk the child’s health. Children under three years of age are most often hospitalized for constant monitoring of their condition and to avoid the development of complications. Older children can be left at home, provided that parents strictly follow all recommendations.
The basic principles of antibacterial pneumonia are as follows:
- if a diagnosis is established or if the patient’s condition is serious, antibiotics are prescribed immediately; if there is doubt about the diagnosis in a non-severe patient, the decision is made after radiography;
- for uncomplicated, mild pneumonia, preference should be given to prescribing drugs orally, switching to parenteral administration when the disease worsens;
- if therapy was started parenterally, after the temperature decreases and the patient’s condition improves, you should switch to oral antibiotics;
- after a course of antibacterial therapy, it is advisable to prescribe biological products.

Doctors currently have about 200 antibacterial drugs at their disposal, sold under more than 600 brand names. In such a situation, the choice of drug should be guided, in addition to its expected effectiveness and potential toxicity for the child, by ease of use in the patient and cost.

Indications for prescribing antibiotics in children with respiratory pathology are severe intoxication, high body temperature for more than 3 days, clinical signs of pneumonia, early age of the child (first year of life), prolonged course of the inflammatory process.
In most cases, an antibiotic is prescribed before knowledge of the causative agent of the disease is obtained. Therefore, the choice of the first drug is carried out empirically (based on experience). This is the so-called initial empirically selected therapy.

Assessing the effectiveness of the drugs administered to the patient is the only way to decide whether it makes sense to continue treatment with the empirically selected drug or whether it needs to be changed. With a good effect, after 24-48 hours the temperature decreases, the general condition improves, pneumonic changes decrease or at least do not increase (the number of wheezing may increase). In these cases, drug replacement is not required. If therapy was started with an injection form of the antibiotic, then it can be replaced with an oral one. In most cases, mild pneumonia is treated with antibiotics for 4 to 6 days and at home.
The lack of effect - persistence of temperature and increase in pneumonic infiltration according to X-ray data, allows us to exclude the cause that the doctor suggested when choosing the starting drug and prescribe an alternative regimen. Replacement or at least addition of a new antibacterial agent should be carried out after 36-48 hours (and for extremely severe infections - after 24 hours) in the absence of a therapeutic effect.

Three main groups of antibiotics are used in the treatment of pneumonia in children: penicillin and semisynthetic penicillins (ampicillin, amoxicillin, amoxiclav, etc.), cephalosporins of various generations (cephalexin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, cefoperazone), macrolides (erythromycin, rovamycin, azithromycin, etc.) . For severe pneumonia, aminoglycosides, imipenems (thienam) and a combination of drugs from various groups, including sulfonamides or metronidazole, are used. For Legionella pneumonia, rifampicin is indicated. Fungal pneumonia requires the use of fluconazole (Diflucan) or amphotericin B.

Other types of treatment.

Depending on the characteristics of the course of pneumonia, in each specific case the doctor decides on additional drugs: expectorants, bronchodilators, antiallergic drugs, vitamins, etc.
Bed rest is indicated for the entire febrile period. Nutrition must be age appropriate and must be complete. The volume of fluid per day for children under one year old, taking into account breast milk or infant formula, is 140-150 ml/kg of body weight. It is advisable to give 1/3 of the daily volume of liquid in the form of glucose-salt solutions (Rehydron, Oralit) or fruit and vegetable decoctions. Dietary restrictions (chemically, mechanically and thermally gentle food) are determined depending on appetite and the nature of the stool.

The room where the child is located should have cool (18 - 19°C), humidified air, which helps to reduce and deepen breathing, and also reduces water loss.
Antipyretics are not systematically prescribed, as this may make it difficult to assess the effectiveness of antibacterial therapy. The exception is children who have premorbid indications for reducing fever (febrile convulsions).
Fever in many infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections, should be considered as a factor stimulating the body's defenses. Many bacteria and viruses die faster at elevated temperatures, against which the body produces a full-fledged immune response. Unreasonable and frequent prescription of medications for any increase in temperature can lead to various complications.

For painful or persistent cough in patients with pneumonia, mucoregulatory drugs are widely used: facilitating the evacuation of sputum (expectorants) and sputum-thinning (mucolytic) drugs.
Expectorants increase the secretion of the liquid component of sputum and improve sputum transport by enhancing bronchial motility. When prescribing expectorants, ensure adequate hydration (drinking) as loss of water increases the viscosity of sputum. Medicines based on marshmallow root infusion with the addition of sodium benzoate, potassium iodide and ammonia-anise drops are used. Drugs such as bronchicum and Doctor Mom are also expectorants.
Mucolytics help thin mucus by chemically acting on the mucin (mucus) molecule. For diseases of the lower respiratory tract with the formation of thick viscous sputum, it is advisable to use drugs containing acetylcysteine ​​(ACC, mucomist, fluimucil, mucobene). Derivatives of the alkaloid vasicine - bromhexine, bisolvone, mucosalvan - have a mucolytic effect. These drugs reduce the viscosity of secretions, restore mucociliary clearance, and stimulate the synthesis of endogenous surfactant.

Carbocysteines (mucodin, mucopront, broncatar) have both a mucoregulatory and mucolytic effect. Under the influence of drugs of this group, the bronchial mucosa is regenerated, its structure is restored, the number of goblet cells is reduced, IgA secretion is restored, and mucociliary clearance is improved.
Infusions of herbs (plantain, nettle, coltsfoot, ipecac root, anise, licorice root, etc.) or medicinal forms of them - eucabal, mucaltin - are useful.
Inhalations with warm water or 2% sodium bicarbonate solution are good mucolytics and are not much inferior in effectiveness to mucolytic drugs.
Antihistamines and cough suppressants are not indicated.
Cupping and mustard plasters are currently not used in the treatment of young children with pneumonia.
Physiotherapy.

In the acute period, the appointment of microwave (5-7 sessions), inductothermy is indicated; electrophoresis with a 3% solution of potassium iodide (10 sessions).
Massage and exercise therapy are advisable immediately after the temperature normalizes.

Recovery.

For infants, this course will last 3 months, and for older children - 2 months. The complex of health treatment must necessarily include physiotherapy - inhalations, heat therapy, oxygen cocktails with herbs and juices. General massage and physical therapy will be very useful. You can increase a child’s vitality with the help of biostimulants (tinctures of Eleutherococcus, ginseng, echinacea), vitamins and fortified drinks with herbal decoctions. And of course, fresh air. Walking should be the main point of rehabilitation. They can be combined with gradual hardening.

Analyze the child’s health status again. And if the baby still has chronic foci of infection (tonsillitis, sinusitis, dental caries), be sure to eliminate them.

In general, all these activities are included in the system of so-called dispensary monitoring of the child. After suffering from acute pneumonia, the local pediatrician will closely monitor the baby’s health for 10-12 months. This means that once every 1.5-2 months a general blood test will be performed, and if a chronic process in the lungs is suspected, a repeat X-ray examination of the chest will be prescribed. Systematic monitoring of the body’s condition by other specialists, such as an allergist, immunologist, pulmonologist, ENT specialist, will be mandatory in the dispensary observation system.

The best thing is not to get sick! Maintain this motto in your family. Monitor your baby's health. It is better to prevent the development of rickets, anemia, chronic eating disorders, diathesis in a child, to promptly cure chronic foci of infection, than to then panic and search for the best remedy for inflammation. Choose a hardening system that suits your baby, develop endurance in your child, and improve your lifestyle. And no smokers indoors! The nutrition of all family members and especially the child should be complete and meet the age-related needs of the body. Therefore, take care of your child’s health and take care of him.

To prevent infections caused by Hemophilus influenza type B, a vaccine has been developed that can be used in children from 2 months of age. There is also a vaccine against pneumococcus.
After suffering from pneumonia, children require observation by a pediatrician and pediatric pulmonologist. If there is a tendency to relapse of the inflammatory process in the lungs, a detailed examination is necessary in a pulmonology center to exclude abnormalities in the development of the respiratory organs and immunodeficiency conditions, hereditary and congenital diseases (cystic fibrosis, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, etc.).

Traditional Treatments for Pneumonia

Treatment of pneumonia should begin as early as possible, be comprehensive and carried out under the mandatory supervision of a doctor.

Hospitalization of the patient in a hospital is mandatory. Treatment at home can only be organized if all the rules of the regime are observed and adequate care is provided. Patients whose present illness arose against the background of chronic or acute diseases of the bronchi or lungs (for example, against the background of bronchitis), as well as patients with severe concomitant diseases that aggravate the course of pneumonia, elderly people and children are required to be hospitalized. Compliance with this condition is necessary because belated, inadequate treatment of even mild forms of pneumonia can lead to its protracted course and complications.

Bed rest should be observed throughout the entire period of illness, especially with fever and severe intoxication. But the patient is allowed to periodically change position, sit down and cough up sputum. These measures are important to ensure adequate drainage and ventilation of the lungs. Sputum should be collected in a mayonnaise jar and covered with a lid.

The patient's room must be regularly ventilated and wet cleaned daily.

Careful oral and skin care is of particular importance.

The patient's diet should be high-calorie, rich in vitamins and microelements. At high temperatures and severe symptoms of intoxication, food should be given in pureed, liquid or semi-liquid form. Liquid should enter the body in the form of broths, juices and mineral water.

Prescribing antibiotics is mandatory in the treatment of patients with pneumonia. However, before prescribing drugs, it is necessary to culture the sputum to determine the specific type of pathogen. But this analysis will not be ready immediately, and treatment must be prescribed immediately. To do this, they resort to prescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics that affect any microbial flora. Treatment must be carried out under laboratory control, because microbes very quickly become insensitive to a certain type of drug. And if this happens, the antibiotic should be changed. Antibacterial drugs should be used in such doses and at such intervals of time that a dose of the drug that has a therapeutic effect is maintained in the blood and lung tissue.
The dose and number of antibacterial drugs depend on the severity of the disease (this criterion is determined clinically, based on symptoms such as temperature, intoxication, shortness of breath, cough, and the presence of sputum) and the extent of the process, which is determined radiologically.

Antibacterial therapy should be combined with the prescription of anti-inflammatory and desensitizing drugs (ascorbic acid, calcium chloride, calcium gluconate, antihistamines).

In case of slow resorption of the infiltrate, the presence of symptoms of suffocation, taking into account contraindications, hormonal drugs are prescribed in a short course. Glucocorticosteroids in large doses are prescribed to patients with severe forms of the disease, with extensive infiltrates in the lung tissue and in the absence of a positive effect from the therapy.

Other important aspects of treatment are bronchial drainage and restoration of patency of the bronchial tree. For this purpose, patients are prescribed bronchodilators and expectorants. These properties are found in marshmallow root, acetylcysteine, thermopsis, plantain leaf, and hot milk with soda and honey. These products are good at thinning mucus. For non-productive obsessive cough, antitussives are prescribed.

10. In severe cases of pneumonia with shortness of breath and cyanosis, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is indicated for patients.

Oxygen therapy is also prescribed for patients with severe concomitant lung diseases, which can cause a serious complication - respiratory failure. These diseases include pulmonary emphysema, long-term bronchitis with frequent exacerbations, and pneumosclerosis.

For patients with pneumonia, it is important to restore the body's defenses. To do this, they are injected with gamma globulin. Pursuing the same goal, patients are also prescribed vitamins (vitamin C and B vitamins are especially important in this situation). Biogenic stimulants and adaptogens are also used - aloe, ginseng root, lemongrass, etc.

To relieve pain, which is sometimes the leading symptom in the clinic of this disease, analgesics are used.

In elderly patients, cardiovascular drugs are prescribed to prevent cardiovascular failure.

Distraction therapy is also used: mustard plasters, wraps.

Physiotherapy is widely used to accelerate the resorption of infiltrates and prevent complications.

Monitoring of treatment must also be carried out radiographically at a specified time.

After recovery, it is advisable to undergo sanatorium-resort treatment.

Pneumonia. Treatment with folk remedies, Vanga’s recipes

Coltsfoot leaves – 2 tsp.

Beautiful pikulnik herb – 2.5 tsp.

Marsh cudweed herb – 4 tsp.

Calendula officinalis flowers – 2.5 tsp.

Chamomile flowers – 2.5 tsp.

Gray blackberry leaves – 2 tsp.

Oat seeds – 5 tsp.

Black currant leaves – 2.5 tsp.

Hawthorn fruits – 5 tsp.

Horsetail herb – 2 tsp.

Sweet clover herb – 1.5 tsp.

Scots pine buds – 1.5 tsp.

May lily of the valley flowers – 1.5 tsp.

Elecampane flowers – 2 hours

Stinging nettle herb – 2 tsp.

Lingonberry leaves – 2.5 tsp.

Marsh cudweed herb – 5 tsp.

Great plantain leaves – 2 tsp.

Licorice roots - 1.5 tsp.

Lungwort herb – 3 tsp.

Three-leaf herb – 1 hour

Black currant fruits – 5 hours

Rose hips – 5 tsp.

Oat seeds – 5 tsp.

Sweet clover herb – 2 tsp.

Mix the ingredients. Pour two tablespoons of the mixture into 500 ml of boiling water and leave for one hour in a warm place. You can add honey and lemon. Use 1/2 cup 5-6 times a day warm. When drinking the infusion, it is advisable not to go outside.

Take eucalyptus tincture orally, 20-30 drops per 1/4 cup of boiled, cooled water 3 times a day. Externally, the tincture is used for rinsing and inhalation.

Rinse with 20 g of bodanum thickifolia root in a glass of boiling water. It is useful to use this infusion internally, 5 to 10 drops 3 times a day.

Take motherwort infusion 2 tablespoons 3 times a day from 20 g of herb per glass of boiling water. You can take the pharmacy tincture 10 drops 3 times a day.

Vanga recommended an oat decoction prepared as follows: mix 2 tablespoons of oats with the same amount of raisins and pour in 1.5 liters of cold boiled water. Cook over very low heat or simmer in a covered oven over low heat until half the liquid has evaporated. Cool slightly, strain, squeeze, add 1 tablespoon of honey to the expressed liquid and mix thoroughly. Take 1 tablespoon several times a day. This product is recommended for children.

Pour the washed oats into the pan 2/3 full and pour in milk, not filling 2 fingers to the top of the pan, cover with a lid and place in the oven over low heat. Add milk as it boils to the original volume until the oats are boiled. Cool the broth, strain, squeeze through cheesecloth. Add half the volume of honey to the resulting liquid in a 2:1 ratio, mix and take 1 tablespoon 3 to 5 times a day.

Take a fresh, raw carp weighing one pound (450 grams), cut off its head and bleed it into a cup. A patient suffering from pneumonia must drink this liquid before it clots. Cut the rest of the fish, wrap it in cloth and place it on your chest. Measure body temperature every half hour. When it becomes normal (after about 5 - 6 hours), remove the patch.

For pneumonia, you need to apply a lotion to your chest, made from dough mixed with homemade yeast, with the addition of 100 g of vinegar, 100 g of vegetable oil and 100 g of wine.

The patient should undress naked, wrap himself in a sheet and lie for twenty minutes on the hot sand several times a day.

To expectorate thick mucus, you can use squeezed cabbage juice and the same amount of honey. Then cook this mixture until thickened over low heat and consume internally.

The following is also considered a strong medicine: take nettle and mustard seeds, squeezed mad cucumber juice, and anise in equal quantities. All this is mixed with honey and given to the patient.

Take 60 g of fenugreek, 45 g of flaxseed, the same amount of vetch, 60 g of boiled licorice juice. All this is mixed with almond oil and honey and given to the patient 3 times a day.

You can also take white figs, seeded raisins, licorice root and Venus hair. Boil this entire mixture until soft and give it to the patient to drink at night.

Cups can be placed on the patient’s chest, sometimes even with an incision.

Suitable food during pneumonia is barley and wheat water, wild mallow decoction, bean juice, and raisins (sultanas), especially at the end of the illness. At the height of the illness, the food of the sick should be bread soaked in water, soft-boiled eggs, pine nuts, sweet almonds.

When treating pneumonia, it is recommended to use all substances that cleanse, eliminate hardness and soften. These are, for example, licorice root infusion, violet infusion, cucumber core, chicory seeds, quince seed mucilage.

Once every two days, it is recommended to give the patient a medicine with the following composition: take 50 g of cassia laxative and seedless raisins, add about 200 g of water and cook until the composition is reduced by half. Then remove the mixture from the heat and add 100 g of nightshade juice. This entire amount can be given at one time to a patient whose strength is not too depleted, and half of this amount is recommended for a weak and exhausted patient.

Use medicinal dressings and compresses prepared with barley flour, sweet white wine, dates, and dry figs.

If the patient’s illness is accompanied by a strong fever, then he is given water sweetened with honey and barley juice. If the fever is low, then a decoction of hyssop is recommended, in which thyme, horehound, and figs were boiled.

Take the seeds of marshmallow, mallow, cucumber, melon, pumpkin, thickly brewed licorice juice, fragrant rush inflorescences, medicinal clover inflorescences, and violet. Make cakes from all this, add flaxseed mucilage and give the patient to drink with fig juice.

Pour one tablespoon of coltsfoot into 1 cup of boiling water. Leave for 30 minutes. Take chilled 5 times a day. Pour 4 tablespoons of pine needles (Siberian spruce) with 2.5 cups of boiling water, leave for 3 days. Take 3 tablespoons 5 times a day.

Ground aloe, 1 teaspoon salt, let stand in water. Take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day before meals 1 hour.

Pour 50 g of unmelted amber into 0.75 g of grape vodka, leave for 10 days, shaking the contents periodically, do not strain. Use for rubbing the chest and back at high temperatures. When the tincture runs out, the same portion of amber can be used again, after crushing the amber and pouring vodka again. In the morning, add 2-3 drops of this tincture to herbal decoctions.

Infusion of marshmallow root (1 teaspoon per 1 glass of water) take 1 tablespoon every 2 hours.

Take an infusion of marshmallow root (1 tablespoon), coltsfoot leaves (1 tablespoon), oregano herb (1 teaspoon) after 2 hours to calm the cough.

Infusion of rhizomes and roots of elecampane (1 tablespoon per 1 glass of boiling water) take 3 - 5 tablespoons per day.

A decoction of thyme herb (1 tablespoon), tricolor violet herb (1 tablespoon), pine buds (1 tablespoon), plantain leaves (1 teaspoon), marsh cudweed herb (1 teaspoon) taken warm, 4% cup – 5 times a day before meals.

Take ginseng infusion 20 drops 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals.

Pneumonia. Treatment with herbs and home remedies

Folk remedies for treating pneumonia

Home remedies for pneumonia

Garlic mustard plasters are good for pneumonia. Place finely chopped garlic on cloths pre-greased with vegetable oil and place them on your chest or back. If you have sensitive skin, you should first put a cloth moistened with vegetable oil on your body, and apply garlic mustard plaster on it. These mustard plasters should be kept for 15-20 minutes to avoid unpleasant sensations and overexcitation.

An excellent diaphoretic with a strong bactericidal and anti-inflammatory effect: 5 buds of cloves (spice), 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, pour 0.3 liters of water and 0.3 liters of red wine of the Cahors type. Cook in a sealed container over low heat until half the liquid remains. Strain. Immediately drink the infusion as hot as possible, go to bed with a heating pad and wrap yourself well. Health portal www.site

Take 300 g of garlic, ground into a paste, leave in a tightly sealed container for 30 minutes. Collect 200 g of the settled slurry from the bottom, pour in 1 liter of Cahors wine, leave for 2 weeks, shaking the contents periodically, strain. Take 1 tablespoon hot every hour for pneumonia. At the same time, rub this tincture into the chest and back 1-2 times a day.

Pour 1 cup of oat grains and 1 chopped head of garlic into 2 liters of milk and simmer for 1.5-2 hours in a stove or oven, strain. Take 1 glass in slow sips, tolerably hot, before bedtime. The infusion has a good expectorant, antitussive, and tonic effect. It is also recommended for weakened patients.

Mix 100 g of garlic pulp with 500 g of goose fat. Place in a boiling water bath. For chronic and severe pneumonia, apply the mixture thickly on parchment paper and apply it to the chest, carefully tying it with a woolen scarf. Apply the compress overnight. Before going to bed, drink 1 glass of tolerably hot oatmeal-garlic-milk mixture. To prepare it, pour 1 glass of oats and 1 chopped head of garlic into 2 liters of milk and put in the oven for 1-2 hours. Strain. Apply compresses daily for 2 weeks. Then take a break for 1 week. If necessary, continue treatment courses until complete recovery.

Take 4 medium potatoes, wash, cut out the eyes, but do not peel, cut into cubes, add 2 tablespoons of flax seeds, a head of garlic crushed into pulp, pour in 1 liter of water, cook in a sealed container over low heat for 20 minutes. After cooling to 30°C, use the decoction for enemas. Give an enema 2 times a day until complete recovery.

Cut a hole in the radish and pour 2 tablespoons of liquid honey into it. Place the radish in a bowl, cover with wax paper or cut off the top, and let stand for 3 hours. For severe cough, take 1 teaspoon of juice several times a day before meals.

Add 3-4 drops of fir oil to an enamel pan with boiling water, inhale the steam, covering your head. After inhalation, rub the oil on your chest and cover with a warm blanket. For inhalation, you can also use the Macholda inhaler.

Mix onion juice in a 1:1 ratio with honey and consume 1 teaspoon 3-4 times a day 15-20 minutes before meals for pneumonia.

Finely chop half an onion, boil in 1 glass of milk, leave, covered, for 4 hours, strain. Take 1 tablespoon every 3 hours. For severe cough, take 2 onions per 1 glass of milk.

To get rid of cough after pneumonia, boil 1 glass of fresh unpasteurized milk with 2 dried white figs. Drink hot 2 times a day, 1 glass after meals for pneumonia.

Rub the ointment of the following composition into the chest or back: grind and mix 1 part wax and 4 parts goose fat (you can replace it with chicken fat or sheep lard) until you obtain a thick ointment.

Almond oil is used for pneumonia, it has a cooling effect. Patients should be given 1 tablespoon of oil 3-4 times a day.

Along with the main treatment, potato wrapping is recommended: sew a bag, put freshly boiled potatoes in their skins in it, first crush them and mix with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon of alcohol and 1 tablespoon of mustard. Apply the hottest bag to the source of the disease (bypassing the area of ​​the heart, as in all thermal external procedures), wrap it in cellophane, cover it with warm clothes and bandage it on top. Placed overnight, such a compress will remain hot until the morning.

Herbs and infusions for the treatment of pneumonia

Brew 1 tablespoon of ivy budra with 3 cups of boiling water and leave for 1 hour. Drink budra herb infusion 2 tablespoons 4 times a day 2 hours before meals for pneumonia.

Attention! The dose should not be exceeded to avoid the toxic effect of budra.

Brew 2 teaspoons of stork herb with 1 cup of boiling water and leave, wrapped, for 1 hour. Drink 0.5 cups 2-4 times a day 20 minutes before meals for pneumonia.

Infuse viburnum berries in hot honey for 6-7 hours. Pour 1 tablespoon of berries with 1 glass of boiling water, leave, covered, for 2 hours, strain. Take the infusion warm, 0.3 cups several times a day for severe coughing and wheezing. Health portal www.site

Mix 1 part pine buds, 2 parts violet root and 4 parts Icelandic moss. Pour 1 glass of cold water into 4 teaspoons of the mixture, leave for 2 hours, boil for 4 minutes, cool and strain. Drink the infusion warm 3 times a day. > For pneumonia, take motherwort infusion: 1 tablespoon of herb per 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes, strain. Drink 2 tablespoons 3 times a day. Take the pharmacy tincture 10 drops 3 times a day for pneumonia.

Take equal parts of anise, marshmallow root, licorice root, pine buds, and sage leaf. Steam 1 tablespoon of the collection in 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes, strain through gauze and take 1 glass every 3 hours for pneumonia.

Take 2 parts of linden flowers, 3 parts each of mullein flowers, wild mallow flowers and lungwort grass. Pour 40 g of the mixture into 1 liter of boiling water, leave overnight, strain. Drink 0.25 cups every hour for a dry, debilitating cough.

Take 3 parts each of buckwheat flowers, poppy flowers, bittersweet nightshade shoots, 4 parts each of wild mallow flowers, coltsfoot leaves, lungwort grass, St. John's wort and mullein flowers, 2 parts each of elderberry flowers, linden flowers and primrose flowers. Pour 4 tablespoons of the mixture into 1 liter of boiling water, leave for 8-10 hours, strain, drink the infusion warm during the day in small sips for pneumonia.

Take 20 g of aloe leaf, blueberry leaf, lingonberry leaf, rhizomes with wild rosemary roots, 20 ml of beet juice, rutabaga juice. Pour the collection into 1 liter of vodka, leave for 10-12 days, add honey and butter and drink 1 tablespoon 3 times a day for pneumonia.

Take equal parts of anise fruits, fennel fruits, coffin root, licorice root, thyme herb, pine buds. Infuse 4 teaspoons of the mixture in 1 glass of water for 2 hours and bring to a boil. Drink 1 day in 3 doses for pneumonia.

Take 6 parts of wild mallow flowers, 1 part each of buckwheat flowers, poppy flowers, coltsfoot flowers, and lungwort grass. Pour 50 g of the mixture into 1 liter of boiling water, leave overnight, strain and drink 5 times a day for dry cough.

Take 2 parts of fennel fruits and mullein flowers, 8 parts of marshmallow root, 3 parts of licorice root, 4 parts of coltsfoot leaf. Infuse 1 tablespoon of the mixture in 1 glass of cold water for 2 hours, boil for 10 minutes, strain after cooling and drink the infusion warm 1 day in several doses for pneumonia.

Take 2 parts of anise fruit and mullein flowers, 4 parts of coltsfoot leaf, 8 parts of marshmallow root, 3 parts of licorice root, 10 parts of calamus rhizome. Brew 1 tablespoon of the mixture with 2 cups of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes, strain through cheesecloth and take 0.5 cups every 3 hours for pneumonia.

Take equal parts of anise fruits, raspberry fruits, willow bark, linden flowers and coltsfoot leaves. Brew 1 tablespoon of the mixture with 2 cups of boiling water, boil for 5-10 minutes and strain through cheesecloth. Drink like tea, hot, for pneumonia.

Take 2 parts each of raspberry fruit and coltsfoot leaf, 1 part oregano herb. Pour 1 tablespoon of the mixture into 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes, strain and drink warm at night for pneumonia.

Pneumonia or pneumonia is one of the most common acute infectious and inflammatory diseases in humans. Moreover, the concept of pneumonia does not include various allergic and vascular diseases of the lungs, bronchitis, as well as dysfunction of the lungs caused by chemical or physical factors (trauma, chemical burns).

Pneumonia occurs especially often in children, the symptoms and signs of which are reliably determined only on the basis of X-ray data and a general blood test. Pneumonia among all pulmonary pathologies in young children is almost 80%. Even with the introduction of progressive technologies in medicine - the discovery of antibiotics, improved diagnostic and treatment methods - this disease is still one of the ten most common causes of death. According to statistical data in various regions of our country, the incidence of pneumonia in children is 0.4-1.7%.

When and why can pneumonia occur in a child?

The lungs perform several important functions in the human body. The main function of the lungs is gas exchange between the alveoli and the capillaries that envelop them. Simply put, oxygen from the air in the alveoli is transported into the blood, and carbon dioxide from the blood enters the alveoli. They also regulate body temperature, regulate blood clotting, are one of the filters in the body, promote cleansing, the removal of toxins, breakdown products that occur during various injuries, and infectious inflammatory processes.

And in the event of food poisoning, burns, fractures, surgical interventions, or any serious injury or illness, a general decrease in immunity occurs, and it is more difficult for the lungs to cope with the load of filtering toxins. That is why very often a child develops pneumonia after suffering or against the background of injuries or poisoning.

Most often, the causative agent of the disease is pathogenic bacteria - pneumococci, streptococci and staphylococci, and recently cases of the development of pneumonia from pathogens such as pathogenic fungi, legionella (usually after staying in airports with artificial ventilation), mycoplasma, chlamydia, which are not They are rarely mixed or associated.

Pneumonia in a child, as an independent disease that occurs after serious, severe, prolonged hypothermia, is extremely rare, since parents try to prevent such situations. As a rule, in most children, pneumonia does not occur as a primary disease, but as a complication after ARVI or influenza, less often than other diseases. Why is this happening?

Many of us believe that acute viral respiratory diseases have become more aggressive and dangerous due to their complications in recent decades. This may be due to the fact that both viruses and infections have become more resistant to antibiotics and antiviral drugs, which is why they are so severe in children and cause complications.

One of the factors in the increase in the incidence of pneumonia in children in recent years has been the general poor health of the younger generation - how many children today are born with congenital pathologies, developmental defects, and central nervous system lesions. A particularly severe course of pneumonia occurs in premature or newborn babies, when the disease develops against the background of an intrauterine infection with an insufficiently formed, immature respiratory system.

In congenital pneumonia, the causative agents are often herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, mycoplasma, and when infected during childbirth - chlamydia, group B streptococci, opportunistic fungi, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, anaerobic flora; when infected with hospital infections, pneumonia begins on the 6th day or 2 weeks after birth.

Naturally, pneumonia most often occurs in cold times, when the body already undergoes a seasonal adjustment from heat to cold and vice versa, overloads occur for the immune system, at this time there is a lack of natural vitamins in foods, temperature changes, damp, frosty, windy weather contribute to hypothermia of children and their infection.

In addition, if a child suffers from any chronic diseases - tonsillitis, adenoids in children, sinusitis, dystrophy, rickets (see rickets in an infant), cardiovascular disease, any severe chronic pathologies, such as congenital lesions of the central nervous system, developmental defects, immunodeficiency states - significantly increase the risk of developing pneumonia and aggravate its course.

The severity of the disease depends on:

• Extensiveness of the process (focal, focal-confluent, segmental, lobar, interstitial pneumonia).
• The age of the child, the younger the baby, the narrower and thinner the airways, the less intense gas exchange in the child’s body and the more severe the course of pneumonia.
• Places where and for what reason pneumonia occurred:
  - community-acquired: most often have a milder course
  - hospital: more severe, since infection with bacteria resistant to antibiotics is possible
  - aspiration: when foreign objects, mixture or milk enter the respiratory tract.
• The most important role is played by the general health of the child, that is, his immunity.

Improper treatment of influenza and ARVI can lead to pneumonia in a child

When a child gets sick with a common cold, acute respiratory viral infection, or influenza, the inflammatory process is localized only in the nasopharynx, trachea and larynx. If the immune response is weak, and also if the pathogen is very active and aggressive, and the child is treated incorrectly, the process of bacterial reproduction descends from the upper respiratory tract to the bronchi, then bronchitis may occur. Further, inflammation can also affect lung tissue, causing pneumonia.

What happens in a child’s body during a viral disease? In most adults and children, various opportunistic microorganisms - streptococci, staphylococci - are always present in the nasopharynx, without causing harm to health, since local immunity inhibits their growth.

However, any acute respiratory disease leads to their active reproduction, and if the parents act correctly during the child’s illness, the immune system does not allow their intensive growth.

What should not be done during ARVI in a child to avoid complications:

• Antitussives should not be used. Coughing is a natural reflex that helps the body clear the trachea, bronchi and lungs of mucus, bacteria, and toxins. If, to treat a child, in order to reduce the intensity of a dry cough, you use antitussives that affect the cough center in the brain, such as Stoptusin, Bronholitin, Libexin, Paxeladin, then an accumulation of sputum and bacteria in the lower respiratory tract may occur, which ultimately leads to pneumonia.
• You cannot carry out any preventive antibiotic therapy for colds or viral infections (see antibiotics for colds). Antibiotics are powerless against the virus, but the immune system must cope with opportunistic bacteria, and their use is indicated only if complications arise as prescribed by a doctor.
• The same applies to the use of various nasal vasoconstrictors; their use promotes faster penetration of the virus into the lower respiratory tract, therefore Galazolin, Naphthyzin, Sanorin are not safe to use for a viral infection.
• Drinking plenty of fluids - one of the most effective methods of relieving intoxication, thinning mucus and quickly clearing the respiratory tract is drinking plenty of fluids, even if the child refuses to drink, parents should be very persistent. If you do not insist that the child drinks a sufficiently large amount of liquid, there will also be dry air in the room - this will help dry out the mucous membrane, which can lead to a longer course of the disease or a complication - bronchitis or pneumonia.
• Constant ventilation, the absence of carpets and rugs, daily wet cleaning of the room in which the child is located, humidification and purification of the air using a humidifier and air purifier will help to quickly cope with the virus and prevent pneumonia from developing. Because clean, cool, moist air helps to thin sputum, quickly eliminate toxins through sweat, cough, and wet breath, which allows the child to recover faster.

Acute bronchitis and bronchiolitis - differences from pneumonia

ARVI usually has the following symptoms:

• High temperature in the first 2-3 days of illness (see antipyretics for children)
• Headache, chills, intoxication, weakness
• Qatar of the upper respiratory tract, runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat (not always the case).

In case of acute bronchitis against the background of acute respiratory viral infection, the following symptoms may occur:

• Slight increase in body temperature, usually up to 38C.
• At first the cough is dry, then it becomes wet, there is no shortness of breath, unlike pneumonia.
• Breathing becomes harsh, various scattered wheezes appear on both sides, which change or disappear after coughing.
• The radiograph shows an increase in the pulmonary pattern, and the structure of the roots of the lungs decreases.
• There are no local changes in the lungs.

Bronchiolitis occurs most often in children under one year of age:

• The difference between bronchiolitis and pneumonia can only be determined by X-ray examination, based on the absence of local changes in the lungs. According to the clinical picture, acute symptoms of intoxication and an increase in respiratory failure, the appearance of shortness of breath - are very reminiscent of pneumonia.
• With bronchiolitis, the child’s breathing is weakened, shortness of breath with the participation of auxiliary muscles, the nasolabial triangle becomes bluish, general cyanosis and severe pulmonary heart failure are possible. When listening, a boxy sound and a mass of scattered fine-bubble rales are detected.

Signs of pneumonia in a child

When the infectious agent is highly active, or when the body’s immune response to it is weak, when even the most effective preventive treatment measures do not stop the inflammatory process and the child’s condition worsens, parents can guess from some symptoms that the child needs more serious treatment and urgent medical examination. At the same time, under no circumstances should you start treatment with any traditional method. If it really is pneumonia, not only will this not help, but the condition may worsen and time will be lost for adequate examination and treatment.

Symptoms of pneumonia in a child 2 - 3 years old and older

How can attentive parents determine if they have a cold or viral illness that they should urgently call a doctor and suspect pneumonia in their child? Symptoms that require x-ray diagnostics:

• After an acute respiratory infection or flu, there is no improvement in the condition for 3-5 days, or after a slight improvement, a jump in temperature and increased intoxication and cough reappear.
• Lack of appetite, lethargy of the child, sleep disturbances, and moodiness persist for a week after the onset of the illness.
• The main symptom of the disease remains a severe cough.
• The body temperature is not high, but the child has shortness of breath. At the same time, the number of breaths per minute in a child increases, the norm of breaths per minute in children aged 1-3 years is 25-30 breaths, in children 4-6 years old - the norm is 25 breaths per minute, if the child is in a relaxed, calm state. With pneumonia, the number of breaths becomes greater than these numbers.
• With other symptoms of a viral infection - cough, fever, runny nose, pronounced pallor of the skin is observed.
• If the temperature is high for more than 4 days and antipyretics such as Paracetamol, Efferalgan, Panadol, Tylenol are not effective.

Symptoms of pneumonia in infants, children under one year old

The mother can notice the onset of the disease by changes in the baby’s behavior. If a child constantly wants to sleep, becomes lethargic, apathetic, or vice versa, is capricious a lot, cries, refuses to eat, and the temperature may rise slightly, the mother should immediately consult a pediatrician.

Body temperature

In the first year of life, pneumonia in a child, the symptom of which is considered to be a high, unbroken temperature, is distinguished by the fact that at this age it is not high, does not reach 37.5 or even 37.1-37.3. However, temperature is not an indicator of the severity of the condition.

The first symptoms of pneumonia in an infant

This is causeless anxiety, lethargy, loss of appetite, the baby refuses to breastfeed, sleep becomes restless, short, loose stools appear, there may be vomiting or regurgitation, runny nose and paroxysmal cough, which intensifies while the baby is crying or feeding.

Baby's breathing

Chest pain when breathing and coughing.
Sputum - with a wet cough, purulent or mucopurulent sputum (yellow or green) is released.
Shortness of breath or an increase in the number of respiratory movements in young children is a clear sign of pneumonia in a child. Shortness of breath in infants may be accompanied by nodding of the head in time with breathing, and the baby also puffs out his cheeks and stretches out his lips, sometimes foamy discharge appears from the mouth and nose. A symptom of pneumonia is considered to be exceeding the normal number of breaths per minute:

• In children under 2 months, the norm is up to 50 breaths per minute; over 60 is considered a high frequency.
• In children from 2 months to a year, the norm is 25-40 breaths, if 50 or more, then this is exceeding the norm.
• In children older than one year, the number of breaths exceeding 40 is considered shortness of breath.

The relief of the skin changes when breathing. Attentive parents may also notice retraction of the skin when breathing, usually on one side of the diseased lung. To notice this, you should undress the baby and observe the skin between the ribs; it retracts when breathing.

With extensive lesions, one side of the lung may lag behind during deep breathing. Sometimes you can notice periodic stops in breathing, disturbances in the rhythm, depth, frequency of breathing, and the child’s desire to lie on one side.

Cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle

This is the most important symptom of pneumonia, when blue skin appears between the baby’s lips and nose. This sign is especially pronounced when the baby is breastfeeding. With severe respiratory failure, slight blue discoloration may appear not only on the face, but also on the body.

Chlamydial, mycoplasma pneumonia in a child

Among pneumonias, the causative agents of which are not common bacteria, but various atypical representatives, mycoplasma and chlamydial pneumonia are distinguished. In children, the symptoms of such pneumonia are somewhat different from the course of ordinary pneumonia. Sometimes they are characterized by a hidden, sluggish course. Signs of atypical pneumonia in a child may be as follows:

• The onset of the disease is characterized by a sharp rise in body temperature to 39.5 C, then a persistent low-grade fever forms -37.2-37.5 or even normalization of temperature occurs.
• It is also possible that the disease begins with the usual signs of ARVI - sneezing, sore throat, severe runny nose.
• Persistent dry debilitating cough, shortness of breath may not be constant. This cough usually occurs with acute bronchitis, not pneumonia, which complicates the diagnosis.
• When listening, the doctor is most often presented with scant data: rare wheezing of various sizes, pulmonary percussion sound. Therefore, it is difficult for a doctor to determine atypical pneumonia based on the nature of wheezing, since there are no traditional signs, which greatly complicates the diagnosis.
• There may be no significant changes in the blood test for SARS. But usually there is an increased ESR, neutrophilic leukocytosis, combination with anemia, leukopenia, eosinophilia.
• A chest x-ray reveals a pronounced increase in the pulmonary pattern and heterogeneous focal infiltration of the pulmonary fields.
• Both chlamydia and mycoplasma have the ability to exist for a long time in the epithelial cells of the bronchi and lungs, so most often pneumonia is of a protracted, recurrent nature.
• Treatment of atypical pneumonia in a child is carried out with macrolides (azithromycin, josamycin, clarithromycin), since the pathogens are most sensitive to them (to tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones, too, but they are contraindicated for children).

Indications for hospitalization

The decision about where to treat a child with pneumonia - in a hospital or at home - is made by the doctor, and he takes into account several factors:

• The severity of the condition and the presence of complications - respiratory failure, pleurisy, acute disturbances of consciousness, heart failure, drop in blood pressure, lung abscess, pleural empyema, infectious-toxic shock, sepsis.
• Damage to several lobes of the lung. Treatment of focal pneumonia in a child at home is quite possible, but for lobar pneumonia it is better to treat it in a hospital setting.
• Social indications are poor living conditions, inability to carry out care and doctor’s orders.
• Age of the child - if an infant falls ill, this is grounds for hospitalization, since pneumonia in an infant poses a serious threat to life. If pneumonia develops in a child under 3 years of age, treatment depends on the severity of the condition and most often doctors insist on hospitalization. Older children can be treated at home, provided that the pneumonia is not severe.
• General health - in the presence of chronic diseases, weakened general health of the child, regardless of age, the doctor may insist on hospitalization.

Treatment of pneumonia in a child

How to treat pneumonia in children? Antibiotics are the mainstay of treatment for pneumonia. At a time when doctors did not have antibiotics in their arsenal for bronchitis and pneumonia, pneumonia was a very common cause of death in adults and children, so in no case should you refuse to use them; no folk remedies are effective for pneumonia. Parents are required to strictly follow all the doctor’s recommendations, provide proper care for the child, adhere to the drinking regime, nutrition:

• Taking antibiotics must be carried out strictly on time; if the drug is prescribed 2 times a day, this means that there should be a break of 12 hours between doses; if 3 times a day, then a break of 8 hours (see 11 rules on how to take antibiotics correctly) . Antibiotics are prescribed - penicillins, cephalosporins for 7 days, macrolides (azithromycin, josamycin, clarithromycin) - 5 days. The effectiveness of the drug is assessed within 72 hours - improvement in appetite, decrease in temperature, shortness of breath.
• Antipyretics are used if the temperature is above 39C, in infants above 38C. At first, antipyretic antibiotics are not prescribed, since it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of therapy. It should be remembered that during high temperatures the body produces the maximum amount of antibodies against the pathogen, so if a child can tolerate a temperature of 38C, it is better not to knock it down. This way the body can quickly cope with the microbe that caused pneumonia in the baby. If a child has had at least one episode of febrile convulsions, the temperature should be brought down already at 37.5C.
• Feeding a child with pneumonia - lack of appetite in children during illness is considered natural and the child’s refusal to eat is explained by the increased load on the liver when fighting the infection, so you cannot force feed the child. If possible, you should prepare light food for the patient, exclude any ready-made chemical foods, fried and fatty, try to feed the child simple, easily digestible food - porridge, soups with a weak broth, steamed cutlets from lean meat, boiled potatoes, various vegetables and fruits.
• Oral hydration - in water, natural freshly squeezed diluted juices - carrot, apple, weakly brewed tea with raspberries, rosehip infusion, water-electrolyte solutions are added (Rehydron, etc.).
• Ventilation, daily wet cleaning, and the use of air humidifiers alleviate the baby’s condition, and the love and care of parents works wonders.
• No general tonic (synthetic vitamins), antihistamines, or immunomodulators are used, since they often lead to side effects and do not improve the course and outcome of pneumonia.

Taking antibiotics for pneumonia in a child (uncomplicated) usually does not exceed 7 days (macrolides 5 days), and if you follow bed rest, follow all the doctor’s recommendations, in the absence of complications, the child will quickly recover, but within a month there will still be residual effects in the form cough, slight weakness. With atypical pneumonia, treatment may take longer.

When treated with antibiotics, the intestinal microflora in the body is disrupted, so the doctor prescribes probiotics - RioFlora Immuno, Acipol, Bifiform, Bifidumbacterin, Normobakt, Lactobacterin (see Linex analogues - a list of all probiotic preparations). To remove toxins after completion of therapy, the doctor may prescribe sorbents such as Polysorb, Enterosgel, Filtrum.

If the treatment is effective, the child can be transferred to a general regimen and walks from the 6-10th day of illness, and hardening can be resumed after 2-3 weeks. In case of mild pneumonia, heavy physical activity (sports) is allowed after 6 weeks, in case of complicated pneumonia after 12 weeks.

Pneumonia in a child is an acute infectious disease that occurs with inflammation of the respiratory sections of the lungs. The disease is accompanied by the accumulation of inflammatory fluid in the pulmonary vesicles-alveoli. Symptoms of pneumonia in children are similar to those in adults, but are supplemented by severe fever and intoxication.

The term “acute pneumonia in children” has fallen out of use in medicine, because the very definition of the disease includes characteristics of an acute process. The International Council of Scientific Experts decided to divide pneumonia into groups based on other characteristics that determine the outcome of the disease.

How dangerous is pneumonia?

Despite the progress made in medicine, the incidence of pneumonia in children remains at a high level. Pneumonia is a deadly, life-threatening condition. Child mortality from pneumonia remains quite high. In the Russian Federation, >up to 1000 children die from pneumonia within a year. Basically, this terrible figure unites infants who died from pneumonia before the age of 1 year.

The main causes of death from pneumonia in children:

• Late parents seeking medical help.
• Late diagnosis and delay in proper treatment.
• The presence of concomitant chronic diseases that worsen the prognosis.

In order to make an accurate diagnosis in time and take measures to treat a dangerous disease, you need to know its external signs - symptoms.

The main symptoms of pneumonia in children:

An increase in body temperature in a child is the first symptom of many diseases, for example, a common viral infection (ARI). In order to recognize pneumonia, you should remember: it is not the height of the fever that plays a significant role, but its duration. Microbial pneumonia is characterized by the continuation of fever for more than 3 days against the background of competent treatment of the viral infection.

If we evaluate the significance of symptoms for diagnosing pneumonia in children, the most dangerous sign will be the appearance of shortness of breath. Shortness of breath and tension of additional muscles are more important signs than the presence of wheezing when listening to the chest.

Cough is a symptom characteristic of pneumonia in children. In the first days of illness, the cough may be dry. As acute inflammation of the lung tissue resolves, the cough will become productive and wet.

If a child suffering from a viral respiratory infection (ARI) develops similar symptoms, an urgent need to consult a doctor. Underestimating the severity of the baby’s condition can lead to dire consequences – the development of acute respiratory failure and death from pneumonia.

The doctor will examine the little patient, prescribe an examination and effective treatment. Listening to the lungs in the first days of the disease may not reveal characteristic signs of inflammation. The presence of scattered wheezing during auscultation is often a symptom of bronchitis. To clarify the diagnosis if pneumonia is suspected, an x-ray of the lungs is required. X-ray symptoms of pneumonia are darkening (infiltration) of the lung fields, which confirms the diagnosis.

Laboratory symptoms of pneumonia

Valuable information about the fact of inflammation in the body is provided by a general blood test. Signs that increase the presence of pneumonia: high white blood cell count per 1 cubic meter. mm of blood (more than 15 thousand) and an increase in ESR. ESR is the sedimentation rate of red blood cells. This test reflects the amount of inflammatory metabolic products in the fluid part of the blood. The ESR value shows the intensity of any inflammatory processes, including pneumonia.

How to determine the risk of pneumonia in a child?

The following factors have been identified that increase the risk of pneumonia in children:

• Delayed physical and mental development of the child.
• Low birth weight of a newborn baby.
• Artificial feeding of a baby under 1 year of age.
• Refusal to vaccinate against measles.
• Air pollution (passive smoking).
• Overcrowding in the home where the baby lives.
• Parental smoking, including maternal smoking during pregnancy.
• Lack of the trace element zinc in the diet.
• The mother's inability to care for the baby.
• The presence of concomitant diseases (bronchial asthma, heart disease or digestive system).

What forms can the disease take?

Pneumonia in children varies in causes and mechanism of occurrence. The disease can affect the entire lobe of the lung - this is lobar pneumonia. If inflammation occupies part of a lobe (segment) or several segments, then it is called segmental (polysegmental) pneumonia. If a small group of pulmonary vesicles is affected by inflammation, this variant of the disease will be called “focal pneumonia.”

Doctors divide pneumonia in children according to the conditions of occurrence into home (community-acquired) and hospital-acquired (hospital-acquired). Separate forms are intrauterine pneumonia in newborns and pneumonia with a pronounced lack of immunity. Community-acquired (home-acquired) pneumonia is inflammation of the lungs that occurs in normal home conditions. Hospital-acquired (nosocomial) pneumonia are cases of illness that occurred after 2 or more days of a child’s stay in the hospital for another reason (or within 2 days after discharge from there).

The mechanism of development of pneumonia

The entry of the pathogenic microbe into the respiratory tract can occur in several ways: inhalation, flow of nasopharyngeal mucus, spread through the blood. This route of introduction of a pathogenic microbe depends on its type.

The type of pathogen that causes pneumonia in children depends on several factors: the age of the child, the location of the disease, as well as previous treatment with antibiotics. If within 2 months before the present episode the baby has already taken antibiotics, then the causative agent of the current inflammation of the respiratory tract may be atypical. In 30–50% of cases, community-acquired pneumonia in children can be caused by several types of microbes at the same time.

General rules for the treatment of pneumonia in children

The doctor begins treatment of the disease by immediately prescribing antimicrobial drugs to any patient with suspected pneumonia. The location of treatment is determined by the severity of symptoms.

Sometimes, with a mild course of the disease in children of older age groups, treatment at home is possible. The decision about the place of treatment is made by the doctor, based on the patient’s condition.

Indications for hospital treatment of children with pneumonia are: severity of symptoms and high risk of adverse outcome of the disease:

• The child's age is younger than 2 months, regardless of the severity of symptoms.
• The child is under 3 years of age with lobar pneumonia.
• Inflammation of several lobes of the lungs in a child of any age.
• Severe concomitant diseases of the nervous system.
• Pneumonia of newborns (intrauterine infection).
• Low weight of the baby, delay in its development compared to peers.
• Congenital malformations of organs.
• Chronic concomitant diseases (bronchial asthma; heart, lung, kidney diseases; cancer).
• Patients with decreased immunity for various reasons.
• Inability to provide compassionate care and accurately follow all medical prescriptions at home.

Indications for urgent placement of a child with pneumonia in the pediatric intensive care unit:

• Increased number of respirations >60 per 1 min for babies under one year of age, and for children over one year of age shortness of breath >50 per 1 min.
• Retraction of the intercostal spaces and the jugular fossa (the hole at the beginning of the sternum) during respiratory movements.
• Moaning breathing and disruption of the correct breathing rhythm.
• Fever that cannot be treated.
• Impaired consciousness of the child, the appearance of seizures or hallucinations.

With an uncomplicated course of the disease, body temperature decreases in the first 3 days after the start of antibiotic treatment. External symptoms of the disease gradually decrease in intensity. Radiological signs of recovery can be seen on photographs of the lungs no earlier than 21 days from the start of antibiotic treatment.

In addition to antimicrobial treatment, the patient must remain in bed and drink plenty of fluids. Expectorant medications are prescribed if necessary.

Prevention of pneumonia

Protection against respiratory viral infection plays an important role in preventing the incidence of pneumonia.

It is possible to vaccinate against the main pathogens of pneumonia in children: Haemophilus influenzae and pneumococcus. Currently, safe and effective vaccine tablets have been developed against microbes that cause pneumonia and bronchitis. Drugs from this class, Bronchovaxom and Ribomunil, have a pediatric dosage. They are prescribed by a doctor to prevent such a dangerous disease as pneumonia.

Main signs of pneumonia in children

Signs of pneumonia in children may differ from signs of infection in adults. Pneumonia, or pneumonia, worsens a child's quality of life every 20 seconds.

Unlike adults, children who have pneumonia may not suffer from a nagging cough or fever and may have symptoms of infection that are much more subtle to detect.

Children are at greater risk for pneumonia because their immune systems are not yet fully developed and their defenses are weak.

In general, signs of pneumonia in children vary according to age, but there are many factors that can be used to determine whether your child is developing something more serious or just a runny nose.

How to determine mild pneumonia in a child?

Pneumonia, which is caused by certain bacteria, including mycoplasma and chlamydia, usually results in milder symptoms not only in adults but also in children.

A type of pneumonia known as atypical or recurrent pneumonia is common among school-age children.

Children with walking pneumonia may not feel sick enough to stay home, but they may exhibit the following signs:

• Dry cough.
• Low-grade fever.
• Headache.
• Fatigue.

Mycoplasma pneumonia is responsible for approximately 15 to 50 percent of all cases of pneumonia in adults, but its incidence is even higher among school-age children.

Therefore, “walking” pneumonia, which most often develops in late summer and autumn, spreads from person to person.

Outbreaks of the first signs of pneumonia can occur dramatically within groups that have close contact, such as schools or camps. Children who are already infected with the infection always bring it home and contribute to the general infection of the family without proper measures.

How does moderate pneumonia manifest in children?

Viruses cause most cases of pneumonia in preschoolers under five years of age and in infants from four months of age.

Signs of pneumonia in children are usually associated with other viruses and include the following:

• Angina.
• Cough.
• Low-grade fever.
• Nasal congestion.
• Diarrhea.
• Loss of appetite.
• Lack of energy or fatigue.

Signs of severe pneumonia in children

Bacterial pneumonia is more common among school-aged children and adolescents.

This type of pneumonia often develops more abruptly and has more severe symptoms than previous forms:

• Heat.
• A cough that produces yellowish or green mucus.
• Excessive sweating or chills.
• Reddened skin.
• A bluish tint to the lips or nail beds.
• Wheezing.
• Labored breathing.

It is worth noting

Children with bacterial pneumonia usually appear much sicker than those with other forms of the disease.

Newborns and infants may not show typical symptoms of a pneumonia infection. It is also quite problematic to determine whether babies have a disease, because they cannot communicate their true health, unlike an older child.

The following signs of pneumonia in children may indicate pneumonia:

• A quick glance.
• Lack of energy, melancholy and drowsiness.
• The scream is more pronounced than usual.
• Does not want to eat or eat small portions.
• Irritation and anxiety.
• Vomit.

Antibiotics are often used to treat children who have only recently been hospitalized, especially if the children already have asthma or another chronic illness. The second way in which antibiotics are used is if children have not been fully vaccinated against measles, chicken pox, whooping cough and seasonal flu.

The only way to know for sure whether your child has pneumonia is to see a doctor. A pediatrician or general practitioner can check for fluid in a child's lungs using a stethoscope or x-ray.

By paying close attention to the early symptoms of pneumonia in children, parents can avoid a trip to the emergency room.

However, pneumonia can progress very quickly among children, especially infants.

Two key signs that your baby requires immediate medical attention:

• Increased temperature at the nostrils when breathing.
• Young children with pneumonia will breathe quickly. Doctors say that if you see that a child’s abdominal muscles are working hard, it means he has problems with breathing.

Treatment for pneumonia depends on what caused the infection and can range from outpatient treatment to surgery.

While certain antibiotics can effectively treat fungal pneumonia, the medications are usually ineffective in treating viral types of pneumonia, which tend to be milder and go away on their own.

Pneumonia in children: symptoms and treatment for newborns and children

• Symptoms in children aged 1-3
• Symptoms in infants

Pneumonia is an acute infectious disease of the respiratory system. Pneumonia in children can be primary and develop independently, or secondary, that is, develop as a consequence of another infectious disease previously suffered, such as sinusitis or influenza.

A child of any age, even a newly born child, can get this infection. Nowadays, there are many medications to treat this disease, so the disease can be called less dangerous than it was several decades ago.

However, you should not relax, since pneumonia is a serious illness that must be treated promptly and competently so as not to lead to death.

When infected, swelling of the small bronchi appears in the lungs, causing poor air flow into the body. Namely, this is where the process of exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs. The gas exchange process is hampered and oxygen reaches the internal organs in insufficient quantities for normal functioning.

Important

The doctor who has diagnosed a child with pneumonia must determine the form and severity of the disease. This is the only way to prescribe adequate treatment that will produce results and facilitate the treatment process.

There are several types of inflammation:

• Krupoznoe- one lung is affected. Can be left-handed or right-handed. The baby’s temperature immediately jumps to 39-40 degrees. Pain is felt in the lung and abdomen area, a wet cough with sputum appears, red rashes are found throughout the body;
• Focal. Diagnosed in children aged 1-3 years. Affects the entire area of ​​the lung. This form is considered secondary and appears as a result of bronchitis. The first symptoms are high fever, dry and deep cough. This type of disease can be cured only by long-term use of the necessary medications. Treatment lasts 2-3 weeks;
• Segmental. Partially affects the child's lung. In this case, the child does not want to eat or play, sleeps poorly, and a temperature of 37-38 degrees appears. There may be virtually no cough, which is why this type of disease is often difficult to detect from the first days of its appearance;
• Staphylococcal. This type of infection affects newborns and infants up to one year of age. The main symptoms are shortness of breath, vomiting, coughing and wheezing with heavy breathing. ESR and leukocytosis in the blood test will be higher than normal. With timely and correct treatment, the disease will begin to recede in 1.5 - 2 months. After this, the baby will undergo 10 days of rehabilitation.

Pneumonia: symptoms in children from one to three years old

According to statistics, children most often suffer from lung inflammation. All this is explained by the underdeveloped respiratory system in children under three years of age. The baby’s organs are still just forming and developing, so they cannot fully resist infections. In children under three years of age, the lung tissue is not yet mature, the airways are small and narrow, and the mucous membranes are saturated with blood vessels, which is why they instantly swell as a result of infection, which leads to deterioration of ventilation.

In addition, the ciliated epithelium cannot yet quickly remove sputum, which increases several times during the disease. As a result, the infection quietly penetrates the body, settles in the organs and multiplies, leading to severe inflammation.

Parents can guess about pneumonia by certain signs and symptoms. If the disease does not recede, but rather gains strength. If the child’s immunity weakens every day and all the medical procedures performed do not lead to the desired result, it is urgent to show the child to the doctor and think about serious treatment.

Important

In such cases, you should not self-medicate and risk the health and life of the baby. This can only worsen the child’s condition, and time for quick and painless treatment will be missed.

• Symptoms of pneumonia in children aged two and three years appear the same.
• Parents should identify them as soon as possible and urgently call a doctor at home.
• Within 3-5 days from the onset of the development of a cold or flu, the child’s condition does not improve, the temperature constantly fluctuates and the cough intensifies.
• The child refuses to eat, sleeps poorly, is capricious and does not want to do anything for about a week after the onset of the illness.
• The main symptom is a strong choking cough.
• Shortness of breath and slight fever may also be present, indicating an inflammatory process in the small body.
• The child begins to breathe frequently and intensely, but cannot inhale air normally.

Important

Children 1-3 years old should take 25-30 breaths; at older ages, the norm is reduced to 25 breaths per minute.

With pneumonia, a child breathes more often than usual. There is a cough, runny nose, fever and pallor. If a high temperature persists for more than three days in a row, it is necessary to take antipyretic drugs.

Pneumonia: symptoms of pneumonia in infants

A mother must constantly monitor the condition of her baby, since pneumonia in newborns manifests itself immediately and this will be visible in the child’s behavior.

If the baby whines all the time, behaves lethargically and is indifferent to the world around him, or cries all the time, does not want to eat, and at the same time the baby’s temperature rises, it is worth taking the child to the doctor.

Most often, pneumonia is diagnosed in babies who are bottle-fed. Children with diathesis, rickets and other diseases are also susceptible to this disease. The main symptoms indicating pneumonia in infants:

• Temperature. In the first year with pneumonia, the temperature may not be high, unlike in older children. It can stay within 37 degrees, sometimes rising to 37.5 degrees. In addition, temperature at this age will not indicate the severity of the disease;
• Unnatural behavior. The baby behaves restlessly, reacts poorly to others, refuses food and breastfeeding, and tosses and turns and cries all the time in his sleep. Vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose and severe cough may also begin;
• Breath. It becomes painful for the baby to breathe. When you cough, purulent and mucous formations are released. Shortness of breath and rapid breathing appear. Sometimes foamy discharge may come from the nose and mouth.

  Important

  The norm for newborns is 50 breaths per minute. From two months to a year, children take 25–40 breaths. If the number of breaths increases, the baby may have pneumonia.

  You can also observe how the child's skin retracts as he breathes. This usually occurs on the part of the diseased lung. To do this, you need to undress the child and see how the skin behaves between the ribs;

• Cyanosis nasolabial triangle. This symptom is manifested by blue skin above the upper lip and under the nose. The skin especially turns blue during breastfeeding.

Children under three years of age who have been diagnosed with pneumonia can be treated either in hospital or at home. It all depends on the severity of the disease and the condition of the little patient.

The doctor must identify the type of pneumonia, on the basis of which the risks of complications will be determined.

• Pneumonia in children can be treated at home if the baby is not intoxicated and breathing and the functioning of internal organs are not impaired.
• In addition, the doctor must be sure that the child’s living conditions will be favorable for his treatment and will not cause complications.
• In this case, the doctor must visit the patient every day until the baby’s condition can be called satisfactory, but stable. If the child’s improved condition lasts for several days, the doctor can visit the patient once every 2-3 days.

Treatment of newborns and children up to 3 years must be spent in a hospital. Also, children with respiratory failure, rickets, and immunodeficiency should be under constant medical supervision. Children who do not show improvement within 1-2 days from the moment of treatment are subject to urgent hospitalization.

Children with pneumonia are prescribed bed rest in a ventilated room with air humidity of 50-60%.

• The child's torso and head should be elevated in a horizontal position.
• It is necessary to drink a lot so that the blood thins and sputum forms, which removes all the infection from the body.
• A complex treatment is prescribed, the basis of which is antibacterial therapy.

Before prescribing antibiotics, it is necessary to determine the presence of allergic reactions to any type of medication in the baby and his close relatives. Initially, a broad-spectrum antibiotic is selected, which the child will take until all test results are received and the causative agent and type of disease are determined.

Typically the course of antibiotics is 7-10 days. In severe forms, the course can be extended. In addition, antifungal agents and probiotics with vitamins are prescribed to support the body and improve immunity.

If antibiotics do not improve the patient’s condition within two days, the drug is urgently changed to another. After the temperature subsides and stops rising, and shortness of breath and wheezing during breathing also decrease, treatment is continued for another couple of days. Antibiotics are stopped only after the child is completely healed.

In order for the sputum to clear well from the baby’s body, stimulants and coughing agents are used, thanks to which the bronchial secretions are liquefied and removed from the body.

For this purpose, herbal, synthetic and semi-synthetic medicines are used, the basis of which is medicinal plants.

Antipyretics may also be prescribed:

• Babies under 3 months with a temperature of 38 degrees and febrile convulsions;
• At a temperature of 39-40 degrees;
• For toxicosis and poor condition of the child.

After recovery from a serious illness, the rehabilitation process begins, during which the child is prescribed therapeutic respiratory exercise, warm inhalations and chest massage.

The doctor must monitor the condition of the baby and his internal organs. After recovery, you must undergo the necessary tests to determine the need to take medications to restore the normal functioning of all the child’s organs. The baby should visit the pediatrician every month for a year.

Every year, according to statistics, 150 million children aged 1-5 years and younger suffer from pneumonia. Of these, 70% of all cases are associated with viruses that can be treated without antibiotics, 20% are infected with bacteria, and only 10% of all identified diseases require hospital treatment.

A doctor can determine whether a child has pneumonia based on basic signs, blood test results, and lung X-rays. And first of all, it is necessary to determine the causative agent of the disease. Dr. Komarovsky argues that pneumonia in children does not need to be treated in a hospital.

Medical attention is only necessary if the child is in poor condition and begins to choke. There are specific symptoms that require immediate medical attention.

Dr. Komarovsky highlights several:

1. Cough became the main symptom of the disease;
2. Worse after improvement;
3. Any cold that lasts more than a week;
4. Coughing attacks when breathing deeply;
5. Pronounced pallor of the skin;
6. Shortness of breath and lack of effect from antipyretics.

As it turns out, injections are not always necessary. There are many analogues in syrups and tablets that are also effective. Therefore, if a child can swallow pills, it is not necessary to give him injections.

To prevent the disease, the child must live and develop in normal conditions, eat a balanced diet and walk in the fresh air more often.

Pneumonia - symptoms in children

The phrase “pneumonia” and such a concept as pneumonia are synonymous. But in everyday life, people prefer to call the disease pneumonia. The term “pneumonia” is used primarily by doctors.

Causes of pneumonia in children

Pneumonia is a fairly common disease, common in children due to the structure of the respiratory system. As a rule, the disease is secondary, that is, a complication after suffering from acute respiratory viral infection, influenza, bronchitis, intestinal infection, and is caused by numerous bacteria, such as streptococci and pneumococci.

This is the generally accepted opinion. But not everyone knows that pneumonia can also occur after a fracture, after severe poisoning and burns. After all, lung tissue, in addition to its respiratory function, also filters blood, neutralizing decay products and various harmful substances formed when tissues die. Also, pneumonia in infants can occur due to congenital heart disease, immunodeficiency, and in newborns - due to amniotic fluid entering the respiratory tract during childbirth.

Symptoms of pneumonia in children

In children, the signs and course of pneumonia directly depend on age. The smaller the child, the less obvious they are, like in older children. Any cold can develop into pneumonia due to the fact that in an infant the epithelium lining the respiratory tract has a loose, loose structure, and viruses easily settle in it.

Sputum, which is assigned the role of protector of lung tissue, ceases to perform its functions. It becomes more viscous as the body loses fluid due to increased temperature, and begins to clog the bronchi, making breathing difficult. Pathogenic microbes accumulate in areas of blockage, and inflammation begins in this area.

Body temperature can be between 37.3° - 37.5°, and can rise to 39° and above.

A prolonged cough, first dry and then wet, is almost the main indicator of the disease. Sometimes there may be chest pain, and in older age, body aches.

So, if, against the background of a common cold, the baby’s temperature persists for more than three days, then it is advisable to call a doctor who will send the child for an x-ray. Because it is with its help that the diagnosis of “pneumonia” is made.

Treatment of pneumonia in children

As in the treatment of the majority of colds, when treating pneumonia, due attention should be paid to the conditions in which the sick child is located.

The air should be cool and humid. If you do not have a household humidifier, you can use a simple method - place containers of water in the room and hang wet terry towels on the radiators. The air should under no circumstances be overheated, as this will cause the child to lose even more fluid. It is necessary to carry out daily wet cleaning without the use of chemicals.

The drinking regime must be observed very strictly to avoid dehydration and intoxication of the body. Your child can drink any warm liquid.

Temperatures below 38.5°, as a rule, do not go astray, so as not to interfere with the production of interferon, which fights the disease.

Both bilateral and unilateral pneumonia in children are treated in the same way.

The main medical treatment for pneumonia is taking antibiotics. They are prescribed in the form of tablets, suspensions or intramuscular injections, depending on the severity of the disease.

Parents need to remember that pneumonia in children, especially infants, is a serious disease. And, if treated incorrectly, it is fraught with complications. Mostly, treatment of young children is carried out in a hospital setting.

Signs of pneumonia in a child

Very often, childhood colds can be complicated by pneumonia. This is a very serious disease that is difficult to diagnose and treat. Pneumonia can be different, depending on which zone of inflammation is covered. Most often, children under three years of age suffer from complex forms of pneumonia; they have an atypical course because children cannot cough up sputum and do not say in which area they feel pain. In young children, pneumonia is almost unheard of, because children are restless and cry. It is very important to identify this disease in advance so that there are no serious complications.

Causes of pneumonia in children

Most often, pneumonia occurs due to microbes – pneumococci. In children under 3 years of age, pneumonia can be caused by staphylococcus, very rarely by chlamydial or microplasma pathogens; pneumonia in children also occurs due to several microbes.

Pneumonia is very rarely spontaneous in children; most often it is a consequence of a viral infection or a complication after the flu. This appears due to the fact that a cold reduces immunity in the respiratory tract and the immune system stops fighting. Due to the fact that viruses infect the mucous membranes in the respiratory tract, the microbes that are in the upper and lower respiratory tract are not completely destroyed, they begin to multiply more strongly, and form a microbial process and pneumonia.

Often, children who are very overtired, hypothermic, or have frozen feet are at risk of contracting pneumonia. A cold becomes more complicated when the baby is surrounded by pneumococci and other microbes; both children and adults can carry them. Pneumonia also develops if microbes or other infectious foci - kidney or intestinal - have been introduced into the blood. When heat and humidity dominate the lung tissue, microbes multiply rapidly and pneumonia develops.

The danger of pneumonia for children

For infants, this is a deadly disease, when germs begin to invade the lungs, they begin to destroy tissue, and swelling and inflammation can occur. Thus, the permeability of the lungs to oxygen is disrupted, that is, the child begins to suffocate, while a metabolic disorder is noticeable, carbon dioxide is removed from the tissues, and they are no longer supplied with oxygen.

When inflammation occurs, a lot of toxins begin to appear, because of this, intoxication occurs in the child’s body and the general state of health is disrupted, this further worsens the patient’s well-being. It is important to consider how much tissue in the lung is affected; this determines how severe the disease is.

Types of pneumonia in children

1. Focal pneumonia occurs when a small area of ​​the lung becomes inflamed.

2. Segmental pneumonia occurs when only a certain segment of the lung becomes inflamed; this lesion is more extensive than the previous one.

3. Lobar pneumonia is considered a very severe form because breathing is impaired due to the fact that a large section of lung tissue may fall out.

4. Total pneumonia is very dangerous for a child, it affects the entire lung, it comes in two types - one-sided and two-sided. This is a serious disease.

Pneumonia is characterized by the fact that metabolism is disrupted, because inflammation of the lung begins to affect all systems of the body. At the same time, microbes release toxins and can damage nerve tissue, while consciousness is depressed and the person feels overexcited. Hypoxia can also occur, because of this, blood circulation increases, while a person feels a strong load on the cardiovascular system, because of this he loses a lot of weight and develops neurasthenia. It is very important to recognize the symptoms of pneumonia in time and start treatment on time; if it is not treated in time, it can have serious and disastrous consequences for the child.

How does pneumonia manifest in different types of children?

Pneumonia depends on the area of ​​inflammation; if it is large and active, then the disease will be severe. Most often, pneumonia in children is well treated.

Bronchopneumonia or focal pneumonia is a complication of ARVI; it can begin with a common cold, runny nose, cough and drowsiness, then the infection goes very deep. The virus begins to infect the bronchi, then the lung tissue, microbes join it and the disease worsens.

Signs of pneumonia in children

1. A sharp deterioration in the baby’s health.

2. The appearance of a very dry or wet cough that is deep.

3. Shortness of breath may occur during breastfeeding, crying and physical activity, and even during sleep.

4. The pectoral cellular muscles begin to take part in breathing.

5. The temperature rises from 38 to 39 degrees, and practically does not go down.

6. If the baby has problems with immunity, there may not be a fever and, on the contrary, the body temperature decreases.

7. Body temperature during pneumonia lasts for several days, even after active treatment has begun.

8. When examined, the baby is pale; blue discoloration may appear around the mouth and nose.

9. The child is restless, eats poorly and sleeps a lot.

10. When listening to the bronchi, harsh breathing may be observed, this indicates inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.

11. Small wheezing can be heard above the lungs, they are moist, they do not disappear after the baby coughs.

12. Tachycardia may be observed in the heart, vomiting and nausea are noted, the stomach hurts, loose stools appear, and because of this, an intestinal infection also occurs.

13. With pneumonia, the liver becomes enlarged.

14. The child arrives in serious condition.

So, it is very important to diagnose lung disease in a child in time and begin timely treatment, this way you can get rid of complications and help the child cope with the disease. The disease can be diagnosed using an x-ray; the image shows darkened areas of the lung, this indicates inflammation and hardening of the tissue. A general blood test shows an increased number of leukocytes, which also indicates an inflammatory process.

The first signs of pneumonia in children and adults

Pneumonia is a disease that is of infectious origin and is characterized by inflammation of the lung tissue when provoking physical or chemical factors occur, such as:

• Complications after viral diseases (influenza, ARVI), atypical bacteria (chlamydia, mycoplasma, legionella)
• Exposure to the respiratory system of various chemical agents - toxic vapors and gases (see chlorine in household chemicals is hazardous to health)
• Radioactive radiation, which is associated with infection
• Allergic processes in the lungs - allergic cough, COPD, bronchial asthma
• Thermal factors - hypothermia or burns of the respiratory tract
• Inhalation of liquids, food, or foreign bodies can cause aspiration pneumonia.

The cause of the development of pneumonia is the emergence of favorable conditions for the proliferation of various pathogenic bacteria in the lower respiratory tract. The original causative agent of pneumonia is the Aspergillus fungus, which was the culprit in the sudden and mysterious deaths of researchers of the Egyptian pyramids. Owners of poultry or fanciers of urban pigeons may become ill with chlamydial pneumonia.

Today all pneumonias are divided into:

• community-acquired, arising under the influence of various infectious and non-infectious agents outside the walls of hospitals
• hospital infections, which cause nosocomial microbes that are often very resistant to traditional antibacterial treatment.

The frequency of detection of various infectious pathogens in community-acquired pneumonia is presented in the table.

When the diagnosis is confirmed, depending on the type of pathogen, the age of the patient, the presence of concomitant diseases, appropriate therapy is carried out; in severe cases, treatment must be carried out in a hospital setting; in mild forms of inflammation, hospitalization of the patient is not necessary.

The characteristic first signs of pneumonia, the extent of the inflammatory process, acute development and the danger of serious complications if not treated in a timely manner are the main reasons for the population to urgently seek medical help. Currently, a fairly high level of development of medicine, improved diagnostic methods, as well as a huge list of broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs have significantly reduced the mortality rate from pneumonia (see antibiotics for bronchitis).

Typical first signs of pneumonia in adults

The main symptom of the development of pneumonia is a cough, usually at first it is dry, obsessive and persistent (see antitussives, expectorants for dry cough), but in rare cases, the cough at the onset of the disease may be rare and not severe. Then, as inflammation develops, the cough during pneumonia becomes wet with the release of mucopurulent sputum (yellow-green).

Any cold viral disease should not last more than 7 days, and a sharp deterioration in condition 4-7 days after the onset of acute respiratory viral infection or flu indicates the onset of an inflammatory process in the lower respiratory tract.

Body temperature can be very high up to 39-40C, or it can remain subfebrile 37.1-37.5C ​​(with atypical pneumonia). Therefore, even with low body temperature, cough, weakness and other signs of malaise, you should definitely consult a doctor. A repeated jump in temperature after a light interval during the course of a viral infection should be alarming.

If a patient has a very high temperature, then one of the signs of inflammation in the lungs is the ineffectiveness of antipyretic drugs.

Pain when taking a deep breath and coughing. The lung itself does not hurt, since it is devoid of pain receptors, but the involvement of the pleura in the process gives a pronounced pain syndrome.

In addition to cold symptoms, the patient experiences shortness of breath and pale skin.
General weakness, increased sweating, chills, and decreased appetite are also characteristic of intoxication and the onset of an inflammatory process in the lungs.

If such symptoms appear either in the midst of a cold, or several days after improvement, these may be the first signs of pneumonia. The patient should immediately consult a doctor to undergo a full examination:

• Take blood tests - general and biochemical
• Take a chest x-ray and, if necessary, a computed tomography scan
• Submit sputum for culture and determine the sensitivity of the pathogen to antibiotics
• Submit sputum for culture and microscopic determination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The main first signs of pneumonia in children

Symptoms of pneumonia in children have several features. Attentive parents may suspect the development of pneumonia if the child has the following ailments:

• Temperature

Body temperature above 38C, lasting more than three days, not brought down by antipyretic drugs; there may also be a low temperature of up to 37.5, especially in young children. In this case, all the signs of intoxication appear - weakness, increased sweating, lack of appetite. Young children (as well as older people) may not experience high temperature surges with pneumonia. This is due to imperfect thermoregulation and immaturity of the immune system.

• Breath

Rapid shallow breathing is observed: in babies up to 2 months of age, 60 breaths per minute, up to 1 year, 50 breaths, after a year, 40 breaths per minute. Often the child spontaneously tries to lie on one side. Parents may notice another sign of pneumonia in a child; if you undress the baby, then when breathing from the side of the diseased lung, you can notice retraction of the skin in the spaces between the ribs and a lag in the breathing process of one side of the chest. Breathing rhythm disturbances may appear, with periodic pauses in breathing, changes in the depth and frequency of breathing. In infants, shortness of breath is characterized by the fact that the child begins to nod his head in rhythm with breathing, the baby may stretch out his lips and puff out his cheeks, and foamy discharge may appear from the nose and mouth.

• Atypical pneumonia

Inflammation of the lungs caused by mycoplasma and chlamydia differ in that at first the disease goes away like a cold, a dry cough, runny nose, and sore throat appear, but the presence of shortness of breath and a persistently high temperature should alert parents to the development of pneumonia.

• Character of the cough

Due to a sore throat, at first only a cough may appear, then the cough becomes dry and painful, which intensifies when the baby cries or feeds. Later the cough becomes wet.

• Child behavior

Children with pneumonia become capricious, whiny, lethargic, their sleep is disturbed, sometimes they may completely refuse to eat, as well as diarrhea and vomiting, and in infants - regurgitation and refusal to breastfeed.

• Blood analysis

A general blood test reveals changes indicating an acute inflammatory process - increased ESR, leukocytosis, neutrophilia. Shift of the leukoformula to the left with an increase in band and segmented leukocytes. With viral pneumonia, along with a high ESR, an increase in leukocytes is observed at the expense of lymphocytes.

With timely consultation with a doctor, adequate therapy and proper care for a sick child or adult, pneumonia does not lead to serious complications. Therefore, at the slightest suspicion of pneumonia, you should provide medical assistance to the patient as soon as possible.

Modern medicine makes it possible to successfully treat pneumonia in children, but a prerequisite for a favorable outcome is timely diagnosis and the prescription of adequate treatment. Pneumonia in a child is dangerous, which can occur when signs of the disease are detected too late.

Causes of pneumonia in a child

The smaller the child, the more vulnerable he is to various diseases. The reason is the imperfection of the growing organism, anatomical and physiological. Age-related characteristics that influence the development of pneumonia in children are:

• insufficient development of the respiratory system, its functional instability;
• smaller airway lumen than in adults;
• immaturity of lung tissue;
• delicacy of the mucous membranes lining the respiratory tract;
• abundance of blood vessels in the mucous membranes;
• abdominal breathing, which impedes gas exchange in case of any, even minor, intestinal problem;
• general immaturity of the body's immune system.

The risk of pneumonia increases in cases where the baby was born or underweight, with artificial feeding and lack of quality care. Children who grow up with smoking parents get sick more often.

Endogenous and exogenous pathogens

Pneumonia as a disease is characterized by polyetiology - a variety of pathogens that cause an inflammatory process in the lungs. Mycoplasma also ranks first in frequency; they are found in almost a third of sick children. Every fourth child with pneumonia is diagnosed with pneumococcus.

Pathogens also differ depending on age and environmental factors. In children who do not have contact with other children and do not attend preschool institutions, the inflammatory process is more often caused by pneumococcus. Kindergarten and primary schoolchildren are affected by mycoplasma. Chlamydia is the causative agent of the disease in adolescent schoolchildren.

Pneumonia in children is caused by both exogenous pathogens (located in the environment) and representatives of the internal nasopharyngeal bacterial microflora (endogenous pathogen). An endogenous factor can be aspiration of vomit and belching (pathogens are staphylococcus and E. coli). Various factors can activate your own bacteria:

• hypothermia;
• avitaminosis;
• diseases of the cardiovascular system;
• colds.

The primary (lobar) form develops after pathogens enter the respiratory tract, and secondary pneumonia in a child can be caused by acute respiratory diseases. Pneumonia can be the result of a descending infection, not only bacterial, but also viral. Some types of pneumonia have. Secondary pneumonia () is much more common.

Inflammation caused by so-called hospital-acquired strains in a child hospitalized due to another disease is especially difficult to treat. Nosocomial infections are resistant to drug treatment using.

The clinical picture of the development of pneumonia in children depends on several factors:

• pathogen;
• patient's age;
• tissues involved in the inflammatory process (unilateral or bilateral pneumonia, focal, lobar, etc.).

The classification divides pneumonia into unilateral and bilateral, etc. When the infection spreads to surrounding tissues, symptoms of the corresponding disease are observed (, etc.).

The symptoms of this disease may be similar to the clinical picture of other respiratory diseases, and therefore differential diagnosis is necessary. Any slightest sign of the disease must be treated carefully, because pneumonia in children develops very quickly, and in the absence of proper timely treatment, complications, even death, should be feared.

Hard breath

The very first sign of pneumonia is that the patient begins to breathe heavily and rapidly. This is caused by the fact that the inflamed lung tissue cannot take part in gas exchange and falls out of the respiratory process. This condition is called respiratory failure. To replenish the missing oxygen, the patient has to make more breathing movements, breathing is heavy and tense. At the same time, the child flares his nostrils, his nasolabial triangle turns pale, and then acquires a bluish tint.

Long-term colds

Parents should be alert to a persistent cold that lasts more than a week and is accompanied by a high fever. At the same time, antipyretic drugs bring temporary relief: the temperature quickly returns to its previous level. The highest temperature, up to 40 °C, is observed in children older than 6–7 years. This is the body's natural defense reaction to infection. Pneumonia in younger children may be accompanied by a fever not exceeding a low-grade fever due to a weak immune system. This is dangerous because pneumonia can masquerade as a common cold.

Cough

The symptom can be of varying intensity and nature, in some cases there is a dry cough for a long time, and in other sick children the cough is very strong, paroxysmal, and in acute pneumonia it is suffocating.

Pneumonia in infants is accompanied by difficulty breathing and coughing attacks, during which the nasolabial area becomes distinctly pale and takes on a grayish tint. Temperatures can rise to 38°C or higher. The baby breathes through the mouth, as the nasal passages are blocked due to swelling of the nasal mucosa.

It is common for children of all ages to have pneumonia when they are unable to breathe deeply. Attempts to take a deep breath end in a fit of suffocating coughing.

Atypical form

Most cases are mistaken for bronchitis and treated accordingly. Subsequently, inappropriate treatment can lead to chronicity of the disease and relapse of inflammation. Listening with a phonendoscope does not make it possible to diagnose the disease with high accuracy; more accurate diagnostic methods are needed.

Diagnostic measures

Self-determination of the disease, as well as self-treatment, does not lead to anything good. A sick baby should be shown to a doctor for a comprehensive examination.

Pneumonia in children can be diagnosed at the very beginning of the disease. To do this you need:

• fully examine the child to assess his condition;
• listen to the lungs;
• undergo an x-ray examination;
• take a blood test.

X-rays should be taken in two projections (anterior and lateral) in order to assess as accurately as possible how much inflammation the lungs have. A blood test will not only indicate the presence of a focus of inflammation, but will also help to accurately identify the pathogen. Without this, it is impossible to prescribe the necessary medication course of treatment.

Information from parents will complement the clinical picture as much as possible. The younger the children, the more attentive mothers and fathers should be to their health, so that they can then answer the doctor’s questions instead of the child, when the first signs appeared, whether there was a cough initially, etc.

Treatment of pneumonia in children

Pneumonia in a child can be treated only in accordance with the doctor’s recommendations. Traditional anti-cold and restorative drugs serve only as an addition to the main therapy. It is forbidden:

• stop taking medications;
• at your discretion, replace some drugs with others;
• increase or decrease the dose of the drug.

The basis of drug treatment is antibiotics. The susceptibility of a particular pathogen to a given antibiotic drug is determined based on an assessment of the condition of a small patient after three days of taking the prescribed medication.

The interval between taking tablets (injections) must be strictly observed: a double dose means a dose after 12 hours, a three-time dose means a dose after 8 hours. This is necessary in order to maintain the required concentration of the active substance of the drug in the blood, otherwise the effectiveness of treatment will decrease.

You should not take antibiotic drugs longer than the prescribed course of treatment (a week for cephalosporins and penicillins, 5 days for macrolides), as dysbiosis may develop.

If appetite improves, we can say that the treatment is effective

Antipyretic medications are prescribed for use only at temperatures above 38 °C in children under one year of age and above 39 °C after one year. If a child experiences convulsions even at low-grade fever, an antipyretic is necessary. We can talk about the effectiveness of therapy if:

• appetite improved;
• breathing became easier, shortness of breath decreased;
• the temperature has dropped.

If this does not happen three days after the start of treatment, drug therapy needs to be adjusted.

Complementary therapy

Medicines are prescribed to thin the mucus and make it easier to cough up. Drinking plenty of fluids will ease the child’s condition: when the body is dehydrated, the mucus thickens, which makes coughing difficult. Vitamin complexes may be prescribed to maintain strength. Care and nutrition are an essential part of treatment. The child needs to ensure cleanliness and humidity in the room. Meals should be light.

Indications for hospitalization if pneumonia develops in a child

Pneumonia in children under three years of age can only be treated in a hospital setting: at this age, children do not yet have strong immunity, the body’s defenses are weak, so qualified personnel must monitor the patients’ condition.

Children over three years of age are subject to hospitalization in cases where:

• there is no possibility of proper care and treatment at home;
• the child is in serious condition;
• pneumonia accompanies chronic diseases.

The doctor may insist on hospitalization even in the absence of these reasons.

Danger and possible complications of pneumonia

The main danger with pneumonia is the development. Other dangers and complications include:

• a sharp drop in pressure accompanied by heart failure;
• respiratory failure;
• disturbance of consciousness;
• convulsive state;
• sepsis;
• accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity;
• infectious-toxic shock.

If you suspect the development of any of these conditions, you should seek medical help if pneumonia is treated at home.

Which doctor should I contact?

If you have a low temperature, you should contact your pediatrician

If you suspect pneumonia, you should not take your child to the clinic, since there is a high risk of “catching” another infectious disease against the background of a weakened immune system. In case of initial symptoms, you need to call your local pediatrician at home, and in case of sudden high fever and other acute symptoms, you need to call an ambulance.

Early diagnosis and rapid initiation of treatment, compliance with all doctor’s instructions will help cure a child of pneumonia and avoid complications and relapses. To improve health, preventive measures are mandatory.

Pneumonia is a disease that can often be found in children of all ages. Pneumonia is a complex disease of the respiratory tract, both when establishing a diagnosis and when prescribing treatment. Everything will depend on how extensively the lungs are affected. Given the age, signs of pneumonia in a 3-year-old child may have their own characteristics. Based on the clinical severity of the disease, the diagnosis can be made immediately or additional studies will be required. Symptoms and treatment for a child with pneumonia will be individual.

Pneumonia is an infection of the lung tissue. When the disease occurs, the infection penetrates into the lowest parts of the respiratory system, as a result of which the affected area of ​​the organ is not able to perform its respiratory function (assimilate oxygen, release carbon dioxide). Therefore, this disease is much more severe than other respiratory infections.

During illness, damage to the alveoli and lung tissue often occurs. Inflammation has various origins and can be caused by:

Based on the area of ​​the disease, pneumonia can be:

• focal;
• segmental;
• shared;
• drain;
• total.

When one of the lungs is affected, the inflammation is called unilateral. If there is inflammation of 2 lungs, then this is bilateral inflammation.

The disease can also develop independently or be a complication of a previous infection.

Factors of infection include:

• hospital (nosocomial) pneumonia;
• community-acquired;
• illness resulting from medical intervention;
• aspiration;
• atypical.

Treatment of pneumonia in children aged 3 years is aimed at eliminating the pathogen, reducing the manifestation of symptoms, and supporting the protective function of the body. The main thing is to correctly determine the factor in the development of the disease, then the treatment will be effective.

It is important to know that the contagiousness of the disease depends on the pathogen. Pneumonia is often contagious. This is a typical pneumonia that is caused by pneumococcus. In addition to pneumonia, this microbe affects the middle ear, manifesting itself as otitis media, and meningitis also develops. Even a patient who has had an infection can be an asymptomatic carrier of pneumonia. Therefore, you may not notice who became the carrier of the infection from which the child became infected.

However, the manifestation of pneumonia also depends on viral illnesses that last a long time. In this case, the bacterial disease is transformed into a viral infection, since the child’s immunity is reduced.

Causes of the disease

The disease in children may differ in manifestations and speed of development. It is often severe and requires inpatient treatment.

Pneumonia in young children is rarely contagious and more often manifests itself as a complication of sore throat or bronchitis.

Factors that contribute to the development of pneumonia in children aged 3 years.

1. Oxygen starvation of the baby during pregnancy or during childbirth.
2. Injuries, complications during childbirth.
3. Problems opening the lungs after birth.
4. Prematurity of the child.
5. Anemia, rickets.
6. Developmental delay.
7. Infection of the child's mother with chdamidia, herpes.
8. Weak immunity.
9. Heart disease.
10. Hereditary diseases.
11. Digestive disorder.
12. Lack of vitamins.

Pneumonia also develops when inhaling chemical fumes, allergic processes in the body, hypothermia, or overheating of the respiratory tract. In a three-year-old child, various processes that weaken organ tissue can provoke an inflammatory process.

Most often, the disease manifests itself against the background of an acute respiratory disease or influenza. Due to the action of the virus, the body's protective function weakens, for this reason, painful microorganisms cause inflammation. Bacteria are present in the air, on surrounding objects, toys. Children can also become infected from a patient who has a purulent-inflammatory formation.

Children aged three years have difficulty coughing up mucus, which is why it accumulates in the organs, which leads to the development of pathogens.

Pneumonia in a child can be caused by improper treatment of a respiratory illness. In this case, you should not independently treat the child. This is especially true for preventive courses and antibiotic therapy.

Why does the disease recur?

Quite often the disease affects children as young as three years old. Recurrence of the disease is no exception. This occurs due to the fact that the causative agent of the disease has not been completely eliminated from the body. Therefore, during a decrease in the immune system, bacteria again cause an inflammatory process in the lungs.

Recurrences of pneumonia pose a danger to the child due to severe intoxication of the body.

The reasons that lead to relapse of inflammation include:

• chronic illnesses (heart defects);
• cystic fibrosis;
• the wrong drug is prescribed, which is aimed at combating bacteria during the treatment of primary manifestation pneumonia;
• weakened immunity.

If pneumonia often occurs in children, a full examination is necessary to identify the factor that contributes to the weakening of the body's protective function.

Signs of the disease

With high activity of the infectious agent or with a weakened protective function of the body against this pathogen, when the use of effective medications does not bring a positive result, any parent can guess from individual symptoms that their child needs serious treatment and an urgent examination by a pediatrician.

Most often, the occurrence of pneumonia depends on the level and extent of infection of the organ. If the area of ​​inflammation is large and actively developing, then the disease can manifest itself clearly and be difficult to develop. In most cases, pneumonia does not develop severely and is treatable.

The main symptoms of pneumonia in a child aged 3 years are as follows::

• stuffy nose or runny nose;
• sneezing;
• weak and lethargic condition;
• constantly want to sleep;
• decreased appetite;
• pale skin;
• temperature increased;
• cough.

Focal (bronchopneumonia) is characterized by its occurrence as a complication or development of acute respiratory viral infection. The disease initially manifests itself as a common cold. The child has a runny nose, is snotty, and coughs. Relative to the rate of development of pulmonary disease, the infection drops lower. Rarely, viral infections initially affect the bronchi and then spread to the lungs. Then the microbial flora joins in, and the child’s health worsens after 5 days of illness.

The child suffers from shortness of breath, which occurs during physical exertion and while crying. Also, shortness of breath can occur, even in a quiet position and during sleep.

While the child is breathing, noises in the lungs can be heard from a distance. The wings of the nose are inflated, and breathing is also carried out by the muscles of the chest.

Basically, the disease is accompanied by an increase in temperature, it reaches 39 degrees, in some cases higher, it is not easy to lower it. Although in young children of this age, pneumonia can occur without temperature or with a decrease in temperature due to insufficient protective power of the body and temperature mechanisms.

In children of two years of age, convulsions occur during fever when the temperature is high and does not subside for a long time. Fever-reducing drugs in this situation have no effect.

Fever may be present for several days, even if treatment is prompt, since it is a typical symptom for this disease.

In some cases, a two-year-old child is active, so one may not immediately suspect the presence of pneumonia. Further, when the body is exhausted by compensatory mechanisms, the baby’s behavior changes, he becomes capricious and very excited. There are skin rashes. The child's skin is moist and hot when touched, bowel movements occur, he refuses to eat, which leads to vomiting. The cough is severe and can cause nosebleeds.

When examining the child, you can observe pale skin, blueness is noticeable around the mouth and nose. He is restless, does not want to eat, sleeps a lot. When the doctor listens to the chest, symptoms of heavy breathing are allowed, which indicates an inflammatory process in the bronchi and upper respiratory tract. In addition, small wheezing sounds are heard above the surface of the lungs. The wheezing is moist and does not go away when the child coughs. This is accumulated fluid in the alveoli, which slams against its walls.

It is possible to note the presence of tachycardia (increased heart rate), and possibly muffled heart sounds due to toxicosis. There may also be such symptoms:

• nausea;
• vomit;
• stomachache;
• diarrhea, which causes an intestinal infection;
• the liver enlarges;
• bloating of the intestinal loop.

With these signs, the child’s well-being is assessed as severe.

Symptoms can also be determined during additional examinations of the child.

1. Auscultation, listening to the lungs.
2. X-ray of the chest organs.
3. Blood test indicators.

In an X-ray of the lungs, the symptoms of the disease in children are determined by focal tissues with the contours of nerves, in addition, the pattern of the lung is enhanced, and an expansion of the pulmonary roots is noticed.

A blood test revealed an increase in ESR, elevated leukocytes, and a shift in the leukocyte formula.

How to treat the disease

Most often, pulmonary disease in children is treated in a hospital. The only treatment for inflammation is taking antibiotics, often in the form of injections.

There are a large number of funds. The attending physician will decide which medications are appropriate for your child, based on the results of a thorough examination. When one of the prescribed antibiotics does not produce the desired result, the doctor will prescribe another.

It is important to follow the doctor's instructions and not shy away from using medications, because pneumonia is often the cause of death for the patient. The use of folk remedies as the main treatment does not have a positive effect, they are only an auxiliary component.

Antibiotics should be taken strictly on time. When prescribed to take the drug twice a day, you must wait 12 hours between doses. The following antibiotics are prescribed:

• penicillin - take 7 days;
• cephalosporin - take 7 days;
• macrolides (josamycin, azithromycin, clarithromycin) - take 5 days.

The effectiveness of the drugs occurs 72 hours after administration. The child's appetite improves, the temperature decreases, and shortness of breath goes away.

Temperature-reducing agents are used when the temperature exceeds 39 degrees. At the initial stage of disease development, antipyretics are not used, as they make it difficult to assess the effectiveness of treatment.

It is important to remember that at high temperatures the body produces the maximum amount of antibodies against the causative agent of the disease. Therefore, when a child is able to tolerate a temperature of 38 degrees, it should not be lowered. In this case, the body will quickly cope with the harmful microorganism that caused the illness in the child.

If episodes of febrile convulsions have been noticed, the temperature can be reduced at 37.5 degrees.

When children have no appetite during illness, this phenomenon is considered normal and refusal to eat food indicates a serious impact on the liver. Therefore, it is not worth forcing a child to eat. Whenever possible, light meals should be prepared. These can be porridges, soups, steamed cutlets, boiled potatoes, which are easily digestible, as well as vegetables and fruits. Fried, fatty foods should not be given.

Give your child fresh juices (from carrots, apples). It can also be raspberry tea, rosehip infusion, water, adding water-electrolyte solutions (rehydron) to the drink.

It is necessary to ventilate and wet clean the room every day. Use a humidifier, it will help alleviate the patient's condition.

You cannot use drugs that have a general strengthening effect, including antihistamines and immunomodulatory medications, as this can lead to side effects and will not improve the development and outcome of the disease.

During treatment with antibacterial drugs, a child's intestinal microflora is disrupted. In this case, the pediatrician will prescribe probiotics.

1. Rioflora Immuno.
2. Acipol.
3. Bifiform.
4. Normobakt.
5. Lactobacterin.

To remove toxins after treatment, the doctor may prescribe sorbents.

1. Polysorb.
2. Enterosgel.
3. Filtrum.

If the illness is caused by a viral infection, there is no need to take antibiotics. Treatment in the intensive care unit and oxygen breathing will be required.

By following all the doctor’s instructions and observing bed rest, in the absence of complications, the child will recover, but a residual cough and slight weakness in the body will appear throughout the month. If an atypical form of pneumonia is present, therapy may be delayed.

In the course of effective treatment, the child can be transferred to the usual regimen and walks on the 6-10th day of illness. It is allowed to resume hardening after 3 weeks. If the course of the disease is not severe, physical and sports activities are allowed after 6 weeks. For complicated pneumonia after 12 weeks.

It is important not to prohibit children from walking and moving more, while trying to prevent overheating and hypothermia by dressing the child according to the weather.

Not really

Pneumonia in children is a serious inflammatory disease that affects the respiratory sections of a child’s lungs. The pathology can have different etiologies, but is always severe, and children under 3 years of age suffer from pneumonia three times more often than older children (from 3 to 16 years).

Predisposing factors for newborns are perinatal pathologies and lungs, immunodeficiency states, and also - in such cases, congenital pneumonia develops.

Predisposing factors for older children may include:

• passive smoking;
• the presence of foci of chronic infection and other pathological conditions in the body.

At the same time, you need to understand that for the onset of the disease a necessary condition is the presence of such a predisposing factor as hypothermia of the child.

Etiology

There are a lot of bacteria and viruses that can cause the development of this disease in a weakened child’s body. In particular, pneumococci are the most common pathogens, but there are other bacteria that can cause this disease, and these are:

• chlamydia;
• Proteus;
• etc.

The pathogen enters the body through the respiratory tract, enters the lung tissue and infects the alveoli. Taking into account the type of pathogen, there are several forms of pneumonia in newborns:

• bacterial and fungal;
• mycoplasma and viral;
• rickettsial;
• a disease resulting from helminth infestation.

In addition, pneumonia in children can be allergic in nature and be associated with the fact that the baby’s body is not yet fully formed and cannot adequately respond to certain irritants. Pneumonia in newborns can also be caused by exposure to a variety of chemical or physical irritants.

Separately, it is necessary to say about pneumonia in newborns and older children caused by viruses. They are also divided into several groups, depending on the type of virus, and are:

• influenza;
• parainfluenza;
• adenoviral;
• respiratory syncytial.

As mentioned above, for the development of pneumonia in a child, predisposing factors must be present. The following states can be added to those listed earlier:

• prematurity;
• hypovitaminosis;
• birth injuries.

And all children are given vaccinations at birth, which are designed to protect the child from various pathologies. And such a vaccination can cause a decrease in the protective reaction of the baby’s body, as a result of which it can develop.

Classification

In modern medical practice, pneumonia in newborns is classified not only by etiological signs, but also by causal ones. Taking into account the cause of pneumonia in a child, pneumonia is divided into primary and secondary. Primary occurs when an infection enters the baby’s body, and secondary occurs as a consequence of other foci of infection existing in the child’s body.

In addition, the disease can be classified according to the nature of its course. It could be:

• acute pneumonia in children;
• subacute form of the disease;
• protracted.

According to the degree of damage to the lung tissue, several types are distinguished - the disease can affect one lung or two at once (one or two-sided pneumonia) and most often it is the right one that is affected - right-sided pneumonia develops.

Symptoms

Depending on the type of disease, signs of pneumonia in children can be very diverse. Nevertheless, there are some symptoms characteristic of each type of pneumonia, these are symptoms of general intoxication:

• heat;
• drowsiness and weakness;
• refusal to eat;
• cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle;
• unreasonable sweating;
• rapid, heavy breathing;
• headache (moody in young children due to pain symptoms).

To distinguish the signs of pneumonia in a child, you need to know how this or that type of pneumonia manifests itself:

• focal. A disease that affects only a small area of ​​the lung. It is the mildest form of the disease and can sometimes occur hidden, without any particular symptoms or with unexpressed symptoms. The source of infection can be located in any part of the lung - often in young children, hilar pneumonia occurs, which is characterized by damage to the root of one or two lungs, and is characterized by severe intoxication and severe symptoms;
• segmental. We talk about this disease when individual segments of the lung are affected. The disease begins abruptly and is characterized by an increase in temperature to high numbers and a rapid increase in symptoms of intoxication. Cough with pneumonia in a newborn is absent or mildly expressed, while the baby feels pain in the chest or abdomen and difficulty breathing. Diagnosis of this disease is carried out on the basis of radiography methods - the x-ray shows individual affected lobes merging into a single segment;
• . A disease in which the process involves not only a lobe of the lung, but also part of the pleura. As with segmental, the onset of the disease is acute. The temperature rises, the child complains of dizziness and nausea, and chills are observed. Newborn babies often cry, breathe heavily and their temperature also rises, which can reach critical values. Cough with this type of pneumonia in newborns is rare, and in the first 3 days it may even be completely absent, then it becomes dry, and after a few days sputum appears that looks like rust. Often the course of the disease is associated with the appearance of abdominal syndrome (especially in young children), which is manifested by flatulence and vomiting. Only an experienced doctor can diagnose the disease - based on X-ray data, anamnesis and physical examination of a small patient. A blood test taken from a child with lobar pneumonia will show a shift in the leukocyte count to the left, an acceleration of the ESR;
• interstitial. This type of disease is less common than others - it often occurs in premature babies, as well as in newborns with immunodeficiency conditions. In addition to the symptoms described above (hyperthermia, excessive sweating, etc.), interstitial pneumonia of newborns is characterized by changes in the gastrointestinal tract, a drop in blood pressure and disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system. This type of pneumonia is characterized by a debilitating cough with scanty sputum, and you can also visually observe swelling of the chest.

Diagnostics

As mentioned above, one or another type of pneumonia is diagnosed in infants and older children on the basis of bacteriological tests, radiography and local examination. In particular, they check the temperature reaction, the presence of signs of respiratory failure (shortness of breath, cyanosis of the mucous membranes and skin).

Patients are prescribed, in which increase and neutrophilia are noted. X-rays confirm the damage to a certain lobe, segment or the entire lung.

It should be noted that the most severe prognosis for the course of the disease is in newborns, since their body is weak and cannot cope with the infection on its own. Moreover, such children often experience destruction of lung tissue, which can lead to death. Therefore, the earlier pneumonia is detected in a small child and the sooner its treatment is started, the better the prognosis.

Treatment

Newborns suspected of having this disease are subject to immediate hospitalization. The hospital also provides treatment for pneumonia in children with moderate and severe forms of the pathology. Children aged 3 years and older in the presence of the initial stage of the disease with mild symptoms can be treated at home, with the necessary medical supervision several times a week. It should be remembered that the consequences of pneumonia can be the most severe - often, if not treated in a timely manner, children experience damage to internal organs and the central nervous system.

Treatment of the disease should be comprehensive and include:

• drug therapy;
• physiotherapy;
• normalization of diet and drinking regime.

The main place in the treatment of pneumonia is given to antibiotics. Within a day after the start of treatment, the condition improves, provided that the drug is selected correctly, taking into account the sensitivity of the pathogen to it. The treatment process takes from 6 to 10 days, depending on the severity of the little patient’s condition.

If the disease is caused by viruses, antiviral drugs are prescribed. Immunostimulants and mucolytics are also indicated. Antipyretic drugs are prescribed if the child’s temperature rises above 38.5.

Depending on the symptoms, other medications may also be prescribed to maintain and protect other organs and systems. For example, antihistamines, corticosteroids, cardiac glycosides. Breathing exercises are mandatory, helping the child’s lungs restore their functions (for children over 3 years old) and massage, which is suitable for children of any age. Sometimes it is necessary to take medications that reduce bronchospasm - in this case, the child is prescribed aminophylline.

The prognosis for treating the disease is favorable, provided that treatment is started in the early stages of the disease. The child is discharged from the hospital after completing the course of antibiotics, but at home he still needs symptomatic treatment to eliminate residual effects.

In addition, prevention of pneumonia in children plays an important role in preventing relapses of the disease. Doctors recommend using traditional medicine in the post-clinical period to eliminate the consequences of the disease and increase immunity. In particular, inhalations with fir oil, consumption of radish with honey, cabbage juice with honey as an expectorant, a mixture of butter with propolis as an immune-strengthening agent, etc., help well.

Is everything in the article correct from a medical point of view?

Answer only if you have proven medical knowledge