Signs of a disease of the respiratory organ in young people. Inflammation of the lungs in adolescents: symptoms, first signs, causes and treatment

A common disease that poses a real threat to life is pneumonia in children, in the treatment of which modern medicine has advanced far ahead. Even 30-40 years ago, according to statistics, doctors managed to save only every 3-4 children with pneumonia.

Modern methods of therapy have reduced the mortality rate from this disease by dozens of times, but this does not make the disease less serious. Forecasts in the treatment of each child always depend not only on the correct diagnosis and treatment plan, but also on the timeliness of contacting a doctor.

Inflammation of the lungs, called pneumonia, is a common disease that occurs not only in children of all ages, but also in adults.

The concept of pneumonia does not include other diseases of the lungs, for example, their vascular or allergic lesions, bronchitis and various disorders in their work caused by physical or chemical factors.

In children, this disease is common, as a rule, about 80% of all lung pathologies in babies are due to pneumonia. The disease is an inflammation of the lung tissue, but unlike other lung diseases, such as bronchitis or tracheitis, with pneumonia, pathogens penetrate into the lower parts of the respiratory system.

The affected part of the lung cannot perform its functions, release carbon dioxide and absorb oxygen. For this reason, the disease, especially acute pneumonia in children, is much more severe than other respiratory infections.

The main danger of childhood pneumonia is that, without adequate treatment, the disease progresses rapidly and can lead to pulmonary edema of varying severity, and even death.

In children with a weak immune system, the disease proceeds in very severe forms. For this reason, pneumonia in infants is considered the most dangerous, since their immune system is not yet sufficiently formed.

The state of the immune system plays an important role in the development of the disease, but it is important to correctly determine the cause of pneumonia, since only in this case its treatment will be successful.

Causes of pneumonia

For the successful treatment of pneumonia in children, it is important to correctly diagnose the disease and identify the pathogen. The disease can be caused not only by viruses, but also by bacteria, as well as fungi.

Often the cause is the microbe pneumococcus, as well as mycoplasma. Therefore, the nature of the onset of pneumonia may be different, but this very moment is important for organizing effective treatment, since drugs to fight bacteria, viruses and fungi are completely different.

Pneumonia can have various origins:

bacterial origin. The disease can occur not only against the background of another disease of the respiratory system, as a complication, but also independently. Antibiotics for pneumonia in children are used specifically for this form of the disease, since it requires careful and urgent antibiotic therapy.
viral origin. This form of the disease is the most common (detected in about 60% of cases) and the mildest, but requires adequate treatment.
fungal origin. This form of pneumonia is rare; in children, it usually occurs after inadequate treatment of respiratory diseases with antibiotics or their abuse.

Inflammation of the lungs can be unilateral, when one lung or part of it is affected, or it can be bilateral, covering both lungs at once. As a rule, with any etiology and form of the disease, the temperature rises greatly in a child.

Pneumonia itself is not a contagious disease, and even with a viral or bacterial form, it is very rarely transmitted from one child to another.

The only exception is atypical pneumonia, the cause of which was the activation of a certain type of mycoplasma. In this case, the disease in children is very difficult, accompanied by high temperatures.

Special mycoplasmas of pneumonia, which cause respiratory mycoplasmosis and pneumonia, are easily transmitted by airborne droplets, causing various forms of respiratory diseases, the severity of which depends on the state of the child's immune system.

The symptoms of this type of pneumonia are somewhat different:

At the very beginning of the disease, the child's temperature rises sharply, the values of which reach 40 °, but after that it decreases and passes into subfebrile with persistent values of 37.2–37.5 °. In some cases, there is a complete normalization of indicators.
In some cases, the disease begins with the usual symptoms of SARS or a cold, such as a sore throat, frequent sneezing, and a severe runny nose.
Then shortness of breath and a very strong dry cough appear, but acute bronchitis has the same symptoms, this fact complicates the diagnosis. Often, children begin to be treated for bronchitis, which greatly complicates and aggravates the disease.
Listening to the lungs of a child, the doctor cannot determine pneumonia by ear. Wheezing is rare and of a different nature, there are practically no traditional signs when listening, which greatly complicates the diagnosis.
When examining a blood test, as a rule, there are no pronounced changes, but an increase in ESR is found, as well as neutrophilic leukocytosis, supplemented by leukopenia, anemia and eosinophilia.
When conducting an x-ray, the doctor sees in the pictures foci of heterogeneous infiltration of the lungs with an enhanced expression of the pulmonary pattern.
Mycoplasmas, like chlamydia, which cause atypical pneumonia, can exist for a long time in the cells of the epithelium of the lungs and bronchi, and therefore the disease is usually protracted and, having appeared once, can often recur.
Treat SARS in children with macrolides, which include clarithromycin, josamycin and azithromycin, since it is to them that pathogens are most sensitive.

Indications for hospitalization

Only a doctor can decide where and how to treat a child with pneumonia. Treatment can be carried out not only in stationary conditions, but also at home, however, if the doctor insists on hospitalization, this should not be prevented.

Children are subject to hospitalization:

with a severe form of the disease;
with pneumonia complicated by other diseases, for example, pleurisy, heart or respiratory failure, acute impairment of consciousness, lung abscess, drop in blood pressure, sepsis or infectious toxic shock;
in whom there is a lesion of several lobes of the lung at once or a croupous variant of pneumonia;
up to a year. In infants under one year old, the disease is very severe and poses a real threat to life, so their treatment is carried out exclusively in hospitals, where doctors can provide them with emergency assistance in a timely manner. Children under 3 years of age also undergo inpatient treatment, regardless of the severity of the disease. Older children can be treated at home, provided that the disease is not in a complicated form;
who have chronic diseases or severely weakened immunity.

Treatment

In most cases, the basis of therapy for pneumonia is the use of antibiotics, and if the doctor has prescribed them to the child, in no case should they be abandoned.

No folk remedies, homeopathy, and even traditional methods of treating SARS can help with pneumonia.

Parents, especially in outpatient care, must strictly follow all doctor's prescriptions and strictly follow all instructions in terms of taking medicines, eating, drinking, resting and caring for a sick child. In the hospital, all necessary measures must be carried out by medical personnel.

It is necessary to treat pneumonia correctly, which means that some rules should be followed:

Reception of antibiotics prescribed by a doctor should take place strictly according to the established schedule. If, according to the doctor's prescription, it is necessary to drink antibiotics 2 times a day, then an interval of 12 hours should be observed between doses. When appointing a three-time intake, the interval between them will be 8 hours, and this rule cannot be violated. It is important to observe the terms of taking the drugs. For example, cephalosporin and penicillin antibiotics are taken for no longer than 7 days, and macrolides should be used for 5 days.
To assess the effectiveness of treatment, expressed in improving the general condition of the child, improving appetite, reducing shortness of breath and lowering the temperature, is possible only after 72 hours from the start of therapy.
The use of antipyretic drugs will be justified only when the temperature in children from a year exceeds 39 °, and in babies up to a year - 38 °. A high temperature is an indicator of the immune system's fight against the disease, while there is a maximum production of antibodies that destroy pathogens. For this reason, if the baby normally tolerates a high temperature, it is better not to knock it down, since in this case the treatment will be more effective. But, if the baby has at least once experienced febrile convulsions against the background of an increase in temperature, an antipyretic should be given already when the indicators rise to 37.5 °.
Nutrition. Lack of appetite in pneumonia is a natural condition. You don't have to force your child to eat. During the treatment period, light meals should be prepared for the baby. Optimal nutrition will be liquid cereals, steam cutlets from lean meat, soups, boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins.
It is also necessary to monitor the drinking regimen. The child should consume plenty of pure non-carbonated water, green tea with raspberries, natural juices. If the child refuses to drink the required amount of liquid, small portions of special pharmacy solutions should be given to him to restore the water-salt balance, for example, Regidron.
In the child's room, it is necessary to carry out wet cleaning daily, as well as monitor the humidity of the air, for this you can use humidifiers or put a container of hot water in the room several times a day.
It should also be remembered that immunomodulators and antihistamines should not be used in the treatment of pneumonia. They will not help, but they can lead to side effects and aggravate the condition of the child.
The use of probiotics is necessary for pneumonia, since taking antibiotics causes disruption of the intestines. And for the removal of toxins formed from the vital activity of pathogens, the doctor usually prescribes sorbents.

Subject to all prescriptions, the sick child is transferred to a normal regimen and walks in the fresh air are allowed from about 6–10 days of therapy. With uncomplicated pneumonia, the child after recovery is given exemption from physical activity for 1.5-2 months. If the disease proceeded in a severe form, sports will be allowed only after 12-14 weeks.

Prevention

It is necessary to pay special attention to preventive measures, especially after a child has had an illness. It is important to prevent accumulation of sputum in the lungs, which is why the development of the disease occurs.

Maintaining adequate humidity in your baby's room will not only help ensure easy breathing, but will also be an excellent measure to prevent mucus from thickening and drying out in the lungs.

Sports activities and high mobility of children are excellent preventive measures to help eliminate sputum from the lungs and respiratory tract and prevent the formation of accumulations.

Drinking plenty of fluids not only helps to keep the baby's blood in a normal state, but also helps to thin the mucus in the airways and lungs, which makes it easier to remove it naturally.

Pneumonia can be effectively treated only if all doctor's prescriptions are followed. But, of course, it is much easier to prevent it, and for this, any diseases of the respiratory system should be eliminated in a timely manner and completely.

It must be remembered that pneumonia in most cases becomes a complication when colds or other diseases of the respiratory system are neglected, as well as when therapy is not carried out in time or treatment is stopped prematurely. Therefore, in order to avoid possible complications and the development of pneumonia, one should not self-medicate colds, but consult a doctor for any of their manifestations.

Answer

According to statistics, approximately 1% of all adolescents suffer from pneumonia. And although mortality from pneumonia at this age is low, pathology often leads to complications. An increase in the incidence rate at the age of 12-16 years is associated with changes in the endocrine and immune systems.

In the etiology of pneumonia in adolescents, the main place is occupied by streptococcus, mycoplasma, Klebsiella and Haemophilus influenzae. That is, bacteria are the most common cause of the disease. As for patients with immunodeficiencies, herpes viruses often become the cause, primarily cytomegalovirus, as well as fungal flora. Often there are also viral-bacterial associations.

There are community-acquired pneumonia, the symptoms of which appear in normal living conditions, as well as hospital-acquired, which occur in the hospital. Pneumonia in adolescents often begins outside the hospital as a complication of acute respiratory infections and is treated at home with bed rest and diet.

Inflammation of the lungs in adolescence is often mild, as it affects a small area of \u200b\u200bthe organ (focal or lobar pneumonia). In those cases when a whole segment or a whole lung is involved in the process, treatment is carried out strictly in a hospital. Hospitalization is inevitable in the formation of complications (pleurisy, broncho-obstructive syndrome, pneumothorax, infectious-toxic shock, etc.).

Symptomatic manifestations

The first sign of pneumonia in adolescents is a significant rise in temperature, which is not typical for a common acute respiratory disease. The thermometer can jump sharply from subfebrile values to 39 degrees or more and be kept at this level for several days without adequate treatment. Another important sign of pneumonia is chest pain on one or both sides, which will worsen on inhalation and coughing.

Cough with inflammation of the lungs is at first dry, unproductive, but when taking expectorants, sputum of a rusty or purulent greenish color may appear. In the acute period of the disease, breathing increases compensatory, during breathing, retraction of the compliant places of the chest (supra- and subclavian fossae, intercostal spaces) is observed. The patient's pulse also increases.

This picture of symptoms is typical only for classical streptococcal pneumonia. With atypical mycoplasma, symptoms may be less pronounced.

At the first sign of worsening of the course of a cold and suspicion of pneumonia, it is important to get an examination as soon as possible. It includes:

medical examination;
general blood analysis;
radiograph of the lungs;
serological reactions;
microscopic examination and sputum culture.

The examination can be carried out by a general practitioner or an infectious disease specialist. At the same time, the doctor listens to the lungs for wheezing and conducts percussion (tapping) to determine the focus of inflammation. Even if no changes were detected during the physical examination, an X-ray of the lungs is performed based on the characteristic symptoms.

With pneumonia, an x-ray will show a focus of infiltration with possible destruction of the parenchyma and the presence of fluid in the pleura. It is the x-ray that is the most objective indicator of the presence or absence of inflammation in the lungs. An important indicator of the inflammatory process is a blood test. If the number of leukocytes and the ESR in it are significantly increased, pneumonia will be confirmed.

Additional diagnostic methods

In order to prescribe the most appropriate therapy for a particular patient, the doctor needs to identify the pathogen. For this, the patient takes a sputum test. Sputum is examined under a microscope, sown on nutrient media and tested for sensitivity to various antibiotics.

Also, it is possible to determine which microorganism was the causative agent of the infection using serological reactions. To do this, the patient's blood serum is examined for the presence of antibodies. These tests are supportive and are performed when standard treatment fails.

Necessary treatment

Usually, the treatment of pneumonia in children of middle and senior school age is carried out at home in compliance with the regimen. This includes preferential stay in bed and dietary nutrition. The main therapy is to take antibiotics. Amoxicillin and drugs of the cephalosporin class are usually prescribed. But if within 3-4 days the signs of inflammation do not go away, then they are replaced with "Doxycycline" and macrolide antibiotics.

To stop the symptoms of pneumonia, adolescents are prescribed expectorants, detoxification agents, antihistamines and vitamins. Hospitalization for pneumonia in adolescence is rarely required. The indications for it are:

extensive process;
the presence of symptoms of pleurisy;
concomitant lung diseases (bronchial asthma, etc.);
immunodeficiency.

Diet

In the acute phase of the disease, to reduce the symptoms of intoxication, the child needs a plentiful warm drink. Rosehip decoction and other berry decoctions are best suited, as they are rich in vitamin C.

Nutrition during this period should be rich in calcium: cottage cheese, milk porridge, cheese, cauliflower are suitable. All products should be well crushed, because the activity of digestive enzymes in the acute period is reduced. If pneumonia has a fungal etiology, everything sweet is strictly excluded. You will also have to give up spices, smoked and fatty foods.

During the recovery period, food should contain a maximum of protein. It can be boiled meat and fish, vegetable and fruit salads. In order to avoid the negative consequences of taking antibiotics in the form of signs of dysbacteriosis, foods with lacto- and bifidobacteria should be included in the diet: kefir, yogurt and yogurt.

Pneumonia in adolescents of senior school age develops quite often. Constantly being in a team, children easily pick up viruses from each other that cause an inflammatory process. An additional risk factor can be reduced immunity of a teenager against the background of hormonal changes.

infectious pneumonia

Reasons for development

Inflammatory disease is caused by:

viruses;
bacteria;
candida mushrooms.

The causes of the development of the inflammatory process can also be other transferred viral diseases, such as influenza, measles, scarlet fever and others. Pneumonia develops as a complication of acute respiratory viral infections, influenza, and other viral diseases in adolescents with weakened immune systems.

Teenagers of senior school age are at risk due to hormonal changes in the body. Internal systems are finally formed, during this “window” it is easiest to earn an ailment that threatens the development of chronic complications in the future.

SARS is the most common among teenagers. The causative agents of the disease are mycoplasmas, chlamydophiles, legionella and other viruses that are easily transmitted from person to person in large groups (at school, college, section). The main danger of this type of pneumonia is in its non-obvious symptoms: the temperature is normal, the patient's blood tests are in order. Diagnosis is difficult, it becomes more difficult to cope with atypical pneumonia.

Main manifestations

Signs of pneumonia can be different and directly depend on the root cause of the development of the inflammatory process. The main symptoms for adolescents are similar to the manifestations characteristic of adult patients:

Heat

a sharp increase in temperature;
cough;
pain in the chest when breathing and coughing;
wheezing is heard;
dyspnea;
a general state of weakness;
headache;
lack of appetite;
decrease in overall activity, loss of interest in everything.

If the temperature cannot be brought down for a long time with the help of antipyretics, this may be a manifestation of a severe form of inflammation. But the symptoms may not coincide with the clinical picture, the disease can be almost asymptomatic. This complicates the diagnosis, and it will not be possible to start treatment in a timely manner.

Diagnostics

Diagnostic methods for suspected pneumonia in adolescents are as follows:

X-ray of the lungs

radiography;
peripheral blood test;
blood chemistry.

At the initial appointment, the doctor listens to the lungs of a teenager, asks him to take deep breaths and exhale. Each side of the chest is auscultated, pneumonia can be left-sided, right-sided, or affect both lungs at once. The doctor makes a survey, assesses the general state of health of the patient, writes out a direction for an x-ray. The foci of inflammation are shown in the picture. Additionally, blood tests are carried out: peripheral analysis to detect the bacterial focus of the disease, biochemical - to assess the severity of the development of inflammation. Based on the data obtained, a diagnosis is made, a decision is made on the need for hospitalization.

Common symptoms of pneumonia in adolescents are differentiated from other lung diseases. The main task of the doctor is to distinguish pneumonia from bronchitis and prescribe the correct treatment.

Therapy Methods

Pneumonia is treated with medications. To avoid complications, in most cases, you will need to resort to antibiotics.

Therapeutic methods depending on the cause of inflammation:

Antibiotics

the disease against the background of ARVI does not require additional therapy, except for the treatment of the underlying infection;
with a bacterial origin of the disease, a course of antibiotics is prescribed;
with pneumomycosis (inflammation of the lungs provoked by a fungus), antifungal drugs are prescribed.

Most inflammatory processes of this nature can be treated at home. Hospitalization of a teenager is required in the most extreme situations, according to statistics, this happens in 8-10% of cases. In the hospital, droppers are placed, injections are given, and the patient's health is constantly monitored.

Taking medications

Taking antibacterial agents on your own initiative, and not on the advice of a doctor, is a bad idea. Any antibiotics should be prescribed by the attending physician based on the results of the diagnosis; self-treatment of pneumonia with the first available drug from the pharmacy is unacceptable. Pneumonia is not always bacterial in nature, this is also worth remembering.

The following antibiotics may be prescribed:

Amoxicillin;
Ceftriaxone;
Erythromycin;
Flemoxin.

The dosage and course of treatment depend on the characteristics and severity of the inflammatory process. The course of drugs does not stop, even if the patient feels better after a few days. You need to complete the treatment, following all the recommendations. The decision to cancel the medication is made by the doctor if the results of repeated tests and x-rays showed good results.

ethnoscience

Folk remedies for pneumonia are ineffective. An acute inflammatory process cannot be stopped by the "grandmother's" method, there is a risk of complications and death. You can resort to traditional medicine only as an auxiliary therapy. Be sure to consult a doctor before using home recipes.

Forecast

With the right approach to therapy and careful attention to the recommendations of the doctor, the prognosis is positive. Only 10% of patients require hospitalization if complications occur. It will be possible to completely cure pneumonia in 2-6 weeks. The duration depends on the severity of the course of the disease, the condition and individual characteristics of the organism.

Prevention

Preventive measures may include:

Strengthening immunity

ensuring motor activity of a teenager to prevent stagnation of mucus in the respiratory tract;
organization of a humid and cool climate in the room where the patient is located to facilitate breathing;
the use of a large amount of fluid to thin the sputum;
full treatment of the primary disease;
measures to strengthen the immune system: taking vitamins, maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

The risk of developing inflammation is significantly reduced if the correct treatment of the primary disease is organized: SARS, influenza, and other viral pathologies. The main preventive method will be the general strengthening of the health of the patient.

Complications

Possible complications include:

Pleurisy

lung abscess;
pulmonary edema;
bronchial spasms;
anemia;
meningitis;
inflammation of the heart muscle;
sepsis;
DIC syndrome.

Negative consequences can affect not only the lungs. If the infection spreads further, dangerous situations arise for all internal systems.

If you suspect the development of pneumonia, you will need to see a doctor and undergo a diagnostic examination. It is necessary to make an appointment with a pediatrician, he can, if necessary, redirect to an infectious disease specialist. The recommendations of the doctor should be strictly adhered to, do not deviate from the course of prescribed treatment, even if it seemed that the patient was much better. Only by adhering to the therapeutic course, it will be possible to cope with pneumonia and do without complications.

The disease has an infectious nature and is an inflammation of the tissues of the lungs. Thanks to modern medicine, the death rate from pneumonia has been greatly reduced, but parents need to know how to recognize the disease in a child in the early stages - this will help to cope with it faster and easier.

The first signs of pneumonia

Pneumonia is an insidious pathology, the onset of which is often asymptomatic or similar to other diseases. However, it has certain specific characteristics. Parents should show their child to a doctor if they notice that the first symptoms of pneumonia have begun to appear:

deep, persistent cough;
high body temperature (more than 38 degrees), which does not drop for at least three days in a row;
wheezing, rapid breathing (in children 1 year old or less - more than 60 breaths per minute, in children 2 years old - from 50 breaths, in children 3 years old and older - 40 breaths or more);
lack of appetite (this is due to the fact that the virus affects not only the lungs, but also intestinal cells, reducing appetite, causing diarrhea, vomiting, nausea);
the manifestation of blue on the face, swelling of the lower extremities, the child has pale lips (with inflammation of the lungs, the blood flow in the small circle is disturbed, which may cause cardiopulmonary failure);
tachycardia develops;
there is a retraction of the chest;
pathologies of the central nervous system may occur (due to such extrapulmonary symptoms, children become irritable, restless, apathy, drowsiness or lethargy may be observed);
children with pneumonia lose weight (sometimes the weight reaches a critical point).

Bronchopneumonia

This disease has nothing to do with bronchitis. Bronchial pneumonia is an acute inflammation of the walls of the bronchioles. The risk group includes infants and children under three years of age. Pathology can be provoked by staphylococcus aureus, pneumococcus, streptococcus. At the same time, bronchopneumonia in children does not always develop due to infection from the outside: for example, pneumococci that are inside the body are often activated in other mild and non-dangerous diseases.

Focal lesions are concentrated mainly in the bronchioles, but can also be detected in the lungs of infants. Depending on where the foci of bronchopneumonia are located in the respiratory organs, there are bilateral, left-sided and right-sided forms of pathology. Bronchoscopy and chest X-ray are done to confirm the diagnosis. It is possible to suspect bronchial pneumonia in the presence of such symptoms:

dizziness;
cough;
dyspnea;
weakness;
pale skin;
arrhythmia;
headache;
fatigue;
wheezing when breathing;
high temperature, up to 39 degrees and above (with atypical pneumonia, this symptom is not present, therefore, even without fever, parents should show the child to the doctor as soon as possible, otherwise the disease will lead to serious complications);
leukocytosis.

Bilateral pneumonia

The peculiarity and danger of this type of pneumonia is that it affects the lowest parts of the organ, preventing gas exchange processes. Bilateral pneumonia is characterized by the following symptoms:

the temperature of the child does not return to normal for longer than 3 days;
after suffering an acute respiratory viral infection or acute respiratory infections, the general state of health does not normalize after a week, or even the baby's condition worsens;
wheezing appears, a wet cough begins (not necessarily with sputum discharge);
when breathing, whistling, groaning is heard;
it becomes difficult for the child to breathe;
a pain syndrome may appear, localized in the lower parts of the lungs (as a rule, it coincides with coughing fits);
the child's breathing becomes frequent (the average number of breaths is 40 per minute).

right hand

This form of the disease develops in children much more often than others, which is explained by the anatomical features of the structure of the bronchial tree on the right side. So, the main right bronchus has an oblique direction from top to bottom, which contributes to the movement of viruses into the lower region of the lung, where they multiply very quickly. Right-sided pneumonia is associated with the following symptoms in children:

expectoration;
cough;
fever, sweating;
cyanosis of the skin in the nasolabial part of the face;
leukocytosis (this symptom can be determined only if a blood test is performed);
increased heart rate and respiration.

With viral inflammation of the lungs, temperature is not an obligatory symptom. The key signs of the development of the disease are muscle weakness, dry cough, fatigue / drowsiness. As the infection spreads in the body of children, the main symptoms of viral pneumonia are a strong cough with ulcers and an increase in temperature up to 38-40 degrees.

left-sided

This disease is much more dangerous than right-sided pneumonia, because it threatens with serious irreversible consequences. The formation of foci in the left lobe of the organ indicates the depletion of the child's body after a previous illness (colds, bronchitis, surgery). As a result, the immune system is weakened and unable to fight pathogens. Often, due to the weak severity of symptoms, the treatment of pathology begins late. Left-sided pneumonia is characterized by:

nausea, vomiting, headaches, aching or stabbing sensations in the left side of the chest;
wet cough with sputum, shortness of breath, lethargy (as the pathology develops, the cough can transform into a purulent one with characteristic blood streaks);
strong and sharp rise in body temperature, chills;
gradual increase in pain with deep breathing, possible short-term loss of consciousness.

Radical

The root part of the lung is the zone of entry into the organ of the main bronchus, bronchial and pulmonary arteries, lymphatic vessels, veins, and nerve plexuses. Hilar pneumonia affects this area and is caused by a bacterial infection. The clinical picture of the disease in children is characterized by the following symptoms:

cough, shortness of breath;
high temperature;
insomnia;
headache;
weakness;
increased sweating.

Infectious inflammation of the lungs

The disease has two forms - primary and secondary. In the first case, pneumonia develops as an independent pathology, in the second it occurs against the background of other infections (with influenza, sinusitis). A baby can get sick at any age, even a newborn. Signs of pneumonia in a child depend on the type of inflammation:

The croupous form is characterized by damage to only one lobe of the lungs (right or left). At the same time, the temperature in children immediately rises up to 39-40 degrees. Pain is felt in the area of the peritoneum and chest, cough is characterized by sputum, a red rash appears on the body.
Focal infectious inflammation of the lungs is diagnosed, as a rule, in young children under 3 years of age; in children 4 years of age and older, the disease is rare. Pneumonia affects all lungs and develops after bronchitis. The first signs of pneumonia in children are high fever, deep, dry cough. Pathology can be cured only by long-term use of drugs selected by the doctor.
The staphylococcal type is more likely to affect an infant than older children. The main symptoms of pneumonia in a child in this case are vomiting, shortness of breath, wheezing with cough, and heavy breathing. With timely treatment, the pathology recedes after 1.5-2 months, after which the baby will have to undergo a ten-day rehabilitation.
The segmental view only partially affects the lungs, while the symptoms of the disease will be poor sleep, lack of appetite, lethargy, temperature within 38 degrees. Since inflammation of the lungs is hidden, it is very difficult to detect the disease at first.

How does pneumonia manifest itself?

Pneumonia is more likely to affect babies, because in children 5 years and older, the respiratory system is already fully developed, which can fully protect itself from any infections. Inflammation of the lungs - the symptoms in children are listed above - the disease is specific. Thanks to observation, parents can timely notice the deterioration in the health of their child and begin treatment, avoiding dangerous consequences. How pneumonia manifests itself in infants:

heat;
rapid accumulation of sputum;
cyanosis of the skin;
irritability / tearfulness;
cough.

In adolescents, the symptoms are somewhat different. The key signs of the disease in this case will be:

temperature without cyclic decrease or increase;
fine bubbling rales;
dry cough;
muffling of pulmonary sound in the area of the inflammatory process.

As the pathology progresses, the medical history is supplemented by the following symptoms:

blueness of the skin of the face, pallor of the lips;
moist rales;
difficulty breathing, shortness of breath;
high temperature that does not subside for more than 3 days.

Temperature

Pneumonia is characterized by a temperature in the range of 37-38 degrees, exceeding this limit depends on the pathogen, the individual characteristics of the patient's body. With a thermometer reading above 39 degrees, it is clear that the baby’s immunity cannot cope with the infection and uses all resources to fight it. Such a temperature during inflammation of the lungs should be knocked down by anti-inflammatory drugs, and a lower one (within 38) should not.

shortness of breath

This is one of the key signs of the disease. Breathing in pneumonia is difficult in the course of the development of inflammatory processes, which, without timely treatment, can transform into a chronic disease. Shortness of breath after recovery suggests that there is still an infection in the body and it is important not to leave this symptom unattended, but to consult a doctor again, who will do a sputum culture on nutrient media or other additional studies.

Runny nose with pneumonia

During the disease, the nasopharyngeal mucosa becomes infected / irritated, as a result of which tissue edema begins. As a rule, after 3-10 days after the onset, the symptom subsides. A runny nose with pneumonia requires symptomatic treatment, since it greatly complicates the condition of children: they experience a lack of oxygen, sleep poorly, and refuse to eat. After completion of therapy, it is better to prevent the recurrence of the symptom.

no symptoms

Some forms of pathology are asymptomatic and may be manifested by muscle weakness, skin rashes, autonomic disorders that parents cannot associate with pneumonia. Inflammation of the lungs without symptoms, as a rule, occurs in the first stages of the development of the disease, and then cough, runny nose, wheezing, fever, etc. begin to appear. Without the first symptom, the pathology is extremely rare and poses a great danger to the health of the baby, since it threatens the formation of a lung abscess .

Diagnosis of pneumonia

If parents notice symptoms characteristic of pulmonary inflammation, you should immediately consult a doctor. If the baby has a cough, the doctor should listen to it every 3-4 days until it stops (this is especially true for newborn babies). With pneumonia, the pediatrician will hear characteristic wheezing and difficulty breathing. Diagnosis of pneumonia may include the following activities:

radiography;
auscultation (listening);
study of the gas composition of the blood;
microscopic examination of sputum.

Video

Inflammation of the lungs is a disease that occurs among children quite often. According to statistics, it accounts for about 80% of all pathologies of the respiratory system. Signs of pneumonia detected at an early stage in a child make it possible to start treatment on time and speed up recovery.

Causes of the disease

Pathogens - pathogenic viruses, bacteria, various fungi. Depending on the nature of the disease, the treatment regimen is selected.

Provoking factors for the development of pneumonia are:

Weakened immunity.
Lack of vitamins.
Postponed respiratory disease.
Penetration of a foreign object into the respiratory tract.
Stress.

Staphylococcal and streptococcal pneumonia can be associated with other diseases and occur after the flu, measles, whooping cough. Due to insufficiently developed respiratory muscles, a small patient cannot clear himself of sputum accumulating in the bronchi. As a result, ventilation of the lungs is disturbed, pathogenic microorganisms settle in them, which causes an inflammatory process.

Pathogenic bacteria provoke other diseases. Streptococcus pneumonia in the throat often causes acute tonsillitis.

First signs

Symptoms of pneumonia in children manifest themselves in a certain way. It depends on various factors. For example, aspiration pneumonia in children develops gradually, at the initial stage, signs of it may not be noticed. After a while, coughing, chest pains and other symptoms appear depending on the site of aspiration. This form of the disease is distinguished by the absence of chills and fever. With SARS in children, the symptoms are more pronounced - a lump is felt in the throat, the eyes are watery, headaches, dry cough appear.

By the end of the first week of the disease, the cough intensifies, the temperature in pneumonia in children can rise to 40 ° C. Accession of rhinitis, tracheitis is possible. Many parents are interested in what temperature during pneumonia is considered normal. It depends on the state of the child's immune system. Some types of pneumonia occur without fever at all.

At the initial stage of pneumonia, symptoms in children can manifest themselves in different ways.

Signs of pneumonia in a child under one year old:

Cyanosis of the skin, especially in the region of the nasolabial triangle.
A sharp rise in temperature.
Difficulty breathing due to accumulation of mucus in the lungs.
Cough.
Lethargy.

How pneumonia manifests itself in infants helps to determine the number of respiratory movements in 1 minute. In a child of 2 months, it is equal to 50 breaths. As it grows, this figure decreases. So, in a child of 3 months, it is already 40, and by the year it decreases to 30 breaths. If this indicator is exceeded, you should contact your pediatrician.

Cyanosis of the skin

With pneumonia in children, the symptoms and treatment differ at different ages. For children of the older age group, the appearance of sputum is characteristic, when the pathological process reaches the bronchi. Suspicion of pneumonia occurs when wheezing, cyanosis of the lips are observed. Recognize inflammation helps the main symptom - shortness of breath. If it does not disappear after a course of treatment, then an additional examination is required.

As Dr. Yevgeny Komarovsky assures, the first symptoms do not cause such harm as the subsequent ones. Therefore, it is important to be able to distinguish the signs of the disease at an early stage.

Peculiar symptoms of pneumonia

Each type of disease manifests itself in its own way, depending on the location of the inflammatory focus.

Left sided pneumonia

With a similar form of the disease, the pathological process develops on the left side. Left-sided pneumonia is much more dangerous compared to other types due to the irreversibility of the consequences that may occur. The lung becomes inflamed against the background of past respiratory diseases, when a weakened immune system cannot resist the effects of pathogens. Left-sided pneumonia is characterized by mild symptoms, which makes diagnosis difficult.

Among the most characteristic:

Pain in the left side of the chest.
Nausea.
Cough with sputum, which may contain purulent inclusions.
A sharp increase in temperature, accompanied by chills.
Sensation of severe pain during inhalation.

It happens that left-sided pneumonia occurs without fever and other obvious signs. Delayed treatment in this case can cause serious complications, increases the risk of death.

Right sided pneumonia

A form of the disease, which is characterized by the presence of a lesion in one of the lobes of the lung - the upper, middle or lower. It is much more common than left-sided pneumonia. Each of the five cases are children under 3 years of age. The most severe disease occurs in newborns and children under 2 years of age.

It is distinguished by:

Cough with copious sputum.
Tachycardia.
Cyanosis of the skin, especially in the area of the nasolabial triangle.
Leukocytosis.

Often, the right-sided form occurs with mild symptoms.

Bilateral pneumonia

A disease in which both lungs become inflamed. It is very difficult, especially in children under one year old. Therefore, bilateral pneumonia in a child is treated only in stationary conditions.

In newborns and children of the 1st year of life, a characteristic sign is pale skin, shortness of breath, cough, asthenic syndrome, bloating, hypotension. Wheezing is heard in the lungs. The development of the disease is rapid, the little man needs urgent hospitalization.

In children 2 years old, symptoms of inflammation often appear as a result of an allergic reaction. In children aged 3–5 years, the disease often develops after acute respiratory infections. When treating, you need to pay attention to elevated temperature, which persists for more than three days.

At the age of over 6 years, pneumonia occurs with alternating sluggish course and exacerbation.

Regardless of age, the following signs help to recognize bilateral pneumonia in a child: a rise in temperature to 40 ° C, rapid breathing, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, cyanosis, cough, drowsiness, weakness. Percussion sound when listening is shortened on the side of the lesion, wheezing is heard in the lower parts of the lungs.

Bilateral pneumonia in a child threatens with the appearance of complications in the form of otitis media, sepsis, meningitis.

With any viral pneumonia in children, the symptoms and treatment are not much different from the manifestations of the disease and therapy for adults.

Bronchopneumonia

The disease often occurs in children who are under 3 years old. Represents an inflammatory process affecting the walls of the bronchioles. The disease has another name - sluggish pneumonia due to the blurring of symptoms.

They have the appearance of a slight shortness of breath, cough, arrhythmia, sometimes manifesting without temperature. Later, they intensify, there is a rise in temperature to 39⁰С, headaches.

Bacterial inflammation of the lungs

Pathogens that cause bacterial pneumonia are pneumococci, staphylococci, streptococci, gram-negative bacteria. The first signs of pneumonia in children are noticed earlier than in adults. They manifest themselves in the form of rapid breathing, vomiting, pain in the abdomen. Children with a temperature in the lower part of the lungs sometimes have a fever.

Mycoplasma and chlamydial pneumonia

The defeat of mycoplasma, in addition to the main symptoms, causes a rash in the throat and pain. Chlamydia pneumonia in infants can trigger the development of a dangerous form of conjunctivitis. With inflammation of the lungs caused by this intracellular bacterium, rhinitis and tracheobronchitis are often diagnosed. Chlamydia pneumonia in children also manifest itself as extrapulmonary symptoms - arthralgia, myalgia. It is believed that this disease takes up to 15% of all community-acquired diseases. During epidemic outbreaks, this figure increases to 25%.

The disease can develop both acutely and gradually, taking a protracted character. The main symptoms are nasal congestion, respiratory failure, hoarse voice, small mucous discharge from the nose. After the appearance of these signs, the inflammatory process lasts from 1 to 4 weeks. Cough, general malaise sometimes persist for several months. The disease can proceed without fever.

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Hidden pneumonia

The course of the disease without pronounced symptoms is the greatest danger for babies who are under 2 years old. At this age, they still cannot tell what exactly worries them. Hidden pneumonia in children can be manifested by a barely noticeable malaise. Noticing them, parents often attribute it to a cold, teething. Only when the child's condition deteriorates sharply, treatment begins.

Therefore, it is important to know how to recognize pneumonia in a child, and not to lose sight of such symptoms of pneumonia in children as:

Paleness of the skin.
Blush on the cheeks in the form of spots.
Shortness of breath on slight exertion.
Increased sweating.
Breathing with groaning.
Rise in temperature to 38⁰С.
Refusal to eat.

With latent pneumonia in children, the symptoms listed above can appear both one at a time and in combination, sometimes without fever. Having found them, you should immediately show the baby to the doctor.

Diagnostics

The question of how to determine pneumonia in a child is easily solved today with the help of modern diagnostic methods. When collecting an anamnesis, the time of detection of the first signs of malaise, which diseases preceded the onset of inflammation, and whether there is an allergy are determined. A visual examination allows you to identify the existing, wheezing, other symptoms characteristic of pneumonia.

Laboratory methods help to diagnose the disease.

A blood test for pneumonia in a child is performed to determine the causative agent of the disease:

Biochemical analysis determines such indicators as the number of leukocytes, ESR, hemoglobin level.
Thanks to two blood cultures, it is possible to exclude bacteremia and sepsis.
Serological analysis reveals the presence of immunoglobulins.

Sputum culture is also performed, scraping of the posterior pharyngeal wall.

It is possible to establish a more accurate diagnosis with determining the degree of lung damage (as well as recognizing bronchitis in a child and any other bronchopulmonary disease) using x-rays.

General principles of treatment

Treatment is usually carried out only in stationary conditions. How many stay in the hospital with pneumonia depends on the severity of the disease, the state of the immune system. The main component of the treatment course in the inflammatory process are antibiotics.

You can cope with the disease only by strictly following all the doctor's prescriptions. Self-medication with such a serious disease is unacceptable. The medicine is taken according to the schedule determined by the doctor. Usually, penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides are used in the treatment. The effectiveness of the use of a particular drug is evaluated only after 72 hours. In order for the intestinal microflora not to suffer from the action of antibiotics, probiotics are additionally prescribed. In order to cleanse the body of toxins remaining after antibiotic therapy, sorbents are used.

Proper nutrition plays an important role in the healing process. The patient's diet should contain easily digestible food. It can be vegetable soups, liquid cereals, boiled potatoes, fresh vegetables and fruits. As a drink, it is best to give babies rosehip infusion, juices, raspberry tea.

Prevention

You can avoid the disease by following simple rules:

Avoid hypothermia of the child.
Provide quality nutrition that includes all the necessary vitamins.
Perform hardening procedures.
More walks with children in the fresh air.
Avoid contact with a sick person who can transmit the infection.
During epidemics, do not visit kindergarten and crowded places.
Teach your child to wash their hands thoroughly by lathering them for at least 20 seconds.
Timely treat infectious diseases.

Caring for the health of the baby, starting from the first days of his life, is the best defense against the disease.

Vaccination helps reduce the risk of infection. Vaccination creates immunity to the causative agent of pneumonia. However, the duration of such protection is not more than 5 years.

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