Pneumonia in young children: symptoms and treatment. Is it possible to treat pneumonia in children at home?

Treatment of pneumonia in children, thanks to the efforts of scientists around the world, has made it possible over the past 5 years to significantly reduce mortality from the disease. In a short period of time, standards for diagnosing and classifying the disease (according to ICD 10) were introduced, which made it possible to more competently select antibacterial drugs in children.

Pneumonia is inflammation of the lung tissue under the influence of infectious agents, which is based on toxicosis, respiratory failure, water and electrolyte disturbances with pathological changes in organs and systems.

In children, the pathology is acute due to reduced reserve capabilities of the immune system. Treatment of the pathology should be carried out in the early stages to avoid serious consequences and death.

Etiotropic therapy requires taking into account the causative agent of the disease. A huge list of microbes can provoke alveolar exudation in humans, among which we should highlight:

Bacterial;
Viral;
Fungal;
Protozoa.

If parents are interested in how to cure pneumonia in a child, we suggest that you read the article.

Treatment of pneumonia at home is carried out in the following categories of children:

At mild form illness;
Over 3 years of age;
In the absence of respiratory failure and intoxication;
Adequate quality of sanitation at home;
With confidence that parents will follow doctors' recommendations.

The medical protocol for managing such patients requires visiting the patient daily with a doctor, monitoring his health status and adjusting the dosage of antibiotics. Agree, parents can give or inject their child with suprax, sumamed, cefazolin or ceftriaxone on their own.

The pediatrician monitors the quality of therapy and if he sees that the child’s condition is not improving, he refers him to the clinic.

After laboratory tests and x-rays, the pediatrician decides on further tactics for outpatient management of the patient or sending him to a hospital. This approach for mild forms pneumonia in children it is recommended by the country's Ministry of Health.

In addition to the use of antibacterial agents, a child's visit to the clinic may be important for other medical procedures: physiotherapy, massage, electrophoresis, warming up.

Electrophoresis of anti-inflammatory drugs (dexamethasone, dimexide) can relieve inflammation of the respiratory tract and reduce the duration of the disease. The procedure involves the penetration of the ionic form of the drug through the skin under the influence of a low-pulse current. Electrophoresis is used in the stage of incomplete resolution of the inflammatory process.

With the active development of the disease in children, pediatricians recommend the following tactics for managing the patient at home:

Bed rest;
Ventilation of the room;
Consumption large quantities liquids in the form of natural juices and fruit drinks;
Easily digestible food enriched with vitamins.

Do not forget to visit the clinic where electrophoresis and physiotherapy are performed. These methods help speed up recovery.

Reasons for hospitalizing a child

Hospitalization for pneumonia is carried out for the following indications:

Children under 3 years old;
Complicated course of the disease;
Respiratory failure;
Impaired blood supply;
Intrauterine underdevelopment of the child and low weight;
Congenital malformations;
Unfavorable social status of the family;
Presence of chronic diseases.

Inpatient treatment for a child is assigned to initial stages broad-spectrum antibacterial agents (ceftriaxone, augmentin, sumamed, cefazolin, suprax), symptomatic agents (berodual, ambroxol). At the same time, general strengthening of the body is carried out.

In a specialized department, it is easier to carry out electrophoresis with dimexide, inhalation of anti-inflammatory substances, and injections of vitamins.

To prevent infection of surrounding children, the child is placed in a separate box to prevent cross-infection. In case of moderate or severe illness, the mother should be with the baby.

In some countries, medical examination of parents is not carried out if the child is over 3 years old. This approach cannot be considered rational, but in conditions of low economic equipment of hospitals it is justified.

It is important to sanitize the patient’s place of stay with a mercury-quartz lamp, regularly ventilate the premises and perform sanitary and hygienic procedures.

Standard for management of pneumonia in inpatient conditions requires placement of children in the presence of complications in surgery department(in the presence of foci of tissue destruction). Such patients may require urgent surgical intervention.

They can take sumamed, augmentin or inject ceftriaxone (cefazolin), suprax in surgical wards, but the clinical treatment protocol requires that the patient is always prepared for surgical intervention if he has abscesses, purulent pleurisy.

The length of stay in surgery is determined by the dynamics of the patient's condition. If the destructive lesion of the lungs quickly scars, it is transferred back to the pediatric department for further observation and treatment.

Bacterial pneumonia requires antibiotics. In the initial stages of pneumonia, before testing for the causative agent of the disease is obtained, therapy is carried out with strong broad-spectrum antibiotics (Augmentin, Sumamed, Ceftriaxone, Cefazolin). The clinical protocol also requires symptomatic therapy: bronchodilators (Berodual), immunomodulators (Immunal), correction of concomitant diseases.

Before prescribing the medicine, the doctor makes sure that the patient is not allergic to the drugs used.

Efficiency antibacterial therapy depends significantly on correct selection antibacterial drugs and dynamic monitoring of the patient’s condition during therapy.

Standard medical management of pneumonia in children includes:

At severe course– antibiotic therapy for at least 10 days;
When they disappear clinical symptoms, the tactics of managing a child are carried out on the basis of auscultatory listening to the lungs and radiography;
Even after the disappearance of wheezing and stabilization of the temperature, the use of antibiotics continues for another 2-3 days;
The duration of treatment is determined by the patient’s condition, even if the results of laboratory and instrumental methods are normalized;
Severe cases require the administration of a parenteral antibiotic (ceftriaxone, cefazolin, suprax). Oral drugs (Augmentin, Sumamed) can be used only when inflammatory changes in the pulmonary parenchyma progress.

Electrophoresis, physiotherapy – additional methods prescribed to eliminate additional symptoms diseases.

Among the physiotherapeutic procedures, UHF heating of the upper respiratory tract should be noted. It helps strengthen the protective functions of the oropharynx and enhances drug delivery to sites of damage to the lung tissue.

Electrophoresis forms a focus for drug accumulation in the lung tissue, which provides long action drug.

Principles of drug selection

Childhood pneumonia requires enhanced conservative therapy. An important task for the doctor in this case becomes the optimal selection of the drug.

Standard of clinical treatment for antibacterial therapy of pneumonia:

Semi-synthetic penicillins – for pneumococcal and gram-negative flora of the upper respiratory tract. It is better to use protected drugs (with clavulanic acid);
3-4 generation cephalosporins - in the initial stages of the disease (ceftriaxone, cefixime, cefazolin);
Macrolides - included combination treatment(sumamed, azithromycin);
Aminoglycosides 1-3 generations - in the absence of sensitivity of pneumococcus to ampicillin (gentamicin sulfate);
Metronidazole derivatives – with severe forms diseases (metrogil);
Fluoroquinolones – if complications develop (only for children over 12 years of age).

Scheme for initial empirical treatment of inflammation in the absence of information about the causative agent:

Beta-lactams with clavulanic acid and macrolides (sumamed). Good effect Augmentin is effective in the treatment of mild and moderate forms of the disease;
When prescribing antibiotics different groups, it is necessary to take into account the effects that arise when they interact with each other.

Childhood pneumonia medium degree severity in pediatric departments of hospitals is often treated with Augmentin.

The drug recently appeared on the pharmaceutical market and turned out to be effective against inflammation of the lung tissue in a child.

Now Augmentin is used less, since some types of cocci are insensitive to it. In such a situation, it is better to use parenteral ceftriaxone or suprax (cefixime).

Advice to parents: if the pharmacy does not have effective oral antibiotics, we recommend using parenteral drugs.

Ceftriaxone has a wide spectrum of action and is able to cope with alveolar exudation in children. Augmentin is inferior to it in spectrum.

Pneumonia - dangerous condition and you should not experiment when selecting medicinal substances. You can spend it at home symptomatic therapy, electrophoresis, physiotherapy, but a doctor should prescribe an antibiotic.

When treating a disease, it is important to use all existing methods, but antibiotic therapy is irreplaceable. Electrophoresis with anti-inflammatory drugs (dimexide) and inhalation of plant extracts are not able to prevent the proliferation of bacteria. Rational scheme: antibiotics + electrophoresis + symptomatic drugs.

Gymnastics for inflammation pulmonary alveoli will not bring relief. In the initial stages of pneumonia in children, it is contraindicated due to the need for strict bed rest. Therapeutic exercise is used only at the rehabilitation stage.

Alveolar exudation in a child should be treated with symptomatic means:

Secretory drugs to stimulate coughing - marshmallow root, coltsfoot leaves, wild rosemary herb;
Resorptive drugs – essential oils, sodium bicarbonate, potassium iodide;
Proteolytic enzymes for thinning sputum (chymotrypsin, trypsin);
Bronchodilators - to dilate the bronchi during spasms (berodual);
Antitussives – tussin, paxeladine.

Antihistamines dry out the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and increase unproductive cough. They are prescribed only when necessary.

Berodual deserves special attention. The drug is used not only for treatment bronchial obstruction(narrowing), but also for prevention. If it is added to an inhaler, a significant improvement in respiratory function can be achieved. Berodual is also used in combination with antibiotics (Augmentin, Suprax, Cefazolin, Ceftriaxone, Sumamed). Electrophoresis of anti-inflammatory drugs is not contraindicated in its use.

Duration of therapy

Inflammation of the pulmonary parenchyma in a child is treated on average for about 7-10 days. The time period is extended in the presence of complications and adverse reactions (allergies, severe cough).

Severe forms of the disease should be treated as long as they persist pathological changes alveolar tissue.

In the practice of pediatricians, there are cases when cefazolin, suprax or ceftriaxone show a good effect over 7 days of use, but on the 8th day the child’s infiltration volume on the radiograph increases. In this situation, the treatment regimen is supplemented with antibiotics from other groups (Augmentin, Suprax, Sumamed).

The use of medications continues for up to 14 days. If after this there is no resolution of the pathological process, a complete change of groups of antibacterial agents is necessary (as required by the standard for the management of children with pneumonia).

The antibiotic is replaced when new foci of infiltration appear on an x-ray at any time during the course of the disease.

For pneumonia, as readers understood from the article, the following groups of antibiotics are used:

Suprax (cefixime);
Ceftriaxone;
Cefazolin;
Augmentin;
Sumamed.

This choice is not accidental. The drugs are “strong” and cover a wide range of pathogens.

Suprax, cefazolin, ceftriaxone are cephalosporin drugs. Bacteria do not develop addiction to them with adequate treatment. They are used parenterally in the form of injections, which allows for rapid delivery of the drug to the site of damage to the pulmonary parenchyma.

Suprax – new drug. In practice it shows high efficiency. Ceftriaxone and cefazolin have proven themselves in pediatric practice.

Augment is used in children due to its wide range of antibacterial action. It is taken orally (as syrups or tablets). It belongs to the group of protected penicillins, so many pathogens of childhood pneumonia do not develop addiction to it.

The phrase “pneumonia” is very scary for parents. At the same time, it does not matter at all how old or months old the child is, this disease is considered one of the most dangerous among mothers and fathers. Is this really so, how to recognize pneumonia and how to treat it correctly, says the famous pediatrician, author of books and articles on children's health Evgeny Komarovsky.

About the disease

Pneumonia (this is what doctors call what is popularly called pneumonia) is a very common disease, inflammation of the lung tissue. By one concept, doctors mean several ailments at once. If the inflammation is not infectious, the doctor will write “pneumonitis” on the card. If the alveoli are affected, the diagnosis will sound different - “alveolitis”; if the mucous membrane of the lungs is affected - “pleurisy”.

The inflammatory process in the lung tissue is caused by fungi, viruses and bacteria. There are mixed inflammation- viral-bacterial, for example.

All medical reference books classify the illnesses included in the concept of “pneumonia” as quite dangerous, since out of the 450 million people from all over the world who fall ill with them per year, about 7 million die due to incorrect diagnosis, incorrect or delayed treatment, and also on the speed and severity of the disease. Among the deaths, about 30% were children under 3 years of age.

Based on the location of the source of inflammation, all pneumonias are divided into:

Focal;
Segmental;
Equity;
Drain;
Total.

Also, inflammation can be bilateral or unilateral if only one lung or part of it is affected. Quite rarely, pneumonia is an independent disease; more often it is a complication of another disease - viral or bacterial.

Most dangerous pneumonia considered for children under 5 years of age and the elderly; among such patients the consequences are unpredictable. According to statistics, they have the highest mortality rate.

Evgeny Komarovsky claims that the respiratory organs in general are the most vulnerable to various infections. It is through the upper Airways(nose, oropharynx, larynx) most of the germs and viruses enter the child’s body.

If the baby’s immunity is weakened, if the environmental conditions in the area where he lives are unfavorable, if the microbe or virus is very aggressive, then the inflammation does not linger only in the nose or larynx, but goes down to the bronchi. This disease is called bronchitis. If it cannot be stopped, the infection spreads even lower - to the lungs. Pneumonia occurs.

However airborne infection is not the only one. If we consider that the lungs, in addition to gas exchange, perform several other important functions, it becomes clear why sometimes the disease appears in the absence of a viral infection. Nature has entrusted the human lungs with the mission of moisturizing and warming the inhaled air, purifying it from various harmful impurities (the lungs act as a filter), and also similarly filter the circulating blood, releasing many harmful substances from it and neutralizing them.

If the baby has undergone surgery, broken a leg, ate something wrong and got severe food poisoning, got burned, cut himself, this or that amount of toxins, blood clots, etc. enters the blood in varying concentrations. The lungs patiently neutralize this or remove it out with with help defense mechanism- cough. However, unlike household filters, which can be cleaned, washed or thrown away, lung filters cannot be washed or replaced. And if one day some part of this “filter” fails, becomes clogged, the very disease that parents call pneumonia begins.

Pneumonia can be caused by a wide variety of bacteria and viruses.. If a child gets sick while in the hospital with another illness, then there is a high probability that he will have bacterial pneumonia, which is also called hospital-acquired or hospital-acquired pneumonia. This is the most severe of pneumonia, since in conditions of hospital sterility, the use of antiseptics and antibiotics, only the strongest and most aggressive microbes survive, which are not so easy to destroy.

The most common occurrence in children is pneumonia, which arose as a complication of a viral infection (ARVI, influenza, etc.). Such cases of pneumonia account for about 90% of the corresponding childhood diagnoses. This is not even due to the fact that viral infections“scary”, but with the fact that they are extremely widespread, and some children get them up to 10 times a year or even more.

Symptoms

To understand how pneumonia begins to develop, you need to have a good understanding of how the respiratory system generally works. The bronchi constantly secrete mucus, the task of which is to block dust particles, microbes, viruses and other unwanted objects that enter the respiratory system. Bronchial mucus has certain characteristics, such as viscosity, for example. If it loses some of its properties, then instead of fighting the invasion of foreign particles, it itself begins to cause a lot of “trouble.”

For example, too thick mucus, if the child breathes dry air, it clogs the bronchi and interferes with normal ventilation of the lungs. This, in turn, leads to stagnation in some areas of the lungs, pneumonia develops.

Pneumonia often occurs when the child’s body rapidly loses fluid reserves and bronchial mucus thickens. Dehydration varying degrees can occur with prolonged diarrhea in a child, with repeated vomiting, high fever, fever, with insufficient fluid intake, especially against the background of the previously mentioned problems.

Parents may suspect pneumonia in their child based on a number of signs:

Cough has become the main symptom of the disease. The rest, who were present earlier, gradually disappear, and the cough only gets worse.
The child became worse after improvement. If the disease has already subsided, and then suddenly the baby feels unwell again, this may well indicate the development of a complication.
The child cannot take a deep breath. Every attempt to do this results in severe attack cough. Breathing is accompanied by wheezing.
Pneumonia can manifest itself through severe pallor of the skin against the background of the symptoms listed above.
The child has shortness of breath, and antipyretic drugs, which previously always quickly helped, ceased to have an effect.

It is important not to engage in self-diagnosis, since the absolute way to establish the presence of inflammation of the lungs is not even the doctor himself, but X-ray lungs and bacterial culture sputum, which will give the doctor an accurate idea of which pathogen caused the inflammatory process. A blood test will show the presence of antibodies to viruses if the inflammation is viral, and Klebsiella found in the stool will lead to the idea that pneumonia is caused by this dangerous pathogen. At home, the doctor will definitely listen and tap the area of the little patient’s lungs, listen to the nature of wheezing when breathing and during coughing.

Is pneumonia contagious?

Whatever causes pneumonia, in almost all cases it is contagious to others. If these are viruses, they are easily transmitted to other family members through the air, if bacteria - by contact, and sometimes airborne. Therefore, a child with pneumonia should be provided with separate dishes, towels, and bed linen.

Treatment according to Komarovsky

Once the diagnosis is made, the doctor will decide where the child will be treated - at home or in the hospital. This choice will depend on how old the child is and how severe his pneumonia is. Pediatricians try to hospitalize all children under 2 years of age, since their immunity is weak, and for this reason the treatment process must be constantly monitored by medical personnel.

All cases of obstruction during pneumonia (pleurisy, bronchial obstruction) are grounds for hospitalization in children of any age, since this is an additional risk factor, and recovery from such pneumonia will not be easy. If the doctor says that you have uncomplicated pneumonia, then with a high degree of probability he will allow you to treat it at home.

Most often, pneumonia is treated with antibiotics, and it is not at all necessary that you have to give a lot of painful and scary injections.

The doctor will determine antibiotics that can quickly and effectively help based on the results of a sputum culture test.

Two-thirds of cases of pneumonia, according to Evgeniy Komarovsky, are perfectly treated with tablets or syrups. In addition, expectorants are prescribed, which help the bronchi to clear accumulated mucus as quickly as possible. At the final stage of the child’s treatment, physiotherapy and massage are indicated. Also, children undergoing rehabilitation are advised to take walks and take vitamin complexes.

If the treatment takes place at home, it is important that the child is not in a hot room, drinks enough liquid, and a vibration massage is useful, which promotes the discharge of bronchial secretions.

Treatment for viral pneumonia will be similar, with the exception of taking antibiotics.

Prevention

If a child gets sick (ARVI, diarrhea, vomiting and other problems), you must ensure that he consumes enough fluid. The drink should be warm so that the liquid can be absorbed faster.

A sick baby should breathe clean, moist air. To do this, you need to ventilate the room, humidify the air using a special humidifier or using wet towels hung around the apartment. The room should not be allowed to get hot.

A common disease that creates real threat for life, is pneumonia in children, in the treatment of which modern medicine has come a long way. Even 30–40 years ago, according to statistics, doctors were able to save only every 3–4 child with pneumonia.

Modern methods of therapy have reduced the mortality rate from this disease tenfold, but this does not make the disease less serious. Prognosis in the treatment of each child always depends 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 lung diseases, for example, vascular or allergic lesions, bronchitis and various disorders in their functioning caused by physical or chemical factors.

This disease is common in children; as a rule, approximately 80% of all lung pathologies in children are 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, emit 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 quickly progresses and can lead to pulmonary edema of varying severity, and even death.

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

The state of the immune system plays a large 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 successful treatment of pneumonia in children, it is important to correctly diagnose the disease and identify the causative agent. The disease can be caused not only by viruses, but also by bacteria and fungi.

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

Pneumonia can have different origins:

Bacterial origin. The disease can occur not only against the background of another illness 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 approximately 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 diseases respiratory system antibiotics or their abuse.

Inflammation of the lungs can be unilateral, affecting one lung or part of it, or be bilateral, affecting both lungs at once. As a rule, with any etiology and form of the disease, the child’s temperature rises significantly.

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 activation certain type mycoplasma. In this case, the disease in children is very severe, accompanied by high performance temperature.

Special mycoplasmas of pneumonia, causing respiratory mycoplasmosis and pneumonia, are easily transmitted by airborne droplets, causing diseases of the respiratory system various forms, 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, reaching 40°C, but after that it decreases and becomes subfebrile with persistent values of 37.2–37.5°C. In some cases, complete normalization of indicators is observed.
In some cases, the disease begins with usual signs ARVI or colds, such as sore throat, frequent sneezing, severe runny nose.
Then shortness of breath and a very strong dry cough appear, but acute bronchitis also has the same symptoms, this fact complicates the diagnosis. Children are often treated for bronchitis, which greatly complicates and aggravates the disease.
By listening to a child's lungs, the doctor cannot detect pneumonia by ear. Rare wheezing and of various nature, there are practically no traditional signs when listening, which greatly complicates the diagnosis.
When examining a blood test, as a rule, pronounced changes no, but it shows up increase in ESR, as well as neutrophilic leukocytosis, complemented by leukopenia, anemia and eosinophilia.
When performing an X-ray, the doctor sees in the images foci of heterogeneous infiltration of the lungs with an enhanced expression of the pulmonary pattern.
Mycoplasmas, like chlamydia, which causes atypical pneumonia, can long time exist in the epithelial cells of the lungs and bronchi, and therefore the disease is usually protracted and, having appeared once, can often recur.
Treatment of atypical pneumonia in children should be done with macrolides, which include clarithromycin, josamycin and azithromycin, since pathogens are most sensitive to them.

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 a hospital setting, 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, cardiac or respiratory failure, acute impairment of consciousness, lung abscess, fall blood pressure, sepsis or infectious-toxic shock;
who have damage to several lobes of the lung at once or a lobar variant of pneumonia;
up to a year. In infants under one year of age, the disease is very severe and poses a real threat to life, so their treatment is carried out exclusively in an inpatient setting, where doctors can promptly provide emergency assistance. Children under 3 years of age also undergo inpatient treatment, regardless of the severity of the disease. Older children may undergo home treatment, provided that the disease is not complicated;
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 prescribed them to the child, in no case should they be abandoned.

No folk remedies, homeopathy or even traditional methods of treating ARVI can help with pneumonia.

Parents, especially during outpatient treatment, must strictly comply with all doctor’s instructions and strictly follow all instructions in terms of taking medications, eating, drinking, resting and caring for a sick child. Everyone in the hospital necessary measures must be performed by medical personnel.

Pneumonia needs to be treated correctly, which means you should follow some rules:

Antibiotics prescribed by a doctor must be taken strictly according to the established schedule. If, as prescribed by a doctor, you need to take antibiotics 2 times a day, then an interval of 12 hours should be observed between doses. When prescribing three doses, the interval between them will be 8 hours, and this rule cannot be violated. It is important to observe the timing of taking medications. For example, cephalosporin and penicillin series are taken no longer than 7 days, and macrolides should be used for 5 days.
The effectiveness of treatment, expressed in improvement of the child’s general condition, improved appetite, decreased shortness of breath and decreased temperature, can be assessed only after 72 hours from the start of therapy.
The use of antipyretic drugs will be justified only when the temperature in children over one year of age exceeds 39°, and in children under one year of age - 38°. High temperature is an indicator of the immune system’s fight against the disease, with maximum production of antibodies that destroy pathogens. For this reason, if the baby tolerates a high temperature normally, it is better not to bring it down, since in this case the treatment will be more effective. But, if the baby has had febrile convulsions at least once against the background of an increase in temperature, an antipyretic should be given only when the readings rise to 37.5°.
Nutrition. Lack of appetite with pneumonia is a natural condition. There is no need to force your child to eat. During the treatment period, you should prepare light meals for your baby. The optimal diet would be liquid porridge, steamed cutlets made 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 your drinking regime. The child should consume large quantities clean still water, green tea with raspberries, natural juices. If you drink liquid in required quantity the child refuses, you should give him small portions of special pharmaceutical solutions to restore the water-salt balance, for example, Regidron.
In the child's room, it is necessary to carry out wet cleaning daily, and also monitor the air humidity; for this, you can use humidifiers or place 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 provide help, but they can lead to side effects and worsen the child's condition.
The use of probiotics is necessary for pneumonia, since taking antibiotics causes disruption of the intestines. And to remove toxins formed from the activity of pathogens, the doctor usually prescribes sorbents.

If all instructions are followed, the sick child is transferred to normal mode and allow walks in the fresh air from about 6–10 days of therapy. In case of uncomplicated pneumonia, the child is given exemption from physical activity for 1.5-2 months. If the disease is severe, sports will be allowed only after 12–14 weeks.

Prevention

Must be given Special attention preventive measures, especially after a child has suffered from an illness. It is important to prevent accumulation of sputum in the lungs, which is why the disease develops.

Maintaining sufficient 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 in the lungs.

Sports activities and high mobility of children are excellent preventive measures, helping to eliminate mucus from the lungs and respiratory tract and prevent the formation of its accumulations.

Drinking plenty of fluids not only helps keep your baby’s blood in good condition, but also helps thin the mucus in the airways and lungs, making it easier to eliminate naturally.

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

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 a timely manner or treatment is stopped prematurely. Therefore, in order to avoid possible complications and the development of pneumonia, you should not self-medicate colds, but consult a doctor for any manifestations.

Modern medicine makes it possible to successfully treat pneumonia in children, but a prerequisite for a favorable outcome is timely diagnosis and prescribing 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 characteristics factors 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 blood vessels in 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 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. Kindergarteners and junior schoolchildren 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). Endogenous factor Aspiration of vomit and belching may occur (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.).

Symptoms of this disease may be similar to the clinical picture of other respiratory diseases, and therefore it is necessary to differential diagnosis. 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 lung. 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 over 6–7 years of age. It's natural defensive reaction body for infection. Pneumonia in children is more younger age may be accompanied by a temperature 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 may be varying intensity and character, in some cases there is a dry cough for a long time, and in other sick children the cough is very strong, paroxysmal, with acute pneumonia- 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.

Will complement as much as possible clinical picture information from parents. 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 drug treatment constitute 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 to maintain the required concentration. active substance 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, even with low-grade fever convulsions are observed, 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. To maintain strength can be prescribed vitamin complexes. 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 up to three years can only be treated in a hospital setting: at this age children do not yet have strong immunity, protective forces the body is weak, so the condition of patients must be monitored by qualified personnel.

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 contact medical care if pneumonia is being treated at home.

Which doctor should I contact?

At 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 something else. infection against the background of a weakened immune system. At initial symptoms you need to call a local pediatrician to your home, and if a high temperature suddenly appears, other acute symptoms- first aid.

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.

Each lung consists of lobes (the right one has three, the left one has two). They, in turn, are divided into segments, which are divided into smaller and smaller sections, down to the alveoli. This is a simplified representation of the structure of the lungs to make it clear what we are talking about.

With pneumonia, the smallest “units” of the lungs, the alveoli, become inflamed. It is in these small bubbles that the process of respiration occurs - the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. With pneumonia, when the alveoli are inflamed, breathing becomes difficult, all organs of the body suffer from a lack of oxygen, which is not the best in the best possible way affects the child's condition.

According to WHO, pneumonia is the leading cause of death among children worldwide. Every year, the disease takes the lives of more than a million babies, accounting for about 18% of child deaths. The disease is especially dangerous for infants under six months of age.

If treatment is not started in time, consequences such as: pleurisy (fluid accumulation between the two membranes of the lungs), pulmonary destruction (tissue destruction), cardiopulmonary failure(circulatory disorders associated with lack of oxygen). These complications often lead to death.

To prevent serious condition child, at the slightest suspicion of pneumonia (as well as any other disease), you should go to the doctor.

Pneumonia - very dangerous disease, especially for children

Types of pneumonia

If the symptoms of a child’s illness resemble pneumonia, you should not self-medicate. If a friend treated her baby with a certain antibiotic, you don’t need to believe that it always helps. Pneumonia can be caused by various pathogens, and the drug should be selected based on this.

Pneumonia in children is most often caused by its own microflora (staphylococci, coli) with decreased immunity, hypothermia, and pneumococci. Bacterial pneumonia not contagious, but viral, caused by pneumococci, is transmitted by airborne droplets. They also distinguish atypical pneumonia, the causative agents of which are chlamydia and mycoplasma.

The disease is divided into the following types based on lung damage:

focal – a lesion of 1 cm in size is formed;

segmental – one or more segments are affected;

lobar (lobar) – the entire lobe of the lung is affected;

confluent - the union of several small lesions into a larger one.

In addition, pneumonia can be unilateral (left- or right-sided), bilateral.

Causes of the disease

In adults, pneumonia is most often an independent disease, while in children (especially under two years of age) it is a complication after illness, such as influenza or ARVI. The state of the immune system plays a major role in the occurrence of pneumonia - the weaker it is, the greater the risk of disease.

As for the development of pneumonia, the smaller the child, the more difficult it is. The reason for this is age physiological characteristics. In newborns lung tissue insufficiently formed, the airways are thin and weak. Therefore, diseases of the respiratory system in children develop quickly, and the condition can rapidly worsen. Children under three years of age are often treated in a hospital (in mild cases, treatment at home is possible); children under six months old are required to be under 24-hour medical supervision.

Some medical conditions increase your risk of developing pneumonia. Among them: malnutrition, rickets, Iron-deficiency anemia, diseases of the central nervous system, heart defects, immune system deficiency.

Atypical pneumonia

This is a special type of disease that most often occurs in children aged six months to five years. Pneumonia is caused by chlamydia and mycoplasma. It proceeds differently than the usual form. Accordingly, the treatment is completely different.

Symptoms of SARS resemble respiratory disease: the child experiences sneezing, sore throat, and runny nose. There may be no temperature at all. The cough is dry, debilitating, as happens with acute bronchitis. Wheezing in the lungs also has its own characteristics. Diagnosis of the disease and selection of antibiotics in the case of atypical pneumonia is difficult - in order to prescribe effective treatment, take a sputum test. On early stages This disease is difficult to identify - this is its danger.

Atypical pneumonia is diagnosed differently than regular pneumonia

Signs of pneumonia in children under one year old

Symptoms of the disease differ depending on what pathogen it is caused by. Also, the course of the disease differs depending on the age and state of the child’s immune system. Most common in young children following symptoms pneumonia.

Temperature increase. Body temperature can rise to 39.5 degrees, although sometimes it does not exist at all. The peculiarity of the disease is that attempts to reduce the temperature are either ineffective or give short-term results (only for a couple of hours).

Decreased appetite. Almost all children begin to refuse food. Breastfed babies ask for the breast, but they need it more for comfort - they suck milk sluggishly. This applies not only to pneumonia - lack of appetite in children is a signal of health problems.

Disruption of the central nervous system. When a child suffers from pneumonia, his behavior completely changes. Drowsiness, unusual calmness, or, conversely, agitation and tearfulness are possible.

In children, signs typical of “adult” pneumonia, such as severe cough and chest pain, may be completely absent. In the first days of the disease, wheezing in the lungs is not detected. For these reasons, diagnosing the disease in children is difficult.

Symptoms of the disease in children

Pneumonia is accompanied by fever

Fever. The temperature may rise to varying degrees. In some children it reaches 39.5 degrees, in others - 37.2. Sometimes there is also a lack of temperature. However, unlike influenza and ARVI, it is difficult to bring it down, and besides, it only helps for a short time - after a couple of hours, hyperthermia returns.

Rapid breathing. Shortness of breath is the most common sign of pneumonia not only in children, but also in adults. The disease is indicated by:

more than 60 breaths in a newborn (up to two months);

more than 50 breaths in babies under one year old;

more than 40 breaths in children over one year old.

Skin retraction. In children with pneumonia, the skin in the rib area almost always sag. This is easy to notice if you undress a child - changes in relief skin in the area of the ribs is clearly noticeable when breathing.

Cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle. In children, the area between the lips and nose often turns blue with pneumonia. Blue discoloration is clearly expressed when the baby sucks at the breast, cries, sneezes, or coughs.

First of all, the symptoms of toxicosis appear - poor appetite, lethargy or agitation, tearfulness. Body temperature also rises, the wings of the nose swell, breathing and pulse quicken. A cough may appear only on the fifth day of the disease.

Children school age And teenagers get sick just like adults. Usually it all starts with symptoms of a general ARVI, after a few days there is an improvement, and treatment is stopped in a timely manner. After another couple of days, the temperature rises, a cough and chest pain appear.

If pneumonia is caused by Friedlander's bacillus, characteristic symptoms pneumonia is accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. The cough begins in the first days of illness. Typically, such pneumonia occurs as an epidemic in children's groups.

In newborns, hospital-acquired pneumonia usually occurs (signs of the disease appear in the first 72 hours of life), but the possibility of intrauterine infection cannot be ruled out - in this case, the cause of the disease is an infection of the maternal body.

Pneumonia can be noticed by any attentive mother. Signals of a serious illness are: increased temperature that lasts more than three days, severe shortness of breath, asymmetric wheezing in the lungs. Under no circumstances should you treat pneumonia yourself; only a doctor should prescribe medications. Usage traditional methods It will only take away precious time, but will have no effect.

Diagnosis of the disease

When listening and tapping the lungs, the doctor finds the following signs of pneumonia: wheezing, characteristic of this disease; at the site of inflammation, breathing is weak or not audible at all. On an x-ray you can see a darkened area of the lung; a blood test shows an inflammatory process.

The doctor conducts a comprehensive diagnosis

When making a diagnosis, the doctor focuses not only on the clinical picture and test data, but also on the result of an X-ray examination of the lungs. In children, especially young ones, take into account the data microbiological research as an accurate result is impossible, since the wrong microorganism that caused pneumonia may be sown from sputum and nasopharynx.

Treatment of pneumonia

In children, as in adults, pneumonia is treated symptomatically, that is, all signs of the disease and foci of inflammation are eliminated. Despite the information below, under no circumstances should you self-medicate - you should consult a doctor. It is also prohibited to use folk remedies- not only will they not give you what you need therapeutic effect and time will be lost, we should not forget that modern children are often allergic, and can respond to herbal treatment in a completely unpredictable way.

If you have pneumonia, you should never self-medicate

In order to remove the source of inflammation, doctors prescribe a course of antibiotics. Despite the fact that these drugs negatively affect the immune system and gastrointestinal tract Even an adult, not to mention children, should understand that it is impossible to cure pneumonia without antibiotics. The type of drug and dose are determined by the doctor depending on the age of the child, the causative agent of the disease and the severity.

The following groups of antibiotics are mainly used to treat children: penicillin, semisynthetic penicillins (amoxiclav, amoxicillin, ampicillin, etc.), macrolides (rovamycin, erythromycin, azithromycin, etc.), cephalosporins (cefuroxime, cephalexin, cefoperazone, ceftriaxone, etc. .d.). In severe cases, pneumonia is treated with aminoglycosides and imipinemes. Sometimes drugs from different groups are combined.

Sputum analysis, which allows identifying the pathogen, lasts more than one day, so the doctor prescribes the drug after studying medical card child and focusing on the clinical picture. If after 48 hours (in acute conditions - 24 hours) there is no improvement in the general condition, as shown by the x-ray, the antibiotic is changed.

Elimination of the symptoms of the disease, aimed at improving the well-being of the sick child, is also important. To do this, the doctor prescribes antipyretic drugs and mucolytic drugs that facilitate the discharge of sputum.

Mucolytic drugs also enhance the effect of antibiotics. These include drugs based on acetylcysteine (mucomist, ACC, mucobene, fluimucil), derivatives of the alkaloid vazicin (bisolvone, bromhexine, mucosalvan). Despite the fact that such drugs seem harmless, only a doctor should prescribe them, taking into account the possibility of combining certain drugs.

If a child has a fever, you do not need to bring it down immediately when you see a mark of 37 degrees. An elevated temperature helps the body fight microbes, so it is worth bringing it down only when it is more than 38 degrees. This recommendation does not apply to children under one year of age or to those who have previously had low-grade seizures.

All doctor's prescriptions must be strictly followed.

Treatment at home and in hospital

Many parents worry that treatment will take place in a hospital. However, treatment at home is also possible. The following factors are taken into account when making a decision.

Child's age. In infants, pneumonia is a serious threat to life. If the child is under three years old, the doctor suggests hospital treatment. You should not refuse this: the consequences of the disease in children can be different, up to a sudden stop of breathing. To prevent this from happening, it is better for the child to be under the supervision of doctors around the clock until recovery.

The child's condition. If a child over three years old is sick, his state of health is taken into account when choosing the form of treatment. For example, if you have a weak immune system or have chronic diseases, you may be offered to stay in a hospital for treatment.

Type of pneumonia and severity of the disease. If a child has simple focal pneumonia, treatment can be done at home. But it is dangerous to treat lobar (lobar) at home - it is fraught with serious complications.

It is these factors that influence the decision to hospitalize a child with pneumonia.

Treatment can be carried out at home, but under the supervision of a doctor

Duration of treatment

How long treatment will last depends not only on the age of the child, the type and severity of pneumonia, but also on the characteristics of the body. In uncomplicated cases, antibiotic treatment lasts 7-10 days.

If the disease has a complex course, there are complications, and also in cases of atypical pneumonia, treatment may be longer. Sometimes pneumonia is treated with antibiotics for a month. The duration of treatment is determined only by the doctor.

If treatment was started in a timely manner, there are no complications and the drugs are prescribed correctly, complete recovery (until the symptoms completely disappear) occurs in about a month. If you self-medicate and do not seek help from a specialist, the consequences can be very dire.

Caring for a sick child

Of course, it is very important to follow all your doctor's instructions regarding medicinal drugs. But besides this, the patient needs to provide proper care, healthy eating. All this will help you heal faster.

Since antibiotics negatively affect the functioning of the digestive system, which is already weak in children, it is necessary to provide a light, but at the same time healthy and high-calorie diet. Children should not be introduced to new foods at this time, and older children should be given boiled meat, cereals, vegetable soups, fruits, and vegetables. Heavy, fatty foods are unacceptable. However, when a child is recovering and asks for a certain dish, you should not limit him in this desire. During treatment with antibiotics, you need to take enzyme preparations.

A sick child needs careful care

The child must receive enough fluids. At the age of three, the amount of fluid per day should reach three liters. You can give clean water(not carbonated), juices, tea, compote, milk. If children drink little fluid, against the background high temperature Dehydration is possible, which will affect the entire body. In addition, sufficient fluid intake improves sputum discharge.

With infants the situation is more complicated. For every kilogram of weight there should be 150 ml of liquid. If the baby is on breastfeeding, it's hard to track. But if he suckles well and urination is normal, it means there is enough milk. If a baby has a poor appetite and does not want to suckle milk, he needs to be fed with a spoon. But since such children are in a hospital, you don’t have to worry too much about this - if necessary, fluid will be administered intravenously.

Of course, it is difficult to put children to bed, but with pneumonia this is a prerequisite for recovery. If you have a fever, you must stay in bed. You don't have to lie down - you can sit. You need to ensure that bed linen and clothes are clean. You should not dress your child too warmly. You will have to forget about swaddling during the illness - breathing is already difficult, and wrapping it worsens the condition even more. The chest and head should be slightly raised, for this you can add an additional pillow.

The atmosphere should be calm - no guests, bright light, loud conversations. It is recommended to maintain the temperature in the room at 20-22 degrees. The room is ventilated several times a day. At this time, the child should be in another room. If this is not possible, then the patient should be covered with a warm blanket and the children should be dressed. Under no circumstances should there be drafts. In summer it is recommended to go out to the balcony with your child - Fresh air very important for pneumonia.

Children with pneumonia must be bathed. But not in the bath, but under the shower, for a few minutes. If the condition is severe, the child should simply be wiped with a damp towel.

Physiotherapy

At the speed of recovery in a positive way affects special physiotherapy. In addition, it helps to avoid complications. Gymnastics is a must for all children over three years of age.

Therapeutic exercises will help get rid of the disease

The simplest thing is turning in bed, which begins from the very first hours of the disease. Pneumonia is usually accompanied by unpleasant (and even painful) sensations in the chest, on the side where the inflammatory process is located. Therefore, patients, both children and adults, try to sleep on the opposite side to reduce discomfort. However, because of this, adhesive processes may develop, resulting in the formation of pleural adhesions.

The child must be turned from one side to the other, as well as onto his back, from time to time. Even if he is already a teenager, you still need to control the process.

On approximately the third day of illness, you can begin breathing exercises. When performing the exercise, the patient should place his hands on his stomach and take deep breaths at least fifteen times. When the child feels better and begins to get out of bed, it is necessary to do the following exercise: do deep breath, slowly raise your arms and lower them while exhaling deeply. The exercise is repeated at least ten times.

All these activities are included in the dispensary observation system. After suffering from acute pneumonia, the pediatrician should monitor the child’s condition for another year. A blood test is taken approximately every two months. If there is a suspicion of a chronic process in the lungs, an x-ray examination is prescribed chest. The condition of the body is also monitored by other specialists: an immunologist, an allergist, a pulmonologist, an ENT specialist.

Vaccinations against pneumonia

In children over two years of age, the main cause of pneumonia is pneumococcus. The disease caused by these microorganisms is contagious and transmitted by airborne droplets. After recovery, immunity to the transferred pneumococcal serotype remains. The pneumonia vaccine contains bacterial antigens of the most common serotypes.

Today, about a hundred serotypes of pneumococcus are known, a quarter of which are constantly transmitted from one person to another. The goal of vaccination is to reduce the mortality rate from pneumonia. Vaccination forms immunity in the body, but for a short time: up to five years.

The most famous vaccines against pneumonia are Pneumo-23 (France) and Prevenar (USA). The first is given to children over two years old, the second - from two months. Vaccines are administered intramuscularly or subcutaneously. Adverse reactions may be: swelling, redness, pain at the injection site. A small number of vaccinated people develop a fever on the first day. Local manifestations usually disappear after a couple of days.

In our country, debate continues about whether it is advisable to take this vaccine. It is not included in the list of mandatory ones, but doctors recommend doing it to children with weak immune systems. In several dozen countries around the world, vaccination against pneumonia is mandatory for all children. In any case, it is unacceptable to make a decision on the introduction of a particular vaccine on your own - you should definitely consult with your doctor and immunologist.

Prevention of pneumonia

First of all, the child must have good immunity. This directly depends on the diet and daily routine, which many parents neglect. Children should receive fresh fruits, vegetable dishes, dairy products, and meat daily. Infants - mother's milk.

The child’s diet should be designed in such a way that the body receives all the vitamins, micro- and macroelements it needs. If the child does not receive enough nutrients, his immune system suffers, and the body cannot fight pathogens.

The daily routine for children is very important. If a child is put to bed either at nine o'clock or at twelve, and allowed to do whatever he wants during the day, the body will constantly experience stress. Therefore, the child must be put to bed strictly at a certain time ( nap must be), distribute time for studying and playing. Children should not be very tired.

Pneumonia is a serious disease that can lead to serious consequences. If you suspect pneumonia, you should not hesitate or self-medicate - you should immediately call a doctor. If you start treatment on time, you can defeat pneumonia without complications - this is true for any disease.