“The child has had a fever for 3 days, can’t eat, and has small blisters in his mouth, he thought it was a fire or a cold, so he gave himself medicine for a few days at home, but it’s getting worse, and the child is always crying, so the doctor should take a look.
In the summer, herpes pharyngitis is very frequent and aggressive, and most children have repeated high fevers, their temperatures do not go down, they do not want to eat, their throats hurt, and they cry, which makes the whole family very nervous. What kind of disease is herpes sore throat? Can it be contagious? Can it become hand, foot and mouth disease? How can it be prevented and treated? Many parents have questions that they would like to have answered.
Herpes pharyngitis is a specific upper respiratory tract infection, mostly caused by group A coxsackievirus, a few caused by echovirus, EV71 virus, etc., June to August is the high season, 1-7 years old children more often, its special seasonal and age characteristics are related to the following aspects: 1, summer heat, high humidity, the virus is more likely to survive, reproduction, and strong vitality; 2, 1-7 years old children’s own resistance The children’s own resistance is poorer, and they are easily infected with viruses; 3. The children may also catch viruses after sweating when they encounter the wind and the air conditioning temperature is adjusted too low, thus triggering heat stroke.
Sudden onset of fever and sore throat, be aware of herpes pharyngitis
There are three main symptoms of herpes pharyngitis: 1 Fever: usually high (39℃～40℃) and does not go down easily, even if it does, it often goes back up after two to three hours; usually lasts 3 to 6 days. 2 Oral herpes: pharyngeal herpes mostly occurs on the soft palate, uvula and tongue and palate arch, starting as a small red papule, then turning into small blisters, and finally turning into small ulcers. Ulcers. Ulcers heal slowly, often taking 7 to 10 days.3 Anorexia, drooling: Because ulcers cause pain, affected children often refuse to eat and are afraid to swallow even saliva, so clinical symptoms such as anorexia and drooling occur.
Easy to complicate myocarditis and convulsions, don’t take herpes pharyngitis seriously
Group A coxsackieviruses tend to invade the myocardium and cause myocarditis, so the most common complication of herpes pharyngitis is viral myocarditis, and in some cases, fulminant myocarditis can occur, with sudden cardiac death occurring in one to two days or even a few hours. In addition, herpes pharyngitis is prone to sudden convulsions due to the following reasons: first, the neurological development of infants and children within 3 years of age is not perfect, and sudden high fever can easily cause febrile convulsions; second, coxsackievirus and EV71 virus, in addition to cardiophilia, are also neurophilic and can cause viral encephalitis. Herpes pharyngitis is not a rare disease, most self-limiting healing in about 1 week, but once complications arise, the consequences are very serious.
Herpes pharyngitis and hand and foot rash at the same time may be hand, foot and mouth disease
“The child has herpes pharyngitis, these two days to pay extra attention to the child’s palms and feet will not also appear rash”. Deputy Director Wei Bing explained the above to a parent a few days ago. As a result, the child came back to the hospital 2 days later, and as the doctor and parents had feared, a red rash also appeared on the child’s palms and feet, developing into a typical hand, foot and mouth disease. How did herpes pharyngitis become HFMD? Deputy Director Wei Bing gave a detailed explanation. Herpes pharyngitis and HFMD are basically the same pathogens, and some children with herpes pharyngitis may develop into typical HFMD after about 2 days of illness. The differences between the two are.
(1) Herpes pharyngitis is more often a coxsackievirus infection, whereas HFMD is mainly caused by EV71 virus infection.
(2) Different rash sites: children with herpes pharyngitis have a herpes rash in the pharynx, whereas children with HFMD have a herpes rash on the hands, feet, buttocks, mouth, etc.
(3) Herpes pharyngitis is more likely to be followed by myocarditis, while HFMD is more likely to cause holoprosencephalitis, brainstem encephalitis, and neurogenic pulmonary edema.
(4) Herpes pharyngitis is not currently included in the scope of statutory infectious diseases in China and is relatively mild, whereas HFMD is an infectious disease and is more severe.
How to prevent and treat herpes pharyngitis
1. Prevention.
(1) You should stay away from the source of infection, wash your hands and disinfect regularly, ventilate more indoors, and go to crowded places as little as possible to cut off the path of infection.
(2) Maintain balanced nutrition and improve immunity.
2.Treatment.
(1) antiviral: apply antiviral western medicine or Chinese herbal medicine to clear heat and detoxify the body. If the routine blood tests show an increase in white blood cells, suggesting a possible combined bacterial infection, antibacterial antibiotics need to be applied at the same time.
(2) Spraying the pharynx with open throat sword etc. to reduce the symptoms of sore throat.
(3) Vitamin supplementation to promote the repair of damaged oral mucosa.
(4) In terms of diet, because of the pain in the throat and difficulty in swallowing, eat more easily digestible liquid or semi-liquid, such as milk, rice porridge, juice, etc. The diet should be small and repeated, and do not give the child spicy, sweet or fried food.
(5) In addition, it should be emphasized that one must pay attention to rest and not to strenuous exercise or exertion, otherwise myocarditis may easily occur or aggravate.