Winter is a high season for pediatric pneumonia, but because pneumonia symptoms are so similar to a cold, many parents easily mistake pneumonia for a cold, thus delaying treatment. Pediatricians teach you to distinguish pediatric pneumonia from the common cold by looking at three aspects.
Winter children are prone to colds caused by improper clothing, sudden climate changes, and poor ventilation in the living room, and colds can easily develop into pneumonia. Pediatric pneumonia is a common disease that threatens the health of children because of its rapid onset, seriousness and rapid development, but at the same time, it is very similar to the symptoms of pediatric colds, so it is easy to confuse. How can parents distinguish whether their child has the common cold or pneumonia?
I. What is pneumonia
Pediatric pneumonia is an inflammatory disease of the lower respiratory tract that develops on the basis of a cold. The fall and winter seasons are a time of high respiratory illness, so parents must be more careful. Pediatric pneumonia, figuratively speaking, is: the whole lung is like a tree that is upside down, then the trunk is our large airways, the leaves are our alveoli, and the so-called pneumonia is the distal leaves – the end of the alveoli are inflamed.
Second, the performance of pediatric pneumonia
The main manifestations are fever, cough, sputum, some with varying degrees of wheezing, and in severe cases, respiratory distress, nasal flapping, foaming at the mouth, purple lips, and a downward concavity in the clavicular and suprasternal fossae. Small infants may also exhibit moaning.
As a result of pneumonia, the child is not able to take in oxygen properly, and various parts of the body become hypoxic, especially after the brain and heart are deprived of oxygen, plus the viruses or bacteria poison the brain and heart with blood circulation, making the child prone to complications of toxic encephalopathy and heart failure. Therefore, pneumonia in children needs to be treated early and effectively to avoid complications.
How to distinguish pediatric pneumonia from “cold”
The pneumonia in children is mostly feverish, and more than 38 ℃, and lasts more than 2-3 days, such as the use of antipyretic drugs can only temporarily recede for a while. Pediatric colds also fever, but more than 38 ℃, the duration is shorter, the effect of antipyretic drugs is also more obvious.
Second look, mainly look at the following four aspects.
1, look at the cough, breathing is difficult. Most pediatric pneumonia has a cough or shortness of breath, and the degree is heavy, often causing breathing difficulties. The cough or wheeze caused by colds and bronchitis is generally milder and does not cause breathing difficulties. The difficulty in breathing is manifested as breath-holding, both sides of the nose one by one, the lips of the mouth purple, suggesting a serious condition, do not delay.
2, look at the mental state. When a child has a cold, the general state of mind is better and can play. When a child has pneumonia, the mental state is poor, often irritable, crying and restless, or lethargic, jerking, etc.
3, look at the diet. Children with colds, diet is still normal.
This is generally done by the pediatrician, the stethoscope can hear the child at the end of inhalation with a “gurgle”, “gurgle” like the sound of boiling rice, called fine blistering sound, which is an important sign of inflammation of the lungs.
The pneumonia of children home care
Pneumonia is a common disease of the pediatric respiratory system. In addition to medication, home care plays a vital role in the prognosis of the disease. So how should parents of children with pneumonia cooperate with doctors and do a good job of care? 1.Pay attention to the ventilation and hygiene of the environment and quiet Ensure regular ventilation in the room to make the air circulate, but should avoid the wind through the hall. 2, pay attention to reasonable nutrition and adequate hydration Pneumonia children often have high fever, poor appetite, reluctance to eat, so the diet should be light, easy to digest, while ensuring a certain amount of high-quality protein. If you have a fever, give a liquid diet (such as human milk).
How to prevent pediatric pneumonia
It is best not to take children to public places or crowded places. The room should be ventilated frequently to keep the air fresh and dry. Parents should have as little contact as possible with their young children when they have a cold, and should wear a mask when they do.
2. Strengthen nutrition. Actively promote mother’s milk feeding, and reasonably add supplementary food. The children’s diet should be well-matched, pay attention to supplemental protein, eat more vegetables, fruits and other vitamin-rich food.
3, pediatric pneumonia is a common disease of the respiratory tract in children, there is no lifelong immunity. You can give your child a pediatric pneumonia vaccine to effectively prevent pediatric pneumonia. The live measles vaccine and the Pak Pak Pak mix.