Symptoms and manifestations of neonatal pneumonia

  Neonatal pneumonia is a common disease in newborns. Early respiratory symptoms and signs are not obvious, especially in premature infants, making early diagnosis difficult, and is an important cause of neonatal death. Neonatal pneumonia can be divided into infectious pneumonia and aspiration pneumonia according to its nature.  1. Infectious pneumonia: It can occur prenatally, during delivery or postnatally. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses or infections such as mycoplasma and chlamydia. Intrauterine infections tend to show symptoms within 3 days after birth, and postpartum and postnatal infections tend to show symptoms 3 days after birth. Most children have a low temperature or fever, and systemic symptoms such as low response and refusal of milk. This is followed by shortness of breath, foaming at the mouth, nasal flaring, inspiratory depression, expiratory moaning, cyanosis, and, in a few cases, hyporesponsiveness and bruising around the mouth and lips. Cough symptoms may be absent (especially in premature infants). In severe cases, dyspnea, apnea, and even respiratory failure and heart failure may occur.  2, aspiration pneumonia: newborns due to inhalation of amniotic fluid, meconium or breast milk after the chemical inflammatory response of the lungs / secondary infection is collectively called neonatal aspiration pneumonia. The nature and amount of inhalation and the depth of inhalation are different, and the clinical manifestations vary.  (1) Aspiration pneumonia with amniotic fluid: there is a history of asphyxia, with shortness of breath or dyspnea with cyanosis and moaning during resuscitation or after birth. When the amount of inhaled amniotic fluid is small, shortness of breath or no symptoms are present. When the amount of inhaled amniotic fluid is high, dyspnea is evident, and fluid or foam may flow from the mouth, and coarse wet rales or fine wet rales may be heard on lung auscultation.  (2) Meconium aspiration pneumonia: It is common in term or overdue infants with a history of intrauterine distress and postnatal asphyxia and fecal staining of amniotic fluid. The disease is often severe, with dyspnea, moaning, cyanosis, and trismus signs appearing shortly after birth. The lungs are covered with dry and wet rales, which can cause respiratory failure, pulmonary atelectasis, emphysema, pulmonary hypertension, and central nervous system manifestations of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Once complicated by pneumothorax and mediastinal emphysema, the condition may change abruptly or even die.  (3) Lactation aspiration pneumonia: there is often choking and coughing from breastfeeding, milk flowing from the mouth and nose, accompanied by shortness of breath and cyanosis, which can lead to asphyxia in severe cases.