Often, in case of complications of infection, the district pediatrician assigns your child not always justified antibacterial therapy. One of these drugs is amoxicillin, an antibiotic for children. It happens that parents doubt the correctness of the chosen treatment and want to make sure whether it is possible to give children amoxicillin.
Indications for use and side effects
The spectrum of application of amoxicillin is quite wide: respiratory tract infections, such as whooping cough, acute and chronic bronchitis, pneumonia. It is also used in the treatment of ENT diseases: pharyngitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis. Antibiotic is prescribed for inflammatory diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract (pyelonephritis, cystitis, urethritis), as well as for the treatment of inflammatory processes in cholelithiasis, gastritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer.
Side effects of this drug include allergic reactions in the form of skin rashes, rhinitis, Quincke's edema, in very rare cases, there may be an anaphylactic shock. With prolonged use of amoxicillin, dizziness and convulsions may occur. Therefore, do not take the drug for longer than the due date.
Amoxicillin Dosage for Children
This drug is prescribed for the treatment of children mainly at home, its administration can successfully replace painful injections. Children under one year are prescribed amoxicillin, starting with birth, because it is recognized as the best safety for babies, as well as for pregnant and lactating women. In case there is no individual intolerance to the drug, it is taken according to the doctor's recommendation:
- for children up to the age of two, a three-time intake of 20 mg of medication per kilogram of body weight per day is prescribed. The interval between receptions should not be less than eight hours;
- beginning at the age of two years and up to five years, prescribe 125 mg three times a day, this is a reception of 0.5 teaspoon of the remedy;
- from six to ten years in a teaspoon three times a day, which corresponds to 250 mg of the active ingredient;
- beginning from the age of ten and up to fourteen years, appoint 500 mg three times a day;
- from the age of fourteen the child can already take the dosage given to an adult - a one-time admission 750 ml of the drug three times a day.
In case of complication or severe course of the disease, the doctor may prescribe to exceed the permissible dose, but only under vigilant supervision to avoid overdose. The course of treatment with the drug is from five days to two weeks. The drug is available in the form of capsules, tablets and powder for the preparation of a suspension, which is sometimes incorrectly called amoxicillin in the form of a syrup for children. This is not true, since this drug in the form of a syrup is not produced.
The district doctor will tell you how to take and give amoxicillin to children. Usually, up to ten years, a suspension is prescribed, which is easier for small children to give. Amoxicillin in tablets is prescribed to children after the age of ten, but occasionally doctors allow taking tablets at six years of age.
In order to prepare a suspension, you need cooled boiled water. It is poured into a bottle in two batches. First, pour half the dose marked on the vial label, and vigorously shake. Then top up to the mark in the form of a notch on the bottle and again shake. The drug should be taken after 5 minutes.
Store the finished suspension can be in the refrigerator for no more than 14 days. Before taking the medicine, shake well, pour the required dose into the spoon and leave to warm slightly at room temperature.
Do not forget that, as with any other antibiotic, in the treatment of amoxicillin, the balance of the microflora in the intestine of the child is disturbed. Therefore do not ignore the appointments of your doctor when he advises to take along with the antibiotic drugs that promote the emergence of useful microflora.