Bronchopneumonia (also known as focal pneumonia) is a lung disease that is inflammatory in nature and affects small areas of the lung. Most often this type of pneumonia occurs in children under two years of age and develops in the same ligament with bronchitis or bronchoalveolitis.
In pediatrics, the most common bilateral bilateral bronchopneumonia in a child, which with timely diagnosis and timely correction is successfully treated with antibiotics (erythromycin, azithromycin, augmentin , zinnat ).
What is the difference between bronchopneumonia and pneumonia?
Bronchopneumonia differs from the typical form in its clinical manifestations, which can be characterized by varying degrees of severity.
Bronchopneumonia in children: causes
This type of pneumonia can develop due to the presence of the following factors:
- general weakening of the body during the epidemic of colds;
- presence of concomitant diseases (influenza, measles, whooping cough);
- infectious pathogens (staphylococcus, pneumococcus, streptococcus, hemophilic rod).
Bronchopneumonia in children: symptoms
The child may have the following signs of bronchopneumonia:
- coughing;
- pallor of the skin;
- weakness;
- increased fatigue;
- headache;
- cough (both wet and dry) with dischargeable sputum;
- breathing (increased breathing to 30 beats per minute);
- increased heart rate to 110 beats per minute;
- wheezing when listening to a baby stethoscope;
- leukocytosis (increase of leukocytes in the blood);
- increased ESR (sedimentation rate of erythrocytes);
- increase in body temperature to 39 degrees.
Bronchopneumonia without temperature is rare.
Acute bronchopneumonia in children: complications
In the case of diagnosis of bronchopneumonia in a child, the following consequences can be noted:
- general intoxication of the body;
- tachycardia;
- anxiety;
- general lethargy of the baby;
- convulsions.
Bronchopneumonia in children: treatment
The existing foci of pneumonia can easily dissolve in the child on their own, since the baby has a good contractile ability of the lungs, an abundance of lymphatic vessels in the lungs, and as a result, the healing process accelerates. When the disease recurs or a chronic form of bronchopneumonia, the doctor prescribes a general restorative treatment in addition to drug therapy.
With a mild course of treatment, the most often treatment is outpatient, and in the absence of improvements, hospitalization is performed. It should be remembered that bronchitis, together with bronchopneumonia, often affects children under the age of two. Despite modern methods of treatment, the percentage of deaths remains quite high. Therefore, do not delay the visit to the doctor, and if necessary - and hospitalization in the hospital, if the child has a severe stage of bronchopneumonia.
The use of a therapeutic diet will strengthen the children's body.
Parents should provide the child with a plentiful drink (up to two liters per day), easily assimilated food (crushed, liquid).
Thus, the doctor prescribes complex treatment of the child, based on the characteristics of his health, the form and severity of the disease.
For the prevention of bronchopneumonia, it is necessary to provide the baby with a proper diet and rest, full sleep, hygiene, exercise therapy.
Diseases of the lung is handled by a pulmonary physician, therefore, at the slightest suspicion of bronchopneumonia in a child and the presence of a strong cough with wheezing, it is necessary to immediately contact a specialized specialist.