Salmonellosis in children

Salmonella is a widespread infection that can affect both children and adults. Disease in children after a year can proceed according to the type of food infection, and salmonella in infants has severe forms - gastroenteritis, enterocolitis, typhoid, septic. Adolescents and adults are more likely to tolerate the disease in mild form. Children older than 5 years - in an erased form without pronounced symptoms.

Nature, development and distribution of salmonella

The cause of infection is infection with salmonella - a mobile bacterium with flagella. With the help of these flagella, it attaches itself to the intestinal wall and penetrates into the cells, where it parasitizes, penetrates into the blood, and with it spreads throughout the body, hitting various organs. It also provokes the formation of purulent foci in the places where it settles.

There are more than 700 varieties of salmonella that can cause disease in humans. This infection multiplies in meat, oil, eggs, milk and products from it. A person can become infected more often from animals, less often from a sick person.

In the body of the child, salmonella falls mainly with food - with foods that are not subjected to cooking before consumption.

Salmonellosis occurs throughout the year, but is more active in late spring and summer. This is due to the deterioration of food storage conditions.

Salmonella in children symptoms

In children after 3 years, the most common form is gastrointestinal salmonellosis, which proceeds similarly to foodborne disease. Signs of salmonellosis in children are very similar to gastritis, gastroenteritis, gastroenterocolitis. The incubation period lasts from a few hours to two or three days.

  1. The disease is characterized by an acute onset. There is nausea, vomiting, fever rising to 38-39 ° C. Occurrence of vomiting can occur both from the first hours, and later.
  2. The child completely lacks appetite, the tummy hurts.
  3. There is pronounced lethargy.
  4. The skin turns pale, the nasolabial triangle turns slightly blue.
  5. The patients' stool is liquid, with a dark green color (the color of marsh mud), often with an admixture of mucus, blood, a small bowel movement.
  6. Soon dehydration of the body occurs, severe intoxication, and convulsions occur.

Children of early age are more often infected by contact-household way. Therefore, gastroenteritis and gastroenterocolitis are the most frequent forms of the disease. The development of the disease occurs gradually, on the 3rd-7th day all the signs can appear.

Consequences of salmonellosis in children

Breast children usually carry the disease in either moderate or severe forms. Together with intoxication and dehydration, they develop complications, because of the salmonella entering the blood. Thus, the infection spreads throughout the body. There are salmonella pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis. Children with immunodeficiencies are treated very long for up to 3-4 months.

Treatment of salmonellosis in children

To treat salmonellosis in children strictly according to the prescription of the infectious disease doctor. The course is individual without the use of antibiotics. The main treatment of salmonellosis in children is diet and correction of dehydration, as well as the removal of toxins from the body. You can not eat whole milk and animal fats (except butter), vegetables with coarse fiber. You need to eat oatmeal and rice porridge, cooked on water or vegetable broth, boiled fish, steamed meatballs, meat balls, jelly, mild cheese and cottage cheese. As a rule, on the 28th-30th day from the beginning of the diet, you can switch to a normal diet, as before the illness.