Do children with pneumonia need antibiotics? 7 tips for preventing and caring for pneumonia

Pediatric pneumonia is the most common respiratory disease in children. It is prone to occur in all seasons. Infants under 3 years old are more likely to suffer from pneumonia in winter and spring. If the treatment is not thorough, it is easy to relapse and cause a variety of serious complications, affecting the child's development. It manifests as fever, cough, shortness of breath, dyspnea and fine moist rales in the lungs. There are also patients with severe cough and asthma without fever. The main cause of the disease is that children like to eat overly sweet, salty, fried and other foods, which causes food stagnation and internal heat, phlegm and heat, and occasional cold wind that makes the lungs unable to vent. The two are mutually causal and cause pneumonia.

Treatment of pneumonia

For common viral pneumonia, only some symptomatic treatment drugs and respiratory support therapy are needed. Antibiotics cannot shorten the course of treatment. However, antibiotics are needed in combination with treatment in the following situations: (i) The patient presents with acute illness and severe symptoms. (ii) There are signs of bacterial infection. (iii) Infants under three months old. (iv) Children with immune deficiency.

But bacterial pneumonia must be treated with antibiotics. However, because most children do not cough, it is not easy to diagnose pathogens from sputum. If bronchoscopy is required to directly remove sputum, parents are often afraid and cannot accept it. Therefore, in clinical treatment, empirical medication rules are often adopted, that is, based on the above-mentioned different ages and common bacteria, effective antibiotics are selected first. For example, if pneumococci are suspected, penicillin is used. If Haemophilus influenzae is suspected, ampicillin is used for treatment. If Mycoplasma is suspected, erythromycin is used. Then, based on the clinical response of the child and the results of bacterial culture, it is decided whether to change the drug. The treatment of bacterial pneumonia usually takes seven to ten days. If empyema occurs, a chest tube needs to be placed for drainage. If there is pleural effusion, pleural puncture is required to obtain pleural fluid for examination and culture, so that effective treatment drugs can be selected. In recent years, due to the abuse of antibiotics, bacterial resistance has increased year by year. Therefore, the treatment of bacterial pneumonia often fails and stronger antibiotics are needed. Therefore, antibiotics should be used with caution to reduce the development of bacterial resistance.

In addition, steam spray inhalation and sputum slapping are also helpful in improving pneumonia symptoms. Since sputum is deposited at the bottom of the lungs, it is sticky and difficult to cough out. The purpose of steam spray inhalation is to thin the sputum and dilate the bronchi, so that the sputum is easier to discharge. If combined with the sputum slapping method, the sputum on the tracheal wall can be vibrated and loosened. Combined with posture drainage, the sputum can be coughed out more easily and the condition will recover faster.

Preventive care of pneumonia in children

(1) Pay attention to nutrition, spend more time outdoors, and get more sun exposure to prevent rickets and malnutrition.

(2) Avoid contact with patients with respiratory infections.

(3) Keep calm and avoid agitation and excessive diagnostic and treatment measures.

(iv) Indoor air should be fresh, cool and maintain a certain humidity.

(5) Turn the baby over frequently, hold him/her more often and pat his/her back gently. When patting the back, pat from both sides to the middle.

(VI) Severely ill children should be rescued first, and massage should be performed after they are stable.

(VII) After recovery from illness, you should push the lungs, rub the Dazhui point, push the Tanzhong point, and rub the back once a day or every other day. This has a health-care and preventive effect.

Pediatric pneumonia has typical symptoms as well as atypical symptoms, especially neonatal pneumonia. Pneumonia caused by bacteria and viruses is the most common. Currently, vaccines can be used to prevent pediatric pneumonia.