What are the symptoms of pneumonia in children?

Pneumonia is an inflammatory disease of the lower respiratory tract, which often occurs on the basis of a cold. Autumn and winter are the peak seasons for respiratory diseases, so parents must be more careful. How to distinguish pneumonia from a cold in children? Pneumonia in children has an acute onset, severe condition, and rapid progression. It is a disease that threatens children's health and even life.

Early symptoms of pneumonia in children:

1. Cough in children

Children's cough is a symptom and a protective reflex action. Through coughing, foreign bodies, irritating gases, respiratory endocrines and other substances that irritate the respiratory mucosa are cleared out. Coughing is often accompanied by sputum. Children's cough can be caused by a variety of diseases, which need to be carefully identified.

Coughing is one of the most common symptoms of respiratory diseases. It is a protective nerve reflex that produces an expiratory impact action through coughing, which can expel foreign matter or secretions in the respiratory tract.

2. Irregular breathing

Irregular breathing is a characteristic of increased intracranial pressure. Common clinical symptoms include Cheyne-Stokes respiration, shallow and rapid breathing, and sobbing-like breathing. Slowed breathing is more common when there is a posterior cranial fossa hematoma. Irregular breathing and Cheyne-Stokes respiration are more common when there is brainstem injury. Cheyne-Stokes respiration: also known as Cheyne-Stokes respiration, is a periodic breathing abnormality with a cycle of about 0.5 to 2 seconds. The breathing gradually slows down and even stops, and then gradually deepens and speeds up, repeating over and over again. It is more common in central nervous system diseases, such as encephalitis, meningitis, increased intracranial pressure, barbiturate poisoning, etc.

3. Respiratory acidosis

Respiratory acidosis is characterized by a primary increase in plasma H2CO3 concentration (PCO2 increases and HCO3 increases compensatoryly. When the arterial blood pH decreases, the concentration increases and HCO3 increases compensatoryly. This is achieved by increasing the reabsorption of HCO3 by the kidneys. The kidneys compensate slowly. The compensatory increase of HCO3 takes a certain amount of time, and there is a certain limit to the increase of compensatory HCO3. There are great differences in the compensatory increase of HCO3 between acute respiratory acidosis and chronic respiratory acidosis, and they show different patterns.

Fever in children Fever is a very common symptom in infants and young children. Many diseases manifest as fever at the beginning. In daily life, we often see some parents touch their children's heads and palms with their hands. If they feel the skin is hot, they think the child has a fever. Some parents think that as long as the child's body temperature exceeds 37℃, he is sick. In fact, this understanding is not completely correct.

4. Pupil Abnormality

The pupil is widely connected with various parts of the body. Its dilation and shrinkage are affected by various factors, and its changes are of great clinical significance. When the pupil diameter is greater than 5mm and the dilation is continuous, it is called mydriasis. When the pupil diameter is less than 2mm, it is called mydriasis. Sometimes the changes in the pupil can reflect certain lesions in the body, and some lesions of the nervous system can also be located and diagnosed based on the changes in the pupil.