2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21
Angina is an acute infectious disease associated with inflammation of the palatine tonsils. The causative agents of angina are various microorganisms, such as streptococci, pneumococci, staphylococci and others. Favorable conditions for their successful reproduction, which provokes inflammation, include hypothermia of the child, various viral infections, inadequate or poor-quality nutrition, and overwork. What is angina in a child of 2 years? What are its symptoms, and what should parents do with angina? The answers to these questions and more can be found below.
Why does a child have a sore throat?
According to available statistics, tonsillitis is the most common disease among children in the autumn-winter season. The most susceptible to the disease are those children who eat poorly, eat not very he althy food. If a child rarely goes out into the countryside for fresh air and is deprived of activegames and training, you need to understand that any hypothermia for his immune system is a strong stress. It is enough to take one sip of a cold drink or to supercool the legs once in winter, and the reproduction of pathogens in the lacunae of the tonsils is inevitable.
List of all factors influencing the development of the disease:
- weakened immune system;
- poor, irrational nutrition;
- past viral infections;
- close contact with a sick person.
In view of all of the above, it is necessary to constantly work on improving the immunity of the child: take him out into the fresh air, harden him, perhaps give some drugs for prevention, if the attending pediatrician confirms the advisability of taking them.
If nevertheless the child is ill, there is no need to despair. The main thing is to do everything correctly and in a timely manner. Often, parents can confuse a sore throat with the flu or a common cold, which can lead to a belated visit to the doctor. Let's try to learn to understand the difference and be able to distinguish the symptoms of angina from other diseases. How to understand what exactly is a viral sore throat in a child? What are its signs?
Main symptoms and signs of angina
There are several varieties of the disease, and symptoms will vary depending on the variety. Depending on the depth of inflammation of the tonsils in a child, they are distinguished:
- catarrh;
- lacunar tonsillitis;
- follicularsore throat;
- Ulcerative membranous angina.
In addition, a sore throat in a child of 2 years old can be primary (general intoxication and damage to the tissues of the pharyngeal ring) and secondary (against the background of other infectious diseases). There is also a specific form of the disease when fungal infections occur.
According to the causative agent, angina is classified into:
- bacterial, purulent;
- fungal;
- diphtheria;
- viral.
What are the main signs of a sore throat in a child? The main symptom of the disease is pain when swallowing, a significant increase in body temperature (38-40 degrees Celsius), general weakness, headache, diarrhea or vomiting may occur (with severe intoxication). In this case, the baby becomes very capricious. These are the symptoms parents see. Signs of a sore throat in a child that the doctor detects are enlarged loose tonsils of bright red color. On the mucous membrane there is a plaque visible to the naked eye, easily removed with a cotton swab. Other symptoms include swollen lymph nodes in the neck and under the jaw, and their soreness.
Even if parents are sure that their child has a sore throat, you still need to visit a doctor who will diagnose the type of disease and prescribe treatment. Unfortunately, without the help of a doctor, it is almost impossible to determine the degree of the disease and its variety. For viral, fungal and bacterial tonsillitis, most likely, different treatment will be prescribed. This is influenced by the general condition of the child and tests, in which doctors understand better. We recommend doing withoutself-treatment!
Do I need hospitalization?
In most cases, a sore throat in a child of 2 years old can be treated at home, but there are cases when hospitalization cannot be avoided. What are these cases?
- Presence of concomitant serious diseases - diabetes mellitus, renal failure and others.
- Complications of sore throat (eg, abscesses).
- Severe intoxication - respiratory failure, vomiting, convulsions, confusion of creation, temperature that cannot be brought down.
Despite the fact that hospital treatment is more effective, many doctors advise to be treated at home to avoid any additional infection.
Catarrhal angina. Symptoms in children. Treatment
When a child has catarrhal angina, the temperature does not rise too much, but the baby becomes lethargic, complains of pain during swallowing and slight nausea. With catarrhal sore throat, the inflammatory process is not very intense, so the use of antibiotics is not always appropriate here. Often, antibiotic treatment is replaced with a topical throat spray. Previous generations treated such a sore throat exclusively by gargling with herbs. The main condition for children with catarrhal sore throat is bed rest, drinking plenty of water, gargling. Treatment until complete recovery takes about a week.
Follicular and lacunar tonsillitis. Features
The first thing is temperature. With angina in children, it can reach 40degrees. Follicular and lacunar forms are very difficult, accompanied by convulsions and fever. With the follicular form, the tonsils are covered with pustules, with the lacunar form, with a light yellow coating on the so-called "lacunae" between the lobes of the tonsils. Both forms are treated in the same way: an antibiotic is selected. This task lies entirely with the doctor: which antibiotic for angina is best for children to prescribe. To do this, it is necessary to take a smear for bacteriological culture in order to determine the sensitivity of pathogens to a particular drug. As a rule, such a sore throat in a child of 2 years old is treated in a hospital.
How is bacterial tonsillitis different from viral?
Viral tonsillitis (the scientific name for tonsillitis) is characterized by the absence of a purulent plaque in the throat, which simply swells and turns red. Symptoms of viral sore throat resemble the most common viral disease: cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat and pharynx appear. A child with bacterial angina feels only local manifestations of angina and intoxication. With herpetic sore throat, blisters appear on the tonsils, which later turn into sores.
How is the treatment going?
As the famous pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky says: “Angina in children is a disease that begins suddenly and proceeds quite sharply.” In his opinion, the only way out is a timely and clear course of treatment.
In order for the disease not to drag on, it is necessary to strictly follow the recommendations of the attending pediatrician. A sick child with a sore throat most often needs to drink, antibiotics, antipyreticsdrugs, antihistamines (antiallergic) drugs. It is also necessary to gargle, take vitamins.
It is important to remember that a sore throat with angina is allowed to be treated only with a rinse and local preparations. In no case should compresses, inhalations and warming ointments be used on the neck!
A very important aspect of the treatment of angina is gargling. However, it is very difficult for children of two years to explain exactly how to carry out this procedure. Therefore, special sprays and aerosols are more often used. Antibacterial agents are prescribed, as well as decoctions of sage, calendula, chamomile. These herbs have proven to be very effective in treating sore throats, especially in purulent sore throats.
It should be noted that a small child can hold his breath when spraying, which can provoke lagingospasm. Babies, as a rule, are treated with a pacifier or a jet is directed towards the cheek. Orally dissolving tablets are also not very suitable for children under 2 years of age, as they either chew them or spit them out. In this case, the throat with sore throat is best treated with alternative remedies.
Many drugs can cause an allergic reaction, so taking them is accompanied by taking antihistamine drops.
Bring down the temperature
Temperature with angina in children is not always easily lost. If the child has a high temperature, taking an antipyretic is appropriate only when the mark on the thermometer has already exceeded 38 degrees Celsius. The point is that activethe production of antibodies against pathogens occurs precisely during a fever, as the body itself tries to fight them.
If even at a temperature of 39 the child feels fine, pediatricians recommend to wait and not bring it down. If the high body temperature is not eliminated with the help of medicines, folk "grandmother's" methods, for example, wiping with a damp towel, can be used. Sweating and lowering the temperature is facilitated by drinking abundant compotes from currants, raspberries or cherries.
General recommendations for taking antibiotics
Most doctors prefer penicillins, as they have been proven to be highly effective in infections. Such drugs are quite easily tolerated by children. The course of treatment with any antibiotic is usually 7 days (but not more than 10).
Often, doctors prescribe antibiotics topically, in spray form. With bacterial sore throat, antimicrobial drugs are prescribed (for example, Biseptol).
Possible Complications
If the treatment of angina is inadequate or belated, and the child's immunity can not cope with the disease, the disease can cause the development of rheumatism, glomerulonephritis, rheumatic heart disease and other ailments. To exclude this possibility, you should choose only competent doctors who will monitor the course of the disease very carefully and competently. After recovery, it is necessary to pass all general tests, refuse vaccinations, adjustdiet, breathe more fresh air. If, after an illness, a child complains of swelling, shortness of breath, pain in the chest or joints, you should immediately consult a doctor! Note that tonsillitis can also be in a chronic form. In this case, you need to contact an otolaryngologist who will tell you about the prevention of exacerbations of the disease in more detail, depending on the specific case.
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