Mononucleosis in children: causes, symptoms, treatment and consequences, reviews

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Mononucleosis in children is an infectious disease that is very similar in symptoms to a sore throat or influenza, it is also called "glandular fever", as the lymph nodes in different parts of the body are enlarged. Informally, mononucleosis is also called the "kissing disease", as it is transmitted easily through saliva. Particularly dangerous are the complications that can occur and which distinguish mononucleosis from the common cold. So, what is this disease, how is it transmitted, what are its symptoms, how is it diagnosed and treated, what preventive measures are there, what complications can develop? All this will be discussed in the article.

What is this disease?

Mononucleosis is a viral disease caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. According to doctors and parental reviews, mononucleosis in children is most often detected at the age of 3 to 10 years, less often the diseaseoccurs in the age group up to 2 years. If a child has a severe sore throat, tonsils are inflamed, he snores at night, and during the day he has difficulty breathing - he may have mononucleosis.

A sick baby has symptoms for about 3 weeks, after which he recovers.

This is a very common disease, by the age of 5, approximately 50% of children have antibodies to this virus in their blood, indicating that they have already encountered it. Most likely, the parents did not even know about it, since the disease was asymptomatic. Those who did not get sick in childhood, as a rule, get sick in adulthood.

Once in the body, the virus remains in it for life, that is, a person who has been ill is its carrier and, under certain conditions, a potential distributor. Recurrence of the disease in an acute form is impossible, because the immune system produces antibodies for the rest of life. But the disease can recur with more blurred symptoms.

What is the difference between mononucleosis and tonsillitis?

Very often, parents confuse this disease with a sore throat or flu. They start giving the child medicines that are useless and kill the immune system. Dr. Komarovsky Evgeny emphasizes that mononucleosis in children is always accompanied by nasal congestion and a severe runny nose. With angina, as a rule, there are no such symptoms. That is, if a child has a severe sore throat and a runny nose, most likely he has mononucleosis. An experienced doctor will always be able to distinguish this disease from allothers.

Causes and routes of infection

The cause of mononucleosis in children is close contact with a sick person or a carrier of the virus. The causative agent of the disease in the environment quickly dies. A child can become infected by kissing, using the same dishes, through shared toys. Mononucleosis can be obtained through a wet towel, by airborne droplets, since when coughing and sneezing, the virus enters the air with droplets of saliva.

Children of preschool and school age are in close contact, so they get sick most often. In infants, mononucleosis is much less common, they are infected mainly from the mother.

Scientists have proven that boys get sick more often than girls.

An epidemic of the virus occurs in autumn and spring, as weakened immunity and hypothermia contribute to the spread and infection.

This is a highly contagious disease. If the child had contact with the patient, then for 3-4 months, parents should carefully monitor him. If there are no obvious symptoms, this means that the child's immunity is strong enough, and infection was avoided, or the disease was mild.

Symptoms

The most common signs and symptoms of mononucleosis in children are:

• When swallowing, severe sore throat, enlarged tonsils, plaque appears on them, inflammation of the pharynx, bad breath.
• Difficult nasal breathing due to swelling of the nasal mucosa. Snoring in sleep, inability to breathe through the nose, severe runny nose.
• Achesin the bones and muscles, fever, the temperature in mononucleosis in children rises to 39 ° C, the child has weakness, chills, headache.
• Constant fatigue appears, which lasts for several months after the illness.
• Swelling and inflammation of the lymph nodes in the groin, armpits, neck.
• Enlarged spleen, liver. The occurrence of jaundice, there is a darkening of the urine. With a severe enlargement of the spleen, it may rupture.
• Appearance of a rash on the legs, arms, back, face, abdomen, but there is no itching. It usually disappears on its own after a few days. If there is an allergic reaction to the medicine, then the rash begins to itch badly.
• Dizziness and insomnia.
• Puffiness of the eyelids and face.
• The child becomes lethargic, refuses to eat, tends to lie down. Possible heart problems (murmurs, palpitations).
• There are mononuclear cells in the blood, which are determined as a result of laboratory analysis.

The smaller the child, the weaker the symptoms of mononucleosis appear, it is very difficult to distinguish them from the symptoms of SARS. Children under one year old develop a cough and runny nose, wheezing, redness of the throat, mild inflammation of the tonsils are heard when breathing.

Most clearly all the signs of mononucleosis in children appear between the ages of 5 and 15 years. Also, if there is a fever, it means the body is fighting.

Types of diseases

Illness in children can be acute or chronic, from thisdepends on its manifestation. Types of mononucleosis:

1. Acute - characterized by a rapid onset. The temperature rises sharply, in the first days it stays at around 39 ° C. The child has a clear fever, it throws him into the cold, then into the heat, there is apathy, drowsiness, fatigue.

Acute mononucleosis in children is characterized by such signs as swollen lymph nodes, swelling of the nasopharynx, white coating on the tonsils, palate, root of the tongue, enlarged liver and spleen, parched lips, small and thick red rashes all over the body.

It should be borne in mind that the child is contagious for 3-5 days, as with any viral infection.

2. Chronic. Acute mononucleosis becomes chronic with a decrease in immunity, poor nutrition, and an unhe althy lifestyle. In addition, it can occur in adults, if they are subject to frequent stress, they work hard, they do not go outside much.

Symptoms are almost identical, but more mild. There is no high temperature, the liver and spleen increase slightly, but there is weakness, fatigue, drowsiness. Sometimes the following symptoms appear: diarrhea, nausea, constipation, vomiting.

In the chronic form of the disease, children often complain of headaches that resemble flu-like conditions.

Diagnosis

To distinguish mononucleosis in children from other diseases and to prescribe the correct treatment, diagnose using various laboratory methods. Do the following testsblood:

• General: for leukocytes, monocytes, lymphocytes, ESR. All indicators in mononucleosis are increased by 1.5 - 2 times. Mononuclear cells do not appear immediately, but several weeks after infection.
• Biochemical analysis; on the content of glucose, urea, protein. According to these indicators, the doctor evaluates the work of the liver, spleen, kidneys.
• ELISA for antibodies to herpesviruses.

Ultrasound is done to determine the condition of the internal organs.

Mononucleosis in children: treatment, symptoms, consequences

There are no drugs that would be able to destroy the virus. Therefore, treatment of mononucleosis in children is carried out in order to alleviate the symptoms and prevent all possible consequences. A prerequisite is bed rest. Hospitalization is necessary if the disease is very severe, accompanied by profuse vomiting and high fever, impaired functioning of internal organs.

So, how to treat infectious mononucleosis in children? Antibiotics are powerless against viruses, so it is useless to give them to a child, in addition, they can cause severe allergies. For treatment, antipyretic drugs are used (syrups "Ibuprofen", "Panadol"). To relieve inflammation of the throat, it is necessary to rinse it with solutions of soda, furatsilina.

To alleviate the symptoms of intoxication of the body, eliminate the allergic reaction, doctors prescribe antihistamines ("Claritin","Zirtek", "Zodak").

To restore liver functions, choleretic drugs ("Karsil", "Essentiale") are prescribed.

It is also necessary to give the child immunomodulatory drugs that have an antiviral effect ("Cycloferon", "Imudon", "Anaferon"). Vitamin therapy and diet are of great importance.

In case of severe swelling of the nasopharynx, hormonal drugs are prescribed ("Prednisolone", "Nasonex").

When the spleen is ruptured, surgery is performed.

It should be remembered that any self-treatment of this disease can lead to irreparable and serious consequences, so you must follow all the doctor's recommendations and treat mononucleosis in children only as directed.

Mononucleosis, like the herpes virus, is not subject to complete destruction, and treatment is aimed at alleviating the symptoms and condition of the patient, as well as reducing the risk of complications.

Additionally, you can use inhalations with special solutions that help relieve swelling and make breathing easier.

How long to treat mononucleosis in children? There is no single answer to this question, it all depends on the child's immunity, timely diagnosis, and the right treatment.

Complications

With improper treatment, late diagnosis, failure to comply with the doctor's recommendations, the disease is complicated by otitis, tonsillitis, paratonsillitis, pneumonia. In heavycases develop neuritis, anemia, kidney failure.

The negative effects of mononucleosis in children during treatment in the form of enzyme deficiency and hepatitis develop very rarely. But for six months after the onset of the disease, parents should be attentive and react with lightning speed to symptoms such as yellowing of the whites of the eyes and skin, light feces, vomiting, and indigestion. With these symptoms, and if the child still complains of abdominal pain, you need to see a doctor.

Prevention of complications

To prevent their development, it is necessary to monitor the child's condition not only during the illness, but also a year after the symptoms disappear. Donate blood, monitor the condition of the liver, spleen, lungs and other organs to prevent inflammation of the liver, leukemia or impaired lung function.

Diet

With mononucleosis, food should be balanced and fortified, liquid, high-calorie, but not fatty, to facilitate the work of the liver. Be sure to include soups, dairy products, cereals, boiled meat and fish, sweet fruits in the diet. Do not eat spicy, sour and s alty foods, as well as onions and garlic.

So, the following products should be excluded from the menu:

• Pork and fatty beef dishes.
• Spicy spices, seasonings, canned food.
• Ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard.
• Bouillons on the bones or meat.
• Chocolate, coffee, cocoa.
• Soda drinks.

Child should drink plenty to avoid dehydration andtoxins were excreted in the urine.

Traditional medicine

Traditional medicine, can be used only after consulting a doctor.

To eliminate fever, you can give your child a decoction of chamomile, dill, mint, as well as tea from raspberry, maple, currant leaves, with honey and lemon juice.

Linden tea, lingonberry juice helps with headaches.

To alleviate the condition, in order to speed up recovery, you should give the child to drink decoctions of wild rose, motherwort, mint, yarrow, mountain ash, hawthorn.

To fight germs and virus, to strengthen the immune system, echinacea tea helps a lot. You should drink 3 glasses a day, for prevention take 1 glass a day.

A good soothing, immunomodulatory and anti-allergic remedy is lemon balm herb, from which a decoction is made and given to drink with honey.

Compresses with a decoction of willow leaves, birch, calendula, pine, chamomile can be applied to swollen lymph nodes.

Disease prevention

Preventive measures include: strengthening immunity, good nutrition, sports, hardening, stress reduction, strict adherence to the daily regimen, vitamin therapy in spring and autumn.

If a child has had mononucleosis, the virus remains in his body, and sometimes it becomes active and can be transmitted to other people.

In order not to get infected, you must follow the basic rules of personal hygiene, each family member should have their owna set of dishes, your own towel, you need to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, be outdoors more often.

There are no medicines that would prevent infection with the virus, but the precautions listed will help to significantly reduce the risk of the disease. In addition, it is necessary to treat ARVI in a timely manner and, if possible, to be less in public places during epidemics. In addition, it is necessary to organize a balanced and fortified diet enriched with fresh fruits and vegetables.