Dysentery in a child: symptoms, treatment and prevention of the disease

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

Dysentery is an infectious disease caused by Shigella bacteria. These microorganisms are of several types: Shigella Sonne, Flesner and Grigorev-Shiga. The disease mainly affects the large intestine, and there is also a general intoxication of the body.

To prevent this disorder, you should know how dysentery manifests itself in a child. Symptoms of the infection, as well as its treatment and prevention - that's what this article will discuss.

Dysentery: causes in children

The bacteria that cause this disease are very resistant to various environmental factors. They can live and breed for a long time in water, on food, utensils, and generally stay in the soil for up to three months. The source of infection for children can be either a patient with dysentery, or a carrier of this infection. As soon as the child gets sick, he himself becomes the distributor of this infection. For infants, the source of the disease may be their mother. Dysentery in a child, the symptoms of which will be discussed a little later, may be caused by poorly developedhygiene skills, because it is not for nothing that this infection is called the disease of dirty hands. Perhaps that is why children become carriers of the disease much more often than adults.

Dysentery in a child: symptoms

The disease can have a different form - acute or chronic. The latent (incubation) period lasts from several hours to a week. But most often the disease manifests itself 2-3 days after infection. The child's body temperature rises, which can last up to three days, vomiting, dizziness, lethargy, headaches and loss of appetite may occur. But the main symptom of the disease is the presence of frequent loose stools, the number of trips to the toilet is from 5-6 times a day. Feces may contain impurities of green mucus and blood streaks. There is aching pain in the abdomen, which is cramping in nature, it may weaken after the child went to the potty.

How to treat dysentery in children

Treatment is prescribed, as a rule, depending on the form of the disease and its severity. In order to get rid of dysentery successfully and quickly, you should follow a special regimen and diet, which depends on how old the baby is.

In the first days after the onset of the disease, the amount of food should be reduced. Food must be steamed and finely rubbed. S alty, fatty and spicy foods should be excluded from the diet. With dysentery, rice water helps well, as it has an envelopingaction. With this disease, the body is severely dehydrated, so the child needs to drink plenty of water. You can give your baby water with saline glucose, it is also good to use decoctions of berries and vegetables, strong sweet tea with lemon.

Dysentery in children under one year: how to treat

Very small children after heavy drinking in the form of tea are given expressed milk, in its absence kefir or acidophilus. All complementary foods necessary for the baby are replaced with decoction or tea. If the child's he alth improves, then it can be gradually applied to the chest. If vomiting resumes, then breastfeeding is again reduced. It should be remembered that only the attending physician can prescribe all medications. If parents have suspicions that a child has developed dysentery, the symptoms of which are described above, they should seek medical help as soon as possible. As preventive measures, hygiene measures play a huge role: thorough washing of fruits and vegetables, hands before eating.