Pertussis in children, complications. Symptoms, signs, causes and treatment of whooping cough in children. Prophylaxis of pertussis

Pertussis is one of the most dangerous childhood infectious diseases, requiring urgent treatment. The course of the disease and the state of the child largely depend on the correct timely actions of the parents.

Whooping cough is a disease that affects the respiratory tract and is characterized by a cough with spasms. The causative agent is a pertussis stick, discovered in 1906 by the Belgian Borde and the Frenchman Zhang.

Pertussis in children causes severe cough with spasms

Causes of pertussis

The source of the disease is an infected person. Pertussis bacteria are transmitted by airborne droplets, but they are characterized by low resistance, so that you can only get infected with prolonged close contact.

IMPORTANT: Parents should, as far as possible, limit the contact of their children who are not vaccinated against whooping cough with coughing people.

How does pertussis appear in children? Signs of

The most important thing is to distinguish whooping cough from an ordinary cold in time.

The incubation period of the disease can last up to three weeks, but is often limited to 5 to 7 days.

IMPORTANT: There are no special clinical manifestations of the disease at this time, but the child is already sick and is the source of infection.

Next comes the catarrhal period, during which bacteria multiply on the walls of the respiratory tract. The clinic is insignificant: the child coughs, sneezes, begins a runny nose, there is an increase in temperature to 39 ° C.

Symptoms of whooping cough in the initial stage in children are similar to those of ASVI.

Gradually, the frequency of coughing increases, turning into spasmodic attacks. Thus sputum secretion still does not occur.

During the attack, the child begins to choke, as coughing jerks prevent him from gaining air into the lungs.

IMPORTANT: With such spasms, blood pressure increases and, consequently, small hemorrhages in the capillaries of the eyes. Sudden attacks, especially stubborn and frequent at night, are often accompanied by vomiting and even involuntary discharge of urine and feces.

In whooping cramps, hemorrhages to the eye capillaries are possible

This clinic is the peak of the spasmodic period. After this, the frequency of seizures decreases, the cough from "pertussis" becomes ordinary, which is the norm for the last, resolving period of the disease.

The child recovers, although the cough can last 10-15 days. The total duration of the disease is 6-8 weeks.

Pertussis: symptoms in children before the year

In infants, the first two periods of whooping cough are practically absent, which is characteristic of severe forms of the disease.

Although coughing attacks are shorter, "oxygen starvation" is observed in all tissues and organs of the baby. Therefore, often cough is accompanied by loss of consciousness, seizures, stopping breathing.

Pertussis in children under one year may be accompanied by loss of consciousness and respiratory arrest

IMPORTANT: If the latter occurs, it is necessary for a child to induce vomiting by pressing on the root of the tongue. This will help restore the respiratory process.

How is pertussis transmitted to children? Pertussis bacteria are very whimsical microbes. They quickly perish, so the probability of infection of the child through household items( toys, dishes, linens) is minimal. What can not be said about the direct contact of children with each other.

Toddlers communicate, hug, kiss - this is an excellent opportunity to pick up the pathogen, transmitted by airborne droplets from an infected child.

Pertussis in children is transmitted by direct contact with

. IMPORTANT: If a child is sick with whooping cough, it is best to walk with him away from playgrounds and attractions. So you will protect other children from infection, and your child - from joining a new infection.

Pertussis: Diagnosis in children

To diagnose the disease at an early stage - in the catarrhal period - is very difficult, especially in children under the age of six months, because they have atypical pertussis.

Diagnosis of whooping cough in children in early stages is difficult

• If the child has an unusually severe cough and general malaise, the bacteriological analysis should be done.
• The seed material is taken up with a curved swab from the posterior pharyngeal wall and placed on Bordea-Gengu medium( glycerol potato blood agar)
• Pectoral sticks give growth after 72 - 96 hours in the form of small colonies of oily consistency with metallic shine( like drops of mercury)
• Also diagnosed can be by immunophysislumorescence or by polymerase chain reaction , which allows to detect a microbe in nasopharyngeal mucus swabs

IMPORTANT: Bacteriological confirmation of pertussis diagnosis allows to timely isolate a sick child from a children's team and thus prevent further spread of the disease.

When do they give an analysis for whooping cough in children?

If the child is sick and, according to anamnesis, has been in contact with coughing children, it's time to pass the tests for whooping cough:

• First you need to pass the general( clinical) blood test. It is needed in order to determine the presence of any infection in the body. Since pertussis has a bacterial nature, the level of leukocytes in the blood will be increased, and in the leukocyte formula lymphocytes will prevail, while the remaining parameters will not change significantly.
• If the disease passes into severe form, then the general urine analysis and must be passed. Biochemical blood test , to determine the possible complications of
• It is also necessary to pass a general analysis of the secretions from the respiratory tract - sputum. The method is that to the mouth of the child at the time of the attack, an open cup with a nutrient medium is brought up, on which droplets of mucus that contain an infectious agent are deposited upon coughing. The sows are placed in a thermostat at 37 ° C for 2 to 3 days.
• No less important are immunoassaysblood and nasal discharge .This analysis determines the content of immunoglobulin M in the blood, and in the nasal mucus - immunoglobulin A - antibodies to the stick provoking pertussis.
• In addition to this, bacterial culture is carried out before the beginning of treatment, detecting pertussis stick in 3 to 4 days after the

analysis. A general blood test will reveal the presence of pertussis in the body

. How to cure whooping cough in a child?

Because pertussis is of a bacterial nature, it is possible to get rid of it only with the help of antibiotics intended for the treatment of various infectious diseases of the respiratory tract:

• erythromycin
• rovamycin
• tetracycline
• azithromycin
• ampicillin

IMPORTANT: Treatment with antibacterial drugs should last at least 10 days.

In parallel with the main treatment, you need to use other cough suppressants. But it must be remembered that none of the syrups cough will cure, but will only help to catch a secondary infection that can develop against the background of whooping cough: bronchitis, pneumonia or pleurisy.

Cough syrup with pertussis will ease a child's condition

Complication after whooping cough in children

Severe course of illness in a child can lead to negative consequences for the body:

• The reduction in the stability of capillaries often provokes nasal bleeding, bleeding in the retina of the eye and, extremely rarely, in the brain with subsequent paralysis of the central nervous system
• Because of a disruption of the respiratory process, it is possible development of pathology in the child's lungs
• The presence of coccal flora in the body canlead to development of streptococcus, staphylococcus, pneumococcus
• There are rare cases of development of bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia

Nasal bleeding is one of the complications afterwhooping cough in children

What if there is a suspicion of whooping cough?

The most important thing is not to panic, but to consult a doctor in a timely manner and take a blood test with a leukocyte formula. Having received the result, the doctor will see the presence of the disease.

You also need to surrender the material to bacteriological culture, the results of which will show with the greatest accuracy the presence or absence of pertussis in the child's body.

Treatment of whooping cough in children with drugs and folk remedies

In most cases, treatment for whooping cough in children occurs at home. However, if the infants are ill for up to six months, or there is a severe complication of the course of the disease in an older child, it is safer to undergo treatment in a hospital.

IMPORTANT: One of the important conditions for treatment is diet and regimen. Such components of therapy can easily be organized at home.

The food consumed by the child must be full and fortified. To eat it is necessary often, but it is dosed, as the specificity of the course of the disease can cause vomiting.

One of the conditions for the successful treatment of pertussis in children is the observance of the

diet. Daily daily walks are required, but far away from crowded places, and especially children. A positive effect has a prolonged stay of the patient at the reservoirs.

IMPORTANT: Symptomatic treatment includes taking antipyretics( if the child's temperature is above 38 ° C), antibiotics prescribed by the treating doctor, antitussives, sedatives, syrups to improve sputum discharge and inhalations with euphyllin.

Many mothers do not ignore and folk medicine , which are reflected in the advice of grandmothers, mother-in-law, neighbors and girlfriends.

There are a lot of options and recipes. But nevertheless, there are the main components of preparation of cocktail-killers of pertussis: onions, garlic, honey and milk in the child's combinations, and the disease will proceed more easily and the probability of secondary infection will be minimized.

Honey and onions are the main ingredients of the popular prescriptions for treating whooping cough

Recipe # 1. Grind garlic( 50 g) and thyme( 30 g) place in an enameled container, fill with water( 0.5 liters) and put on low heat. Give the broth good boil, then remove it from the heat, cool and strain. To the liquid part, add honey( 250 g) and mix well. Syrup to give the child 3 - 4 times a day for 1 tsp.after each meal.

Recipe # 2. Boil a large onion, finely chop and mix with honey in a ratio of 1: 1.Every hour to offer the child this medicine in minimum portions( 1/4 - 1/6 tsp).

Recipe # 3. Honey( 150g) mixed with home-made butter( 100g).Give the child three times a day, 1 tsp.after meal.

Recipe # 4. Horseradish root( 100 g) grate on a fine grater and mix with honey( 100 g).Take twice a day for 1 tsp.

Recipe # 5. In boiling milk( 1 tablespoon) add 5 cloves of garlic and boil for 5-7 minutes. Offer the child this decoction several times a day. Let him drink as much as he can.

Recipe # 6. Mix in equal proportions butter and pork fat. Add grated garlic( 3 cloves per 100 g) and mix thoroughly. Razirat chest and back to the child in the absence of fever.

Preparation of folk remedy for the treatment of whooping cough

Recipe # 7. Licorice root( 300 g) chop, boil in milk( 1l) 7-10 minutes. Cool, drain, add honey( 2 tablespoons).Take warm, 3 times a day for 1 tsp.

Recipe # 8. Onions( 2 pcs.) Finely chopped, mixed with sugar( 2 tablespoons).Leave to infuse for the night in a sealed container. In the morning the mixture is shaken and filtered. Onion and sugar syrup take 1 tbsp.during coughing attacks.

Video: Treatment of whooping cough with folk remedies

Prevention of pertussis

Whooping cough is affected mainly by children. The infection is transmitted from patients with airborne droplets.

IMPORTANT: Due to the low persistence of pertussis bacteria, the role of various objects surrounding the patient is very low, so it is useless to conduct disinfecting measures.

• It is necessary to isolate the infected child as soon as possible, and to quarantine children who have been in contact with it for 14 days from the last communication with the diseased
• Since the late 1950s in the developed countries vaccination against pertussis with killed pertussis associated withdiphtheritic and tetanus toxoid( DTP)
• Toddlers are vaccinated three times from the age of three months every 45 days. Then, at 18 months, a revaccination is carried out

Vaccination is a reliable method for the prevention of pertussis

Since killed bacteria are very powerful allergens, artificial vaccines are now used, consisting of individual components of killed microorganisms, which are enough to give the child active immunity to pertussis.

Video: Whooping cough - School of Doctor Komorowski