Throat infections come in different forms in children, and toddlers are especially vulnerable to them. While bacteria cause major infections, viruses are not to be left behind in the frequency with which they occur and the misery which they cause. The commonest throat infection is the SORE THROAT, or what is called as PHARYNGITIS. Caused by bacteria or viruses, this infection is so common all over the globe that it ranks as the COMMONEST respiratory tract infection among children.
A child with pharyngitis will usually have a soreness of the throat, be unable (to some degree) to swallow food, liquids, or even his own spit, have fever, body pains, throat pain (expressing itself as a feeling of "pins and needles" when he attempts to swallow something) and, sometimes, a cough.
Most of the times, such infections are imported through day-care or nursery schools. A pediatrician would, when asked to examine such a child, look at the back of the child's throat, his tonsils, his neck glands, take his temperature, and then take a call on what level of urgency and which kind of treatment is thought necessary. Bacterial sore throats would need to be investigated by a throat swab to look for "strep" and if positive, the child would receive oral penicillin or other alternatives (if the patient is allergic to penicillins). The duration of treatment must be up to 10 days to completely eliminate the germs from the body. If the sore throat is deemed to be viral in nature, an antibiotic is not usually required, but the child must be given good supportive care such as rest, increased intake of liquids, steam inhalation if there is blockage of the air passages, etc.
The next form of throat infection is something that rarely occurs nowadays, but it has not yet been eradicated from the US of A. This is whooping cough, an illness that is pretty ancient. It is caused by the pertussis bacteria. This was a killer disease in pre-vaccination times, but, thankfully, with universal immunisation of children with the pertussis vaccine, it occurs rarely. However, it can still be potentially fatal, especially when it occurs in smaller infants less than 3 months of age.
The child with a whooping cough has a whoopy sound at the end of each bout of cough. The bouts can be really long, very tiring, and be very taxing on the rest of the body. The huge cough bouts can exhaust the child; they can cause haemorrhages in the conjunctivae of the eyes, tear chest muscles (the ones involved in breathing), paralyse the nerve that supplies the voice box (and cause difference in the voice) and so on.
Patients with whooping cough are diagnosed with blood tests and with a nose swab that is cultured in the microbes laboratory to discover the pertussis bacteria. Treatment is with an appropriate antibiotic (though it does not much work) and with cough syrups that can suppress the cough. In addition, nutrition must be looked after as well as addressing the fluid needs of the child.
The last common infection I am going to discuss is infection of the tonsils, or tonsillitis. We all have several tonsillar tissues in our throats, but the one I am referring to are the pair located just behind the tongue on either side of the mid-line. When the child is an infant, they can swell up especially in bottle-fed babies; when a toddler, they can get infected by cross contamination in a day-care school or the nursery.
A child with tonsillitis presents in much the same way as the one with pharyngitis; however, the pain and discomfort is usually greater with tonsillitis. Usually, the child with tonsillitis has enlarged neck glands in addition to the swelling of the tonsils.
Treatment is once again with antibiotics used for at least 7-10 days. Some children keep getting repeated attacks of either pharyngitis or tonsillitis. In the latter case, they sometimes become candidates for a form of surgery where the doctor removes the tonsils (most of the time with the other pair of tonsillar glands - the adenoids - that are situated high in the roof of the mouth). There is a clear trend nowadays to NOT REMOVE THE TONSILS as they have a key role to play in defending the body against bacteria, viruses and other offending organisms.
I hope you liked this primer on throat infections. If you have to ask any questions, feel free to ask me through the comments section.
A child with pharyngitis will usually have a soreness of the throat, be unable (to some degree) to swallow food, liquids, or even his own spit, have fever, body pains, throat pain (expressing itself as a feeling of "pins and needles" when he attempts to swallow something) and, sometimes, a cough.
Most of the times, such infections are imported through day-care or nursery schools. A pediatrician would, when asked to examine such a child, look at the back of the child's throat, his tonsils, his neck glands, take his temperature, and then take a call on what level of urgency and which kind of treatment is thought necessary. Bacterial sore throats would need to be investigated by a throat swab to look for "strep" and if positive, the child would receive oral penicillin or other alternatives (if the patient is allergic to penicillins). The duration of treatment must be up to 10 days to completely eliminate the germs from the body. If the sore throat is deemed to be viral in nature, an antibiotic is not usually required, but the child must be given good supportive care such as rest, increased intake of liquids, steam inhalation if there is blockage of the air passages, etc.
The next form of throat infection is something that rarely occurs nowadays, but it has not yet been eradicated from the US of A. This is whooping cough, an illness that is pretty ancient. It is caused by the pertussis bacteria. This was a killer disease in pre-vaccination times, but, thankfully, with universal immunisation of children with the pertussis vaccine, it occurs rarely. However, it can still be potentially fatal, especially when it occurs in smaller infants less than 3 months of age.
The child with a whooping cough has a whoopy sound at the end of each bout of cough. The bouts can be really long, very tiring, and be very taxing on the rest of the body. The huge cough bouts can exhaust the child; they can cause haemorrhages in the conjunctivae of the eyes, tear chest muscles (the ones involved in breathing), paralyse the nerve that supplies the voice box (and cause difference in the voice) and so on.
Patients with whooping cough are diagnosed with blood tests and with a nose swab that is cultured in the microbes laboratory to discover the pertussis bacteria. Treatment is with an appropriate antibiotic (though it does not much work) and with cough syrups that can suppress the cough. In addition, nutrition must be looked after as well as addressing the fluid needs of the child.
The last common infection I am going to discuss is infection of the tonsils, or tonsillitis. We all have several tonsillar tissues in our throats, but the one I am referring to are the pair located just behind the tongue on either side of the mid-line. When the child is an infant, they can swell up especially in bottle-fed babies; when a toddler, they can get infected by cross contamination in a day-care school or the nursery.
A child with tonsillitis presents in much the same way as the one with pharyngitis; however, the pain and discomfort is usually greater with tonsillitis. Usually, the child with tonsillitis has enlarged neck glands in addition to the swelling of the tonsils.
Treatment is once again with antibiotics used for at least 7-10 days. Some children keep getting repeated attacks of either pharyngitis or tonsillitis. In the latter case, they sometimes become candidates for a form of surgery where the doctor removes the tonsils (most of the time with the other pair of tonsillar glands - the adenoids - that are situated high in the roof of the mouth). There is a clear trend nowadays to NOT REMOVE THE TONSILS as they have a key role to play in defending the body against bacteria, viruses and other offending organisms.
I hope you liked this primer on throat infections. If you have to ask any questions, feel free to ask me through the comments section.
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