Treatment and care of children with acute nasopharyngitis

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Le Van Quang - Ear, Nose Throat Doctor - Department of General Surgery - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital. BSCKI. Le Van Quang is an expert in the field of ENT with 15 years of experience.
Acute nasopharyngitis is a fairly common viral infection, often occurring when the weather changes, especially when it turns cold. Acute nasopharyngitis in children often presents with symptoms such as sore throat, runny or blocked nose, fever, and cough.

1. Learn about acute nasopharyngitis in children

Acute nasopharyngitis is an acute disease common in otolaryngology, manifested in acute inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose and throat and often associated with tonsillitis.
Acute nasopharyngitis in children is common and common, but if not detected and treated early, it can lead to complications such as:
Local complications: Swelling, inflammation, abscess around the tonsils , abscess of the posterior wall, lateral wall of the pharynx, acute rhinosinusitis. Throat gangrene is rare, but if it is, the prognosis is very severe. Proximal complications: Pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, acute sinusitis, acute otitis media. Distant complications: Glomerulonephritis, arthritis (progressive rheumatic heart disease), pericarditis, streptococcal toxic shock, or possibly sepsis...

2. Why do children get acute nasopharyngitis?

In the period of living environment and weather with many changes like today, children are very susceptible to acute nasopharyngitis. There are many diverse causes leading to acute nasopharyngitis in children such as:
2.1 Due to changing living environment Sudden change in weather, cold weather, rain and humidity Car smoke, cigarette smoke, coal, dirt, Environmental pollution Newly weaned children or changed weaning diets Children starting to attend kindergartens, kindergartens.... 2.2 Viruses, bacteria, fungi Viruses (accounting for 60-80%): Influenza virus, measles, Adeno virus, Parainfluenzae virus, Coxsackie virus A or B, Herpes virus causing stomatitis, Shingles virus causing sore throat with shingles. Epstein Barr Virus (EBV or Herpesvirus 4) causes infectious mononucleosis as well as acute nasopharyngitis. Caused by bacteria (accounting for 20-40%): Group A, B, C, G beta-hemolytic streptococci; bacteria Haemophilus influenzae (HIB), Moraxella catarrhalis, Staphylococcus aureus (Staphylococcus aureus); anaerobic bacteria .... The most dangerous of which is group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes) which is often spread through nasal secretions, saliva due to talking, coughing or sneezing... if left for a long time, it can be cause complications such as acute glomerulonephritis, acute arthritis (progressive rheumatic heart disease). Caused by fungi: Candida

3. Symptoms of children with acute nasopharyngitis

Symptoms of acute nasopharyngitis usually appear within 1 to 3 days of infection and usually last from 1 week to 10 days or may last longer depending on the progress of treatment. Some typical signs of acute nasopharyngitis include:
Systemic symptoms: The child has a mild fever or a high fever that can reach 39.40 degrees. People with chills, headaches, body aches, loss of appetite... Functional symptoms: Severe nasal congestion, runny nose (at first in mucus, then cloudy), making breathing through the nose difficult. sneezing, viscous palate, sore throat or throat; cough (dry cough at first, after cough with sputum, irritable cough). The voice is lost or slightly hoarse, each time you swallow, you feel pain, sharp pain spreads to your ears, hearing and smell are reduced; watery eyes or runny nose... Physical symptoms: Throat mucosa is red, with children or young patients it is obvious that the tonsils are enlarged, congested or have white pus dots on the tonsil surface. Swelling and redness of the nasal mucosa, congestion, mucus discharge, possibly swollen lymph nodes at the angle of the jaw, slight pain when pressed...

4. Children often have nasopharyngitis what to do?

Usually, acute viral nasopharyngitis will clear up on its own after 3-5 days, the symptoms will gradually decrease and then disappear. If acute nasopharyngitis is caused by a superinfected virus (especially a streptococcus superinfection), the disease will last longer, it is necessary to treat with antibiotics as prescribed by the doctor if you do not want to have complications of acute nasopharyngitis..
To treat acute nasopharyngitis, parents focus on symptomatic treatment to help reduce fever, pain, and inflammation for children. Parents can give children fever-reducing medicine such as Paracetamol when there is a fever of 38.5 degrees or higher, and at the same time give the child rehydration and electrolytes with oresol solution (ORS) as directed by the doctor. Use anti-inflammatory drugs Alphachymotrypsin, Aspirin at a dose suitable for children. Use western or oriental medicine (honey, sugared rose, ginger, lemon) to treat cough for children.
In addition, children need to rest, drink lots of water, supplement with a nutritious, easy-to-digest, high-energy diet (fruits, lots of vitamins C, B1...) to recover soon.

5. Prevention of acute nasopharyngitis in children

The best prevention method for acute rhinosinusitis in children is:
Keep the body warm (neck, chest, soles of the feet) when the weather changes and turns cold. Clean your mouth and throat by brushing your teeth regularly after eating, before and after waking up. Teach your child to gargle with salt water every day. Ensure the living environment around the children is fresh, avoiding dust, mold, pollution, and congestion. Avoid exposing children to adults or children who are sick. Parents should balance their nutrition, and perform regular expanded immunizations to increase the child's body resistance. During the treatment of acute nasopharyngitis, parents should not arbitrarily give antibiotics to children without a doctor's prescription, do not arbitrarily drop prolonged vasoconstrictor drugs for children. With modern equipment and sterile space to minimize the impact and risk of disease spread, the Pediatrics Department at Vinmec International General Hospital is the address for receiving and examining diseases that Babies and young children are susceptible to infections such as: otitis media, viral fever, pneumonia in children, bacterial fever... which are trusted and chosen by many parents.
If you have a need for medical examination at Vimec Health System nationwide, please make an appointment on the website to be served.

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