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Question
Hello doctor,
My daughter has just turned 3 years old and her private area has a bad smell like an adult, sometimes even white discharge. Doctor let me ask a 3-year-old child with a bad odor and white discharge, what is the disease? How to take care of the baby's vagina? Ask your doctor for advice. Thank you doctor.
Phuong Dang (1990)
Answer
Answered by Specialist I Tran Thi Thu Ha - Obstetrician and Gynecologist - Women's Health Center - Vinmec Times City International Hospital
Hello,
With the question "What is the disease in 3-year-old children with a bad smell and white discharge?", the doctor would like to answer as follows:
Vaginitis in children is a condition in which the child's vagina is affected. infection, causing inflammation. Many parents subjectively think that young children can not have vaginitis. This statement is completely wrong.
In children, the ovary is not yet developed, and the external reproductive organs are not yet complete. The labia majora, the labia minora, are incomplete, and the mucosa and hymen are thin. The vagina in young children is easily irritated by bacterial agents from the environment. In addition, the vaginal environment in girls is alkaline, unlike in adult women, which is acidic, so it is more favorable for bacteria to easily penetrate and cause disease.
You should clean the baby's private area with clean water. Absolutely do not clean from back to front to avoid bacterial infection from the anus to the vagina. Need to bathe, change underwear for girls daily or twice a day when the weather is hot and the child sweats a lot. For babies under the age of 3, if they wear diapers, they need to wash the intimate area with clean water and change the diaper often. Because, diapers contain too much urine and feces, which causes sepsis in the private area and is a source of bacteria that causes vaginitis in children.
Parents should teach girls the habit of wearing underwear before wearing pants or skirts early. Underpants help protect the intimate area from external influences. However, parents should choose pants with cool and comfortable cotton material, change underwear for their children often. In addition, parents' underwear should not be mixed with their children, to avoid cross-contamination of bacteria.
Do not let children sit on the ground, in unsanitary places, especially when only wearing a binder or wearing underwear or skirts to avoid pinworm infection. Although they do not live in the vagina, but pinworms often move from the anus out at night, can carry bacteria from the anus to the vagina, causing vaginitis in children. In addition, parents need to give their children a varied and nutritious diet, especially vegetables and fruits to strengthen the body's general resistance and fight off diseases. Children also need exercise to improve their health. However, it should be noted that children clean the body, especially the private area after exercise, to avoid sweat accumulation, which facilitates the growth of bacteria.
When children reach the age of deworming, they should periodically deworm to avoid worm infections from the anus into the vagina.
If you still have questions about a 3-year-old child with a bad odor and white discharge in the vaginal area, you can take the child to a hospital under Vinmec Health System for further examination and advice. Thank you for trusting and sending questions to Vinmec. Wishing you lots of health.
Best regards!
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