Pneumonia is a dangerous respiratory disease, especially for infants. However, many children are hospitalized late and their lives are threatened because their parents do not recognize the symptoms of pneumonia early.

Causes of pneumonia in infants

Pneumonia is a dangerous infectious disease that directly attacks the lungs and causes inflammation. The disease can be caused by many strains of bacteria, but the most common and dangerous is Streptococcus, also known as pneumococcus. According to statistics, pneumonia causes death in about 10 – 20% of people who suffer from it, most of the victims are the elderly, young children and the highest risk of death belongs to the group of infants.

Due to direct transmission through the air, droplets when in close contact, mucus from sick people containing bacteria… pneumonia often spreads very quickly and easily becomes an epidemic. For infants, a more dangerous transmission route is from relatives around the child through kissing, kissing or talking close to the child’s mouth. The reason is that streptococcus often resides in the throat area of ​​adults in a hidden form. In a healthy state, streptococcus may not be harmful to adults. However, when entering the child’s body, bacteria will grow rapidly in favorable conditions and cause illness in the child. Therefore, for newborns, adults should limit oral contact with the child to avoid transmitting harmful viruses and bacteria to the child.

In addition, the following factors also increase the risk of pneumonia in newborns:

• Due to respiratory infections at birth: Specifically, the time the mother’s amniotic sac ruptures is directly proportional to the risk of respiratory failure and pneumonia in the child. The longer the amniotic sac ruptures, the greater the risk of respiratory infections. According to statistics from studies on newborns, over 90% of children have pneumonia when the amniotic sac ruptures for more than 24 hours. In addition, studies have also shown that children born by cesarean section often have weaker respiratory systems than children born normally. The reason is that during normal birth, the baby must overcome the pressure when moving through the mother’s pelvic area, which helps to squeeze out all the amniotic fluid in the mouth, while a baby born by cesarean section does not have this process.
• Due to care: The process of caring for a newborn baby that does not ensure hygienic conditions can cause the baby to come into contact with pathogens through contact objects.
• Due to the weather: Pneumonia in children tends to increase during cold weather and in winter. Cold air weakens the baby’s immune system, creating favorable conditions for harmful bacteria to attack.

Pneumonia is one of the most dangerous respiratory diseases for infants.

Symptoms of pneumonia in newborns

Early pneumonia

Appears before 3 days of age. Congenital pneumonia is a part of early pneumonia, acquired in utero and usually appears immediately after birth. Congenital pneumonia is caused by aspiration of infected amniotic fluid, increased infection due to disruption of the amniotic membranes, or through the bloodstream through the placenta. Early pneumonia can also be acquired during birth by aspiration of infected amniotic fluid or bacteria that normally reside in the mother’s genital tract.

Late pneumonia

Appears after 3 days of age. Late pneumonia is usually a hospital-acquired infection and occurs most commonly in ventilated newborns, although blood-borne infections can also occur.

Other common symptoms

Newborn pneumonia has symptoms similar to common ENT diseases, so it is easy for parents to be subjective or unable to monitor all symptoms to prevent them. This is the reason why many children with pneumonia who do not receive timely treatment will develop severe symptoms, causing death or leaving sequelae after treatment. When children have even the smallest abnormalities, parents need to monitor closely. In cases of respiratory infections with all or most of the following symptoms, it is very likely that the child has pneumonia and needs to be hospitalized immediately:

• Children have intermittent coughs, prolonged coughs

Coughing is a typical sign of many respiratory infections. In infants, coughs can have different frequencies, but they all have the common characteristics of prolonged coughing, coughing with a retracted neck, wheezing when coughing… children blush, tears when coughing.

• Children breathe quickly

Children with pneumonia breathe very quickly, very urgently. When children breathe, their nostrils often flare, observing the ribs retract causing the chest to collapse, accompanied by chest pain that makes the child blush and turn purple.

• Fever, vomiting, poor feeding

Children may have a low fever that lasts a long time or a high fever that occurs intermittently. Children may vomit while coughing or when the cough has just ended. Children often cry, refuse to breastfeed or breastfeed poorly. In addition, infants may have a purple face and lips due to lack of oxygen.

In summary: Pneumonia is one of the very dangerous respiratory diseases for infants. As soon as there are some signs such as cough and fever, parents need to take their children to the hospital for immediate examination. Especially for pneumonia, early detection and treatment from the early stages of the disease helps children increase their chances of being cured faster and significantly reduces the complications of pneumonia that may occur.

For infants with pneumonia, they should be hospitalized for treatment and monitoring. Depending on the health and medical characteristics of the child, doctors will give a separate treatment regimen.