Baby’s cough is a very common symptom. Childhood without cough is simply not enough to talk about life. However, there are also babies who have a bad cough. According to pneumonia or bronchitis, the treatment effect is always not good, and parents are very confused.
Ding Ma would like to remind all new parents that the baby’s immunity is not as sound as that of adults. If cough is always not cured, don’t be careless. It may also be rare but with serious consequences for children’s tuberculosis.
BCG does not completely prevent infection
Many parents think that, After the child is born injected with BCG vaccine, it can always prevent the infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In fact, the injection of BCG vaccine can only reduce the occurrence of severe tuberculosis, but it cannot completely eliminate tuberculosis infection, that is to say, the vaccination of BCG vaccine cannot completely prevent the child from being infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but the symptoms after general infection will be relatively mild.
My department diagnoses and treats more than 500 cases of tuberculosis in children every year, often even transferred from ICU (Intensive Care Unit) of Children’s Hospital.
Recently, I received a child under the age of two. Cough fever lasts for more than two months, Initially treated as pneumonia and bronchitis, Did not receive any effect, was later held by my parents to come to me here for treatment. I gave the child examination found that, in fact, the trouble is tuberculosis bacilli, children are actually suffering from tuberculosis. Coincidentally, a doctor friend of mine recently received a child who was only one and a half years old and had tuberculous empyema.
Tuberculosis infection is ubiquitous
For a long time, tuberculosis has even been ignored by some parents, who think that the disease is rare now and their babies cannot be infected. In fact, the whole childhood is a susceptible period of tuberculosis.
The population base of tuberculosis infection in our country is large, and there are reports that the infection rate has reached more than 40%, so it is not too much to say that we are surrounded by tuberculosis bacilli.
Tuberculosis itself is highly infectious and can be transmitted through air, food and other means. Children’s own immunity is not perfect. Children who are not vaccinated with BCG vaccine in time or have low resistance are easily exposed to tuberculosis bacteria from their families, relatives and friends, companions and other places and are easily infected.
Tuberculosis in Children Is Harmful
Because the manifestations of tuberculosis in children (especially children under 5 years of age) are different from those in adults, In the early stage, there are often no obvious symptoms, However, there may be signs of depression, tantrums and crying, but these signs are not specific and are not easily associated with tuberculosis. Moreover, their poor language expression ability and inability to spit lead to difficulties in diagnosis of tuberculosis, or are easy to be treated as common cold, pneumonia or bronchitis, delaying the regular treatment of tuberculosis.
According to the WHO (World Health Organization) report, 1 million children worldwide suffered from tuberculosis in 2014, of which 140,000 died, accounting for 14% of the total number of children, that is, 14 out of 100 children with tuberculosis died.
The key is that because children’s immunity is not strong, they often cannot control the infection, which is easy to spread to other parts, so infants and young children are especially prone to serious and even fatal tuberculosis, such as tuberculous meningitis.
The most difficult thing is tuberculosis in children under 1 year old, which is serious, common in systemic dissemination, common in tuberculous meningitis, with the highest mortality rate, atypical clinical manifestations and high misdiagnosis rate.
Therefore, if the child continues to cough and have a fever for more than two weeks, the use of antibiotics is ineffective, or swollen lymph nodes are touched in the child’s neck, especially active pulmonary tuberculosis patients in the family, they should be on high alert and seek medical treatment in time.
Prevention is the key to keep children away from tuberculosis.
Prevention of tuberculosis in children should focus on prevention, and children should be protected from tuberculosis infection as much as possible:
1. Newborns are vaccinated with BCG vaccine.
Although vaccination cannot completely block tuberculosis infection, it can improve children’s resistance to tuberculosis, limit the growth and reproduction of tuberculosis and reduce the occurrence of severe tuberculosis.
2. Strengthen resistance.
We should ensure that children’s daily life is regular, diet and nutrition are balanced, and outdoor activities are appropriate, which is conducive to enhancing their resistance to tuberculosis. Even after infection, they may not necessarily suffer from the disease.
3. Cut off the route of transmission.
- Good hygiene habits should be cultivated and hands should be washed frequently. (This is useful for preventing many infectious diseases) The rooms in the home should be ventilated regularly to keep the indoor air fresh. When going out, take protective measures, such as wearing masks, especially in crowded places;
4. Reduce the chance of tuberculosis among infected children.
Children infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis are more likely to develop tuberculosis than adults. Some studies have shown that if no treatment is carried out, 40% ~ 50% of children under one year old and 15% of older children may develop tuberculosis within 1 ~ 2 years after infection, and some may even spread to other parts. Therefore, if you are worried that your child is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, you should carry out relevant examinations to see if you have contracted tuberculosis.
- Be sure to go to a professional infectious disease hospital for examination in time so as to diagnose and treat it as early as possible. Family members also need to have preventive physical examination to find the source of tuberculosis infection in the family in time.
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