Dear mom and dad, did you know? Baby pneumonia is a "serious illness" in autumn. Air humidifiers designed to maintain indoor humidity can also cause pneumonia in babies! From the perspective of clinical statistics, autumn and winter are the high incidence period of children's respiratory diseases, so what are the causes of infant pneumonia, what symptoms, how to prevent, and how to care for it? Let's take a look at it next.

Causes of pneumonia in babies
Baby pneumonia is inflammation of the lungs caused by different pathogens or other factors. Common clinical manifestations are fever, cough, shortness of breath, dyspnea, and fixed rales in the lungs. It is one of the common diseases in pediatrics. The pathogenic microorganisms of infant pneumonia are bacteria and viruses. Pathogens often invade through the respiratory tract, and a small number of menstrual blood enter the lungs.
Babies are prone to pneumonia at birth, usually before and during labor. The prenatal fetus lives in a uterus full of amniotic fluid. If hypoxia occurs (such as umbilical cord around the neck, fetal heart changes, abnormal fetal movement), breathing movements and inhalation of amniotic fluid will occur, causing aspiration pneumonia; In childbirth, or during labor, inhalation of amniotic fluid or birth canal secretions contaminated with bacteria can easily cause bacterial pneumonia; if the amniotic fluid is contaminated with meconium, aspiration into the lungs can cause meconium aspiration pneumonia.
The other is neonatal pneumonia. If there are bacterial carriers (such as colds) among the people the child is in contact with, the child is easily infected, causing pneumonia in the baby; neonates are infected with pneumonia through blood circulation due to sepsis, omphalitis, and enteritis, which can be caused by bacteria; in neonates , pneumonia can also be caused by viruses and other microorganisms.
At present, the classification of infant pneumonia generally adopts four methods: pathological form, pathogen, course of disease and degree of disease:
Classification method 1: Pathological class. Lobar pneumonia, bronchopneumonia (lobular pneumonia), interstitial pneumonia, and bronchiolitis.
Classification method 2: Pathogen class. Bacterial pneumonia, viral pneumonia, fungal pneumonia, mycoplasmal pneumonia, rickettsial pneumonia, protozoal pneumonia and aspiration pneumonia.
Classification method 3: Course of disease class. Acute pneumonia (within 1 month), persistent pneumonia (1-3 months), chronic pneumonia (over 3 months).
Classification method 4: Disease class. Mild disease: The disease is mild. Except for the respiratory system, other systems are only slightly affected, and there are no symptoms of poisoning in the whole body. Severe disease: The disease is serious, in addition to the severe involvement of the respiratory system, other systems are also damaged, and the symptoms of systemic poisoning are obvious.

Symptoms of pneumonia in babies
Pneumonia in babies has its typical symptoms. As long as parents pay attention to observation, they can take timely measures or go to the hospital directly to avoid the deterioration of the condition.
Symptom 1 of baby pneumonia: general symptoms . Upper respiratory tract infection is common in the days before the onset, with body temperature up to 38-40°C, mostly flaccid or irregular fever. Most babies have slow onset and low fever. Other symptoms may include refusal to eat, vomiting, and choking of milk.
Symptom 2 of baby pneumonia: respiratory system. Most of the onset is acute, and the main symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
Fever: When the baby has pneumonia, there are many symptoms of fever, and the body temperature is usually above 38°C for two or three days. Antipyretics only temporarily lower the body temperature for a period of time, and then quickly raise it again. But at the same time, you should also be wary of pneumonia in babies without fever. A baby with pneumonia may have a high temperature, but may not have a fever or even a low temperature.
Coughing and breathing: These children usually have an acute onset, starting with a "cold" symptom that lasts about 3 days, with a low-grade fever (measured at about 38°C), runny nose, and cough. About 60% of children may not have a fever. After 2-3 days, the cough worsens and the breathing becomes short and shallow.
Chest: Because a child's chest wall is thin, blisters can sometimes be heard without a stethoscope, so attentive parents can listen to their child's chest when the child is quiet or asleep.
Symptom 3 of baby pneumonia: circulatory system. Mild hypoxia can manifest as increased heart rate, and severe pneumonia can be combined with myocarditis and heart failure.
Symptom 4 of the baby's pneumonia: nervous system. Mild hypoxia manifests as irritability, lethargy; disturbance of consciousness, convulsions, irregular breathing, bulging anterior fontanelle, and sometimes meningeal irritation, and pupils are sluggish or disappear in response to light.
Mental state: In order to detect the child's pneumonia in time, careful mothers should also pay attention to the child's mental state. A small number of babies have poor mental state, blue lips, irritability, crying or drowsiness, convulsions, delirium, etc., indicating that the children are more seriously ill and more likely to cause baby pneumonia.
Symptom 5 of baby pneumonia: digestive system. Mild symptoms often include anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal distension, etc.; severe cases can cause toxic intestinal paralysis, disappearance of bowel sounds, and increased dyspnea when severe abdominal distention occurs. Gastrointestinal bleeding may vomit coffee-like substances, fecal occult blood positive or discharge tarry stools.
Decreased appetite: When the baby has pneumonia, the appetite will decrease significantly. Do not eat, or cry and feel restless when breastfeeding.

Western medicine treatment method for baby pneumonia
Method 1: Selection of antibiotics.
(1) Antibiotic treatment: for bacterial pneumonia. Penicillin is preferred. Lincomycin and cefotaxime can be used for those who are ineffective or allergic. In mild cases, oral antibiotics such as amoxicillin (amoxicillin) and framocin (amoxicillin) can be administered. Erythromycin is the drug of choice for the treatment of mycoplasma pneumonia.
(2) Antiviral therapy: ribavirin or acyclovir.
Method 2: symptomatic treatment
(1) Oxygen inhalation for those with cyanosis.
(2) Oral or intramuscular injection of antitussive phenergan.
(3) sputum-resolving chymotrypsin inhalation.
How to care for a baby with pneumonia
Your child has pneumonia and home care is important to your child's recovery. Parents should note the following:
Nursing method of baby pneumonia 1: Nursing. First of all, keep the environment quiet and clean, and let the children get enough rest and sleep. The room temperature should be kept at about 20 ℃, and the relative humidity should be about 60%, so as to prevent the respiratory secretions from drying out and not easy to cough up. The room should be ventilated frequently to keep the air fresh.
Nursing Method 2: Diet. Make sure your child is getting enough fluids and nutrients. In the acute stage of pneumonia in babies, especially children with fever, their digestive function is usually weakened and their appetite is reduced. You can eat small meals often, not too full to prevent vomiting. Convalescent children can gradually transition to a nutrient-dense diet.
Nursing Method 3: Symptomatic treatment. If the child has a fever, physical cooling can be done, such as cold compresses on the head, warm water baths, etc., and antipyretics can be taken to cool down if the body temperature exceeds 38.5. For those with obvious cough and expectoration, cough and expectorant can be used appropriately.
Nursing care of babies with pneumonia Method 4: Pay attention to turning over and slapping the back. Turn over and change positions for the child frequently to reduce lung congestion, promote the absorption of inflammation, and facilitate the discharge of sputum. Infants and young children have weak muscle strength and weak ability to cough and expel sputum independently. Parents can arch the back of their hands into a hollow shape, pat the child’s back moderately, up and down, left and right, and increase the vibration, so that the sputum can be more easily discharged along the trachea, which is conducive to recovery .
Nursing care of babies with pneumonia Method 5: Avoid contact with other babies to prevent cross infection. Relatives and friends should minimize visits to prevent increasing the chance of cross-infection, and avoid affecting the child's rest and sleep. Relatives and friends with respiratory infections should avoid contact with children, so as not to affect the child's recovery.
Nursing care of baby's pneumonia Method 6: After the baby's pneumonia is cured, don't take it lightly, and pay special attention to preventing upper respiratory tract infection, otherwise it will be easy to repeat infection.

How to prevent baby pneumonia
Prevention method 1: Baby pneumonia vaccination
Get your baby vaccinated on time. Haemophilus influenzae vaccine (Hib), DTP, leprosy, flu (from 6 months of age), chickenpox, and Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccines can all help prevent pneumonia in your baby. If your baby misses a vaccine, you must ask your doctor how to make up. It should be reminded that some of the above vaccines can be vaccinated before the age of 1, and some cannot be vaccinated until the baby is 1 year old.
Prevention method 2: Pay attention to hygiene
Frequent hand washing (both family and baby) can prevent the spread of pathogens. Get special cups and cutlery for your baby. Regularly clean all areas of your home that may be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, such as phones, toys, doorknobs, refrigerator handles, etc.
Prevention method 3: Do not smoke at home
If you or your spouse smoke, be sure to smoke outdoors. If you have guests at home, let them smoke outside too. Of course, you or your spouse had better quit smoking. Studies have shown that even children who live in cigarette smoke for short periods of time are more likely than other children to get sick and to develop pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infections, asthma and otitis media.
Prevention method 4: Pay attention to home care
Keep the indoor air fresh, pay attention to ventilation, let the baby stick to outdoor activities, get more sunlight, enhance the ability to adapt to cold air, and improve the baby's resistance. If family members have respiratory infections, they should pay attention to isolation to reduce airborne transmission.
Prevention method 5: Do a good job in disinfection to prevent recurrence
(1) Disinfection of tableware
The preferred method of sterilization is steam. Cooking will coagulate and denature the protein of bacteria, and most pathogens will die after 15-30 minutes of cooking. The disinfection time should be calculated from the boiling of water. When boiling, care should be taken that all utensils must be completely submerged in water. In plateau regions, cooking time should be extended due to lower atmospheric pressure.
(2) Furniture disinfection
Disinfection of doors, windows, floors, and large furniture at home can be wiped and disinfected with disinfectant.
(3) Clothing disinfection
Clothes, quilt covers, shoes and socks, towels, etc., are usually mechanically cleaned with warm water or clean water, which can eliminate bacteria, dust and dirt adsorbed on the surface of the object; if it is the patient's clothing and utensils, appropriate drugs should be added according to the situation. to enhance the disinfection effect.
(4) Disinfection of children's utensils
The thermometer can be sterilized by soaking in 75% alcohol for 30 minutes. Children's utensils should be fixed and dedicated, and boiled for 30 minutes after each use. Items discarded by patients, such as waste paper, toilet paper, mouth wipes, useless books and newspapers, tableware or old clothes to be discarded, can be disinfected by incineration.