Contents:
- Medical Video: Bronchiolitis: Signs, Symptoms and Care
- What is bronchitis?
- What causes bronchitis in children?
- What are the symptoms of bronchitis in children?
- How to treat bronchitis in children?
Medical Video: Bronchiolitis: Signs, Symptoms and Care
Children still have a strong immune system like adults, so children are more susceptible to disease. Diseases can attack children through anything. Bacteria or viruses can enter the child's body through the air they breathe, the food they eat, and so on. One disease that can affect children is bronchitis. What causes bronchitis in children? See the explanation below.
What is bronchitis?
Bronchitis is inflammation of the walls of the bronchial tubes (the airways that connect the throat (trachea) to the lungs). This wall produces mucus which functions to protect organs and tissues in the respiratory system. Bronchitis can make children more difficult to breathe and exhale from the lungs. This makes the tissue irritated, resulting in more mucus.
Bronchitis is divided into two types, namely:
- Acute bronchitis, lasts a short time (only a few weeks) but can cause severe symptoms. Acute bronchitis is a bronchitis that most often affects children.
- Chronic bronchitis, takes place over a longer period of time (up to several months or years) and can occur in conditions that are mild to severe. Usually this chronic bronchitis is more common in adults. The most common cause of chronic bronchitis is smoking.
What causes bronchitis in children?
Children suffer more often acute bronchitis. The causes of bronchitis in children (acute bronchitis) are usually viruses, but can also be caused by bacterial infections, allergies, and irritation from cigarette smoke, pollution, or dust.
When a child has a cold, flu, sore throat, or has chronic sinusitis caused by a virus, this virus can spread to the bronchi area. Viruses that are in the bronchial area can then cause the airways to become swollen, inflamed, and blocked by the mucus it produces.
These viruses can spread from person to person through coughing or sneezing. Viruses can also spread when a child touches the mouth, nose, or from snot or respiratory fluid from an infected person attached to objects held by the child.
What are the symptoms of bronchitis in children?
The first symptom most often shown by children with acute bronchitis is a dry cough, which can then develop into a phlegm cough. This cough is triggered by inflammation of the bronchial duct wall. In addition, other symptoms of bronchitis in children are:
- Runny nose, which usually occurs before the child coughs
- The body feels weak and doesn't feel well
- Headache
- Chills
- Fever, usually mild around 37.8 ° C to 38.3 ° C
- Hard to breathe
- Pain in the chest
- Wheezing
- Sore throat
Every child may show different symptoms. These symptoms can usually last for 7 to 14 days or can also last for three to four weeks.
How to treat bronchitis in children?
If the child shows the symptoms mentioned above, you should immediately take the child to the doctor. The doctor may give antibiotics if the cause of bronchitis is a bacterial infection. However, usually bronchitis is more often caused by a virus, so giving antibiotics will not help.
Meanwhile, some things you can do as a parent to reduce symptoms of bronchitis in children are:
- Give your child plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration
- Maintaining the humidity of a child's room can be done by placing a humidifier in the child's room
- Let the child get enough sleep
- Give the child paracetamol or ibuprofen to relieve fever
- Give children saline nose drops to relieve nasal congestion
- It is better not to give the child a suppressant cough medicine. Coughing is actually the body's way of removing mucus in the child's respiratory tract. To relieve a child's cough, you should give honey.
