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Children often get sick, any parent knows about it. This is a completely understandable phenomenon, because they are constantly in places where there are a lot of people, and it is much easier to catch a viral infection. Disease prevention is a topic for another article, but today we will talk about how to treat a child if he is already sick.
Of course, when a child is sick, it is best to see a doctor. After all, not all colds are treated equally. It is very important to determine what it is - a viral or bacterial infection. From this depends on the further treatment plan. Although this is not a panacea. Most doctors mindlessly prescribe antibiotics to children, even when they are not needed at all.
So when should antibiotics be used? Can they treat any infection? We will answer these questions so you can understand if your child is being treated correctly.
Blood indicators in children
What to do first of all when a child gets sick: run to a pharmacy or a laboratory to get tested? Definitely, to the doctor and to the laboratory. A blood test is the most reliable way to determine the nature of the disease. If you went to a doctor, and he prescribes medications without taking a blood test, ask for this analysis. After all, most likely, such a doctor will prescribe a bunch of unnecessary medicines and antibiotics to the child.
You can't treat everything with antibiotics. If it is a viral infection, then antibiotics will not only not help, but will increase the risk of complications. Remember it!
So, your child had a blood test, the results are in your hands. What's next? Of course, it’s best to go to the doctor with this, but it doesn’t hurt to figure out the numbers yourself. Having on hand the results of the study and a table of blood indicators , it will not be difficult to understand the nature of the disease.
Just remember one important thing: an increased level of leukocytes, ESR, lymphocytes is a virus, and an increased level of leukocytes, ESR, segmented and stab neutrophils, as well as a reduced number of lymphocytes is a bacterial infection. Without an increase in neutrophils, a bacterial infection does not happen.
For example, if in the test results you see that there are, say, 15.4 leukocytes, and 15–20 lymphocytes, then with a high probability we can talk about a bacterial infection. And then only antibiotic treatment, the doctor will prescribe the necessary dosage. If the indicators of lymphocytes and leukocytes are high, and the doctor still insists on antibiotics, then this is a reason to refuse such treatment.
If a child is infected with a virus, then he does not need any antibiotics, regardless of what kind of virus it is. In general, the treatment of viral diseases is not swallowing pills, but creating conditions so that the body can easily cope with the virus. The room where the child is sick should be cool and humid. It is necessary to constantly ventilate the room, wash the floors.
The child needs to be well wrapped up and constantly given a warm drink: tea, compote, fruit drink. You can buy oral rehydration solutions. If only he drank plenty of fluids. You can not force the baby to eat if he does not want to. Food should be light and liquid. Soups are perfect.
No need to use any grandmother's products: cans, mustard plasters, rubbing. Leave the child alone, let him rest and slowly recover. If the temperature has risen, you should not immediately take everything that is in the medicine cabinet. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, just follow the golden rules of dealing with temperature.
What about antivirals? All topical and oral interferons are medicines with unproven efficacy or “drugs” with proven ineffectiveness. That's actually all you need to know about the treatment of viral infections.
In this video, Dr. Komarovsky once again talks about whether to see a doctor and in which case it is necessary. Every parent needs this!
The health of a child is the most important concern of every parent. It is best to entrust such a valuable thing to doctors, but it doesn’t hurt to know the basic rules yourself, at least learn to understand what blood counts mean. Then you can provide the child with the right treatment and a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself and your children!
