Pneumonia in Children

Pneumonia is common in children in the cold weather. All respiratory infections are not pneumonia but sometimes simple cough and cold can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is responsible for nearly 17% of deaths in children under five years of age. Basically, pneumonia means infection of the lungs. Sometimes, there is consolidation of the lobe of the lung, called lobar pneumonia. This occurs in older children. In others the whole lung may be involved in a patchy manner known as broncho pneumonia. According to Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla-A Child Specialist in Karachi, this initially starts with common flu like symptoms, fever, cough and cold. However, gradually the fever starts getting high grade and the cough increases. The respiratory rate tells us a lot about the pneumonia. If the respiratory rate is more than 50 breaths per minute in infants or more than 40 breaths per minute in children less than 5 years, which is considered as a dangerous sign. Other signs include presence of a depression between the ribs and abdomen, flaring of nostrils and increased movement of ribs. A sound comes from the chest, known as grunting. Fever is high grade with sweating. Cough is productive with yellow colored sputum. Wheezing occurs.

This is a medical emergency. The child should be immediately admitted. Sometimes oxygen therapy is given. Immediate antibiotic therapy should be given depending upon the etiology. Nebulization is given to relieve the bronchspasm. Steam therapy is also effective. The blood tests are a good indicator of the degree of infection. X-Ray of chest is mainly diagnostic. Chest physiotherapy is sometimes needed so that the secretions come out. With good antibiotic therapy the patient recovers in 48-72 hours but treatment should continue for ten days.