Antibiotics for children: use wisely

What are antibiotics known to every modern person, because recently doctors are increasingly practicing the appointment of this type of medication. Especially often young mothers face this.

As you know, young children often get sick, and often severe complications occur against the background of a common cold. This is where it comes to antibiotics.

In our time, only a small part of all women, finding themselves in such a situation, trust doctors so much that they purchase the prescribed drug without a shadow of a doubt.

In practice, most often in such cases, women begin to look for an answer to the question: " Give or not give antibiotics to the child?". After all, on one scale – drug toxicity, and on the other – the health of a sick child.

Together with estet-portal. com let's try to figure out in which cases antibiotics for children will be appropriate, and in which cases you can do without .

• Antibiotics for children: what are they and when are they needed
• Indications for taking antibiotics  child
• Is it possible to do without antibiotics
• How to take medicines correctly
• How to reduce the harm from taking these drugs

Antibiotics for children: what are they and when are they needed

Antibiotics – these are medicines that inhibit the growth and development of a certain group of bacteria. The discovery and dissemination of antibiotics made it possible to cure many diseases caused by bacteria that were previously considered incurable.

In children, antibacterial agents are used to treat infections caused by bacteria (eg, sore throat, otitis media, pneumonia, etc.). When planning to give your child any drug from this group of drugs, weigh all the pros. and cons, and remember that the treatment of children differs from that of adults due to weak and incompletely developed immunity.

Antibiotics only work on bacteria. In the treatment of diseases of a viral nature, they are powerless. Diseases caused by viruses should be treated with antiviral drugs.

Sometimes diseases of bacterial and viral origin have similar symptoms. In such cases, identify "by eye" the cause of the disease is impossible.

That is why consultation of a competent specialist is required, as well as laboratory diagnostic tests. And even in such cases, it is not always possible to reliably establish the type of infectious agent.

The principle of prescribing antibiotics for children is that the expected benefits outweigh the possible negative consequences. That is why only a qualified doctor should make the appropriate prescription.

Indications for taking antibiotics in a child

Prescribing antibiotics for children is made only after the patient has been examined, his complaints recorded and tests have been taken.

The bacterial nature of the disease can be confirmed with the help of laboratory tests. It is usually indicated by a high level of leukocytes (more than 15x109 l), C-reactive protein (more than 30 mg / l), as well as absolute (more than 10x109 l) and stab (1.5x109 l) neutrophils.

However, the situation is not so obvious in all cases. There are other indicators of tests for a bacterial infection.

Indications for taking antibiotics are conventionally divided into:

1.Absolute.

These include:

• respiratory infections;
• acute otitis in children of the first two years;
• genitourinary infections;
• any confirmed bacterial infections.

2. Relative.

They mainly includerespiratory diseases of moderate and severe form, when it is not possible to confirm the bacterial nature of the disease, but there is a high risk of complications.

In such cases, the following symptoms are most often guided by:

• body temperature over 38°C for more than 3 days;
• coughing for more than 10 consecutive days;
• pus from the nose or throat;
• significant enlargement of lymph nodes;
• no improvement within 5 days from the onset of the disease.

Is it possible to do without antibiotics

Despite the high importance of such drugs, often their use is useless, or even harmful to health.

It is considered inappropriate to prescribe antibiotics for children with the following conditions:

• infections of viral origin (SARS, influenza, rhinitis, viral bronchitis, pharyngitis, etc.);
• intestinal infections;
• high body temperature up to 3 days (antibiotics are not antipyretic drugs).

Antibiotics should not be given for prophylaxis, even though it is not uncommon for a viral disease to develop into a bacterial one. In such cases, the likely harm outweighs the possible benefit.

How to take medicines correctly

The treatment should be guided by the following rules:

• Before taking, you need to carefully study the instructions. Some antibiotics require special preparation (e.g. dissolution in a liquid) as well as storage under certain conditions (most often refrigerated). • It will not be superfluous to make sure that the doctor takes into account the age of the child, and the drug corresponds to the age category of the baby.

• Antibiotics for children are recommended to be taken with the same interval between doses in order to maintain the required amount of the active substance in the blood.

• Unless otherwise indicated in the instructions, the medicine must be taken after meals with plenty of drinking water at room temperature.

• In the process of treatment, it is important to follow all the recommendations of a specialist. In particular, the dosage and duration of the course should not be violated (most often it is 5 & ndash; 10 days). Otherwise, the drug may simply not work, some of the bacteria may survive, and in addition to this, the body may develop a strong immunity to the active substance in the antibiotic, as a result of which

next time it will no longer help.

During treatment, it is recommended to take a number of measures that

• Feed your child light food so as not to overload the liver. It is necessary to exclude fried, spicy, fatty, sweets and soda. The diet during treatment must necessarily include fermented milk products, vegetables, fruits, and proteins.

• On the recommendation of a doctor,

prebiotics and probiotics are prescribed along with antibiotics to maintain intestinal microflora. • If after 72 hours after taking the drug there is no improvement or an allergic reaction occurs, you should consult a doctor for a second consultation. It may be advisable to change the drug to another one.