When a newborn child appears in a young family, not only great love settles in it, but also responsibility for the he alth of a new person. The neonatal period has some specific and rather important features, since it is after the birth that the child begins to adapt to new living conditions for himself. That is why in some infants the disease may develop atypically. You can read more about the most common diseases of newborns below.
What affects the he alth of the baby?
The main diseases of newborns that have arisen due to an imperfect immune response, due to its anatomical and physiological characteristics, can become quite severe. Various pathologies occur in a child either during fetal development, or after childbirth. Therefore, the classification of neonatal diseases is quite broad.
The he alth of the baby will be affected by the followingfactors:
- pregnancy;
- how did the birth process go;
- he alth of a pregnant woman;
- conditions surrounding the newborn;
- feeding method;
- toxic effects in the womb on the fetus.
The transition of a child to unusual living conditions can lead to some profound shifts in metabolic processes, as well as changes in the functioning of its individual systems and organs. Infants are characterized by transitional he alth conditions, so these children need special treatment. Existing borderline conditions after a while can turn into more dangerous and serious illnesses.
What difficulties can expect caring parents during the first time after childbirth, and what are the most common diseases of children at such a tender age?
Birth injuries
This is a violation of the integrity of the bones, organs or tissues of the baby, which is mainly due to mechanical factors during childbirth. These injuries are diagnosed in approximately 9-10% of infants. They have a negative impact on the development of the newborn and his physical he alth.
Depending on the underlying functional disorder and the location of the injury, the following birth injuries in infants are known:
- Bones and joints: traumatic epiphyseolysis of the bone tissue of the shoulders, subluxation of the joints, bone fractures and fissures. In such cases, the child is examined by a pediatric traumatologist, who usually prescribes an x-ray. If the collarbone is broken, the child may be bandagedDeso, for fractures of the hips or shoulders, repositioning of the bones of the limbs is indicated, as well as the application of plaster.
- Soft tissue: muscle and skin injuries, swelling, and cephalohematoma. The tumor disappears three days after the birth process, and in the presence of an extensive cephalohematoma, the child is given an x-ray of the bones of the skull in order to prevent the appearance of cracks.
- Organs, and bleeding into the adrenal glands and liver can be especially dangerous. The baby is performed x-ray and ultrasound of the peritoneum and adrenal glands. Symptomatic or hemostatic therapy is used to treat these conditions. The prognosis for injuries inflicted on a child during birth will be determined by their severity and extent.
- Nervous system:
- peripheral NS injuries: diaphragm paresis, paralysis, shoulder plexus injuries;
- cranial injury: intraventricular subarachnoid, subdural or epidural bleeding;
- spinal cord injury: sprains, bleeding, rupture, and compression of the spinal cord; an accurate diagnosis is made by a neurologist, performing electromyography, MRI of the spine, lumbar puncture, and examination of cerebrospinal fluid.
In order to heal these injuries, special medical supervision is not required. The consequences of the injury will be determined by the state of a particular organ. For example, if a newborn bleeds into the adrenal glands, adrenal insufficiency may develop later. Very dangerous are injuries of the nervous system during childbirth, the consequences of which will bedepend on their severity.
Asphyxia
This is a rather severe pathological condition of the child, which usually occurs as a result of impaired gas exchange, causing hypoxia.
Also, the baby often has hypercapnia with the accumulation of large amounts of carbon dioxide. Respiratory and metabolic acidosis may develop, the enzymatic process may change, and there is a violation of the function of the central nervous system, liver, and heart.
Based on the level of severity, doctors note mild, moderate and severe oxygen deficiency in infants. If a mild or moderate form of this disease is noted, the child has arrhythmic, atypical breathing, cyanotic skin, weakened heart sounds and heartbeats, reduced reflexes. There may be decreased muscle tone.
With a more severe course of asphyxia, the skin of the newborn gradually begins to turn pale, shallow or rare breathing is noted, the mucous membranes are cyanotic, the pulse is very difficult to feel, the child has muffled heart sounds, arrhythmia may develop, as well as bradycardia.
It is noteworthy that in the presence of white asphyxia, almost 50% of babies can die even before the moment of birth or during the first week after them. Surviving children suffer from various developmental disorders, frequent chronic pneumonia.
Asphyxia treatment
Treatment of asphyxia is based on the elimination of oxygen deficiency, restoration of full breathing, improvementdisturbed metabolism, as well as the elimination of existing circulatory disorders. So, doctors should suck out blood in the airways, as well as amniotic fluid and mucus, with a catheter as soon as possible.
After that, in the case of a mild form of oxygen deficiency, the baby is given a helium-oxygen mixture, and in the last and most complex form of asphyxia, emergency ventilation is performed. For this, a special apparatus is used.
Artificial ventilation is carried out until the baby has spontaneous breathing. Then the oxygen supply is carried out by using a special nasopharyngeal catheter, they are constantly in special oxygen incubators. Recently, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, performed in a pressure chamber, has been used quite actively.
When resuscitating infants who were born in severe asphyxia, craniocerebral hypothermia is often used: the baby's head is cooled, the swelling of the meninges is eliminated, the need for oxygen for the brain is reduced, and the microcirculation process in the vessels of the brain is restored.
Respiratory distress syndrome
A significant place among the main and probable causes of death of newborns is occupied by the well-known respiratory distress syndrome, which is usually observed in infants born a little prematurely. The cause of the illness of a newborn child is called pneumopathy.
Medics after numerous studieswere able to establish a connection between this syndrome and pathological childbearing, difficult childbirth and existing diseases in the woman herself. So, this category includes uterine hemorrhages, endocrine diseases, as well as premature discharge of amniotic fluid, severe toxicosis during pregnancy, etc.
The severity of the mother's anamnesis is of no small importance. These negative factors, which can also be combined, cause early birth, as well as the development of complex pathological and physiological changes in the infant: gas exchange disorders, infant asphyxia, metabolic disorders, deterioration of the functional state of the vascular system.
The first symptoms of impaired respiratory activity in an infant appear immediately after childbirth. After about two hours, the symptom complex characteristic of the syndrome of respiratory disorders can fully develop: rapid breathing, sonorous exhalation, increasing shortness of breath, a change in the shape of the sternum, and cyanosis of the skin appears.
In an infant, the nature of breathing can change, the doctor can listen to fine bubbling rales, which, however, are irregular. The heart sounds are usually tense and difficult to hear because of the systolic murmur.
Not entirely favorable signs of this syndrome are liver enlargement, slow breathing, the occurrence of impaired consciousness, the newborn usually has muscle hypotension, general edema, hypo- and areflexia, and bradycardia.
Therapy
Therapy for this condition in infants includesrestoration of normal ventilation of the lungs, correction of metabolic processes, as well as improvement in the condition of blood vessels and the heart.
To prevent the development of pneumopathy in a newborn, it is important to follow a set of measures to prevent toxicosis of pregnant women, prematurity, intrauterine asphyxia and early infection of the fetus.
Hemolytic disease
Clinical recommendations for hemolytic disease of the newborn depend on its form. This disease affects an extremely small number of infants - approximately 0.5% of the total number of children born. The disease develops in a child mainly with an Rhesus conflict or inconsistency of the ABO system. This is the most common cause of hemolytic disease of the newborn.
Typically, this disease manifests itself in infants in three forms:
- Anemic - develops due to the short action of isoantibodies secreted by the mother. Fetal damage is minimal. Anemia usually develops after the first week of a baby's life as the baby's red blood cell and hemoglobin levels decrease, the spleen, kidneys, and liver enlarge, and erythroblastosis, polychromasia, and anisocytosis may develop.
- Icteric - appears due to exposure of the newborn isoantibodies. The infant may show signs of jaundice and anemia, and may have swollen lymph nodes, liver, and heart. Further, the child is likely to have a slight developmental delay. Due to the suppression of the immune system, children duringthe first year of life often suffer from sepsis, omphalitis and pneumonia.
- Edematous - appears due to prolonged exposure of a pregnant woman to isoantibodies. In this case, the fetus develops further, since all toxic products will be excreted through the placenta. But still, his spleen, heart and liver can increase, extramedullary hemorrhage can form, protein-forming function is disturbed, vascular permeability is noted, and hypoalbuminemia develops. Metabolic disorders in some cases can lead to fetal death.
Pathology Therapy
Clinical recommendations for hemolytic disease of the newborn will be as follows. If a child has a severe form, it is necessary to perform a blood transfusion as soon as possible. After that, detoxification treatment is carried out: a large amount of liquid is injected into the child, an intravenous transfusion of blood substitutes and glucose is done. It is often referred to as a hereditary disease of the newborn.
Also effective is the photochemical method, in which bilirubin is oxidized under a lamp, turning into biliverdin, as well as non-toxic substances. The baby's skin is irradiated with a special blue lamp for about 15 hours a day for two to six days.
Phenobarbital helps activate baby's liver glucuronyltransferase. To improve liver performance, physicians can prescribe the use of methionine, adenositrophosphoric and ascorbic acid, cyanocobalamin, tocopherol and pyridoxine, and to improvebile secretion, a magnesium solution of 25% concentration is attributed.
Sepsis
This is a pathological and rather dangerous condition of a newborn if it is not detected in time, which is usually caused by the ingress of harmful microorganisms from an existing inflammatory or infectious focus into the child's blood. It is often referred to as the disease of preterm infants.
It is noteworthy that staphylococcal infection has been the most common lately. Its pathogenicity lies in the ability to independently produce enterotoxins, dermonecrotoxins, hemotoxins and leukocidins, as well as coagulase, hyaluronidase and fibrinolysin, which destroy colloidal particles.
Various diseases of a pregnant woman can be quite dangerous for a baby, because in this case, the fetus's immunity is weakened, as well as its intrauterine infection. But if the placental barrier is broken, infection of the baby can occur, and it can also happen during his progress during the birth process.
The gates for penetration into the organs of a newborn infection are usually called damaged skin, diseases of the navel in newborns, vessels of the navel, conjunctiva of the eyes, mucous membranes of the digestive apparatus and respiratory tract. As a result, the child develops inflammation with the release of pus: conjunctivitis, pyoderma, omphalitis, otitis media, etc. Sepsis can be otogenic cutaneous or umbilical.
Diagnose sepsis after receivingthe results of laboratory and bacteriological examinations of the baby, as well as with obvious clinical manifestations. Pathogenic staphylococcus is usually sown from the pharynx and nose, umbilical wound, skin pustules, or even from the blood. But negative test results cannot rule out 100% the presence of sepsis, especially if it has clinical signs.
The main symptoms of infant infection with sepsis are the following: prolonged weeping of the navel, late fall of the navel, frequent regurgitation, skin pustules, insufficient weight gain. The combination of symptoms should in each case be suspicious.
The temperature reaction of a newborn with sepsis can initially rise to 39 0С, after which the temperature drops to subfebrile. Approximately on the third day, the baby has symptoms of toxicosis: heart sounds are muffled, the skin becomes grayish-pale in color, hyporeflexia and hypotension develop.
Most babies have profuse vomiting, general weakness, and dyspepsia. After the second week of the course of the disease, the spleen and liver are often enlarged, weight gain may slowly increase or even stop.
Sepsis therapy
Therapy should be aimed at eliminating the pathogen, correcting metabolic disorders, increasing the child's immunity, and thorough sanitation of existing purulent sources.
From antibacterial drugs, doctors attribute antibiotics such as "Methicillin", "Oxacillin" and"Ampicillin". To prevent the development of dysbacteriosis and candidiasis in a newborn, it is recommended to combine antibiotic therapy with the use of levorin, nystatin and bifidumbacterin.
In case of severe anemia, the child may be given an emergency blood transfusion. Ideally, the donor's blood should be immunized with a specific toxoid. To correct metabolic disorders, a newborn may be prescribed cocarboxylase and glutamic acid, and if hypokalemia occurs (intestinal paresis, tachycardia, vomiting, regurgitation) - potassium acetate. If the infant is severely hypohydrated, certain saline solutions are indicated.
It is desirable to include in therapy the use of antihistamines, which should alternate courses: "Pipolfen", "Suprastin" and "Dimedrol". With purulent and septic foci, there is a need for surgical intervention.
Jaundice
Jaundice is a visual manifestation of an increase in bilirubin in the blood. It is worth learning about the causes and consequences of jaundice in newborns. An increase in bilirubin occurs in absolutely all newborns in the first days of existence, while yellowness of the skin is expressed only in 60-70%. Jaundice is more common and more pronounced in children with late meconium, fasting and hypothermia.
Therefore, it is important to put the baby to the breast early and often, which will also contribute to the discharge of meconium, and not allow the baby to become hypothermic.
If the yellowing is verymanifested or occurs later than on the seventh day after birth, or continues to increase after the fifth day and lasts more than three weeks, then it is necessary to determine the level of bilirubin in the child's blood. When the level is more than 200 µmol / l, an additional examination is necessary to exclude pathological jaundice. As you can see, the causes and consequences of jaundice in newborns require immediate attention.
Jaundice treatment
If the examination reveals the painful nature of jaundice (and its causes can be varied), appropriate therapy is carried out. And first of all, "Ursofalk" is prescribed for newborns from jaundice, reviews of which are so far only positive. It is approved for use at any age.
And if it is confirmed that the jaundice is physiological, but prolonged, phototherapy is carried out with special lamps. In the current period, this is the most productive and harmless way to cure jaundice. The essence of phototherapy lies in the effect on the skin of light with a specific wavelength, which breaks down the pigment and promotes its excretion with feces and urine.
In addition, it is permissible to prescribe ursodeoxycholic acid, which dilutes bile and improves its decrease. For example, Ursofalk is used for newborns from jaundice. Reviews about the treatment of the disease with such a drug are only positive. And therefore it can be safely used from such a pathology.
Prescribing water, glucose, or activated charcoal to a child, according to recent studies, is not considered effective.
Pemphigus
Pemphigus is a disease of a newborn child from a series of acute infectious skin pathologies, characterized by the appearance of blisters with serous inflammatory contents, with a predisposition to the rapid spread of the process to he althy areas of the skin and oral mucosa. The disease is bacterial in nature and is caused by staphylococcus, rarely streptococcus. Appears, as a rule, in the first weeks of a child's life. The cause of the infection is considered to be: personnel caring for the child, the mother of the newborn, members of his family who are ill or have had purulent skin diseases. In some cases, the umbilical cord is considered the basis of infection. It should be noted that such factors as the lack of protective properties of the skin, its anatomical and physical features, and insufficient hygiene of children also contribute to the emergence of an infectious disease in a newborn child.
Candidiasis
Newborns can have a variety of diseases. It is worth mentioning another disease, or rather, the treatment of a common form of cutaneous candidiasis in newborns. In this case, all areas are treated with a special solution. In most cases, it is made to order in a pharmacy.
It is very important to identify them correctly and in a timely manner in order to eliminate all symptoms as quickly as possible! We wish he alth to the baby and happiness to parents!
