Thrush is a fungal disease that affects the mucous membranes of the mouth, nails, skin and internal organs. It is caused by yeast-like fungi of the genus Candida. Thrush in the mouth in infants is a fairly common phenomenon. Timely detection of pathology allows you to cope with it in a short period.
What is thrush?
The disease got its name because of the curdled white coating. The causative agent of thrush is the Candida fungus, so its official name is candidiasis. Most often, it occurs in the mouth of infants.
Candida fungi carry out their vital activity in the skin and mucous membranes. They are opportunistic pathogens. With certain factors, they begin to multiply, which leads to an inflammatory process.
The baby begins to experience pain and discomfort. When the first signs of thrush occur in children in the mouth, it is necessary to proceed to treatment. After all, pathology cancause serious complications.
Causes of thrush
When the balance of microflora in the baby's body is disturbed, the growth of the Candida fungus begins, that is, the disease begins to develop. Thrush in the mouth (photo in the article) most often occurs during teething.
The reasons may be different:
- The disease is transmitted from mother to child during childbirth. This happens when the woman did not have time to completely recover from the pathology and passed it on to the baby.
- If a breastfeeding mother has taken antibiotics, there is a high risk of thrush.
- The disease can appear during the period when the child constantly pulls various objects into his mouth or starts to crawl. By trying things that are not always edible, he increases the level of pathogenic bacteria in the oral cavity.
- Thrush can appear in a child when his teeth begin to erupt. His immunity is also weakened by colds.
Premature babies are also at risk for thrush.
Symptoms of disease
Signs of thrush in the mouth may appear in the first months of a newborn's life. Here are the main symptoms that should alert parents:
- baby habitual behavior changes;
- he refuses to breastfeed, turns away from formula bottle;
- baby cries, is naughty and cannot sleep;
- frequent regurgitation appears;
- baby losing weight due to food refusal.
Specialsigns of thrush can be detected by examining the mucous membrane of the mouth. It depends on the stage of the disease:
- Thrush begins with small red spots on the walls of the mouth, and then white curdled plaques join them. The mild form does not cause pain and discomfort to the child.
- With the development of the disease, an abundant curd plaque appears in the mouth of the baby, which occurs as a result of an increase and association of plaques. If you remove them, you can find red erosion. At this stage, there is a burning sensation of the mouth and tongue, pain appears during eating. The child starts acting restless.
- During the 3rd stage of thrush, ulcers begin to bleed, the disease captures new areas: tonsils, gums and palate. Curd plaque covers the entire oral cavity, including the throat and lips. At the same time, the temperature rises, the intestinal microflora is disturbed and the lymph nodes increase.
Treatment of this stage of the disease is complicated and can only take place in a hospital. Thrush in the mouth of a baby is accompanied by diaper rash around the genitals and diaper dermatitis.
Diagnosis of disease
In the first stage, thrush is difficult to identify. This is due to the nutrition of the child, because white plaque is easy to confuse with the remnants of food in the mouth. Parents should constantly examine the baby's oral cavity so as not to miss thrush. The specialist makes a diagnosis on the basis of a smear, which is taken from the affected area. The contents are applied to the glass, then it is dried, painted andviewed under a microscope. If colonies of Candida fungus are seen, then the diagnosis is correct. Often a specialist determines thrush in children in the mouth during a visual examination. After the diagnosis is established, the necessary therapy is prescribed.
Treatment of thrush
If the therapy of the disease is started in a timely manner, then it can be de alt with with minor pain. Treatment of thrush in children in the mouth is aimed at eliminating its causes and fighting the pathogen itself. The complexity of the therapy of infants lies in the fact that many drugs are prohibited to them. Usually prescribe funds for external use. Newborns under 6 months are allowed to use:
- weak solution of potassium permanganate for oral treatment;
- 1% hydrogen peroxide for mucosal treatment.
After this procedure, the oral cavity is smeared with methylene blue and 0.25% silver nitrate solution.
It is important during the treatment of thrush in newborns in the mouth to walk as much as possible in the fresh air and humidify the air in the room. With frequent regurgitation of the mother, it is necessary to monitor the feeding technique.
Children older than 6 months are prescribed these antimicrobials:
- "Miramistin".
- "Nystatin".
- "Candide".
In serious stages of the disease, Pimafucin, Lugol's solution or Clotrimazole are prescribed. With a decrease in immunity, a specialist may prescribe immunostimulants.
How to treat thrush in the mouth? The therapy is carried out according to the following scheme:
- Boiled water cleans the mouth of food debris.
- The oral cavity must be treated with an antiseptic solution. Gauze is wrapped around the finger, with sweeping movements they wipe the inside of the cheeks, tongue and at the end of the lip. This procedure should be carried out 3-6 times a day, depending on the agent used.
- Using a cotton swab, an antifungal drug is applied pointwise to the affected area. Repeat the procedure 2-3 times a day.
When prescribing timely treatment, it lasts for 5-10 days. All drugs must be prescribed by a specialist. It is forbidden to interrupt the course of treatment after the disappearance of symptoms. To confirm the complete elimination of the fungus, only a scraping of mucus from the oral cavity, carried out in the laboratory.
Treatment of thrush with folk remedies
The most famous remedy for treating thrush is a soda solution. It makes the oral cavity alkaline. Preparing simply: 1 tsp. soda is added to a glass of boiled water. The resulting solution helps to get rid of thrush in the mouth of a newborn. The procedure is carried out half an hour before meals. Gauze wound around a finger is treated with a mouth every 2-3 hours. Treatment of thrush in the mouth with soda stops or even completely removes candidiasis from the mucous membrane of the child's mouth.
The second safe way is to treat the oral cavity with honey. Thrush disappears thanks to antisepticinfluence of the bee product on plaques. Mix one teaspoon of honey with 2 tbsp. l. water. Gauze soaked in the solution, wipe the oral cavity several times a day. Such treatment is dangerous for infants with allergies. Therefore, it should be started after consultation with a specialist.
Doctor Komarovsky's advice
Given the fact that external and internal causes contribute to the occurrence of thrush, it is worth paying attention to the true factors of its occurrence. According to a well-known doctor, this is due to a decrease in the protective function of saliva. Especially when it dries up.
Saliva, which has normal values, should contain colonies of beneficial bacteria. They are responsible for curbing the growth of pathogenic microflora. When the antimicrobial properties of saliva decrease, pathogenic bacteria cause the development of stomatitis or thrush.
Therefore, the prevention of this condition should be reduced to restoring the immune properties of saliva and increasing its quantity. This requires walking in the fresh air, regular wet cleaning of the premises and maintaining the necessary microclimate in the apartment. Do not wrap your child in warm clothing when the room is warm. Overheating can only harm the baby. Timely cleansing of the nasal cavity will avoid breathing difficulties, and the mucous membrane will remain moist.
Possible complications of thrush
Despite the prevalence of the disease and the many existing methods of dealing with it, there is a riskthe development of serious complications. These include:
- digestion disorder;
- damage to internal organs;
- candidiasis sepsis;
- Baby weight loss and dehydration due to refusal to eat.
When the genital organs are affected, girls have synechia. In the absence of proper and timely treatment, thrush can become chronic and recur periodically.
Disease prevention
To prevent the occurrence of thrush in infants, you should follow these recommendations:
- Sterilize baby utensils (bottles, nipples).
- Don't bathe your baby in contaminated water.
- If a mother develops candidiasis during pregnancy, treat it in a timely manner.
- Constantly monitor the cleanliness of hands and mammary glands.
- Increase the defenses of the baby's body.
- After feeding, give the baby some boiled water to normalize the microflora of the oral cavity.
When thrush is detected in a baby, the mother must also be treated to avoid re-infection.
Conclusion
When symptoms of thrush occur, parents should urgently take their child to a pediatrician or dentist. Signs of pathology are similar to the symptoms of tonsillitis or stomatitis. Only after an accurately confirmed diagnosis can the treatment of thrush be started. Timely and correct therapy of the disease will not allow the infection to spread further andaffect the baby's internal organs.
