Cold season almost always starts with a cough. This is a symptom of various diseases of the upper respiratory tract. Also, its occurrence can be provoked by an excessive load on the larynx and trachea or a cold.
What not to do when coughing?
In such cases, the treatment of cough with antibiotics in children is especially popular. It is with the help of these "magic" means that parents hope to defeat the disease. But it is worth noting that antibiotics are not a “golden pill” for coughs in toddlers and adolescents. If a child has a viral disease (ARVI, pharyngitis, tonsillitis), mechanical damage to the larynx or trachea, taking antibiotics will not give any results.
Based on this, we can conclude that the use of such drugs is justified and effective only whencorrectly established form of microflora that affected children's respiratory tract. Therefore, to determine whether you need to take antibiotics for a cough, you should definitely consult a doctor.
Many parents tend to think that an antibiotic when coughing in children will only harm their body. But without antibacterial drugs, it is impossible to cure pneumonia, tuberculosis and other complex diseases. Only a doctor can correctly prescribe antibiotics, from which there will be more benefit than harm. In addition, with proper treatment, the occurrence of negative consequences from taking these medications is practically absent.
When to take?
An antibiotic for coughs in children is used to fight bacterial infections. But they have absolutely no effect on viruses. If, when coughing, there are signs such as a runny nose, weakness, weakness, headache and inflammation in the throat, this characterizes the presence of a virus. It is he who contributes to the development of the disease. Viral diseases such as influenza, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial infection and measles cause coughing.
Taking antibiotics for acute respiratory infections contributes to the emergence and intensive development of various kinds of allergies, dysbacteriosis. But the child's recovery lines are not reduced.
Prescribe antibiotics for coughs in children should be in the case when the onset of the disease was provoked:
- tracheitis;
- pneumonia;
- pleurisy;
- tuberculosis;
- bronchitis andother bacterial respiratory diseases.
The following symptoms testify to the bacterial nature of the disease:
- fever for more than 3 days;
- increased level of leukocytes in the blood, leukocyte formula shifted to the left;
- neutrophilia;
- presence of pronounced shortness of breath;
- duration of the course of the disease.
Correct selection of medicine
To get rid of a prolonged cough, you need a competent approach. To identify the microflora and determine the sensitivity of bacteria to various kinds of antibacterial agents, it is necessary to do a sputum culture. As a result of this analysis, it will be possible to accurately determine which drugs will benefit in this case, and which will not have any effect on the disease, and the cough after antibiotics in the child will not go away.
When time is against you
But this analysis and processing of its results takes time. At the same time, the child's poor he alth is still worsening and requires the adoption of appropriate measures. In this case, the antibiotic for a child with a strong cough is selected empirically, while taking into account the likely pathogen.
Monotherapy and broad-spectrum antibiotics
The best way out in any case is to conduct monotherapy (use one antibacterial drug). It is desirable that these are tablets, suspension or powder. Only in severe cases of the disease is prescribedinjections.
If it is not possible to see a doctor in time, and the child's he alth worsens (dyspnea increases, intoxication is accompanied by a high temperature), it is necessary to take an antibiotic for dry cough, which has a wide spectrum of action. The starting antibacterial agent in this case may be "Amoxiclav" or "Augmentin". Also, the use of amoxicillin in combination with sulbactam ("Trifamox") will bring positive results.
How to treat cough in children with antibiotics?
First of all, do not forget that taking antibiotics should be regular. Only in this case, the necessary concentration of the active substance will accumulate and be retained in the body, which will lead to the death of bacteria. With irregular intake, a decrease in the concentration of the antibiotic occurs. Such treatment will not lead to a positive result. Moreover, it can provoke the development of drug resistance to this drug.
Also, the child should feel relief within a short period of time. With the right choice of antibiotic, there will be a positive trend (dry or wet cough will disappear, chest pain will decrease, breathing will become easier).
If there is no improvement after 48 hours, this drug is not right for your child. It is necessary to replace it with another antibiotic or a combination of drugs. But do not increase the dose, it is notwill bring absolutely no results.
Antibiotics for coughs in children should be taken for a long time. In most cases, the duration of the course is 5-7 days. Even if the child feels well after a few days, do not stop treatment, as there is a risk of a return of the disease.
What antibiotics are used to treat children's coughs?
For this purpose, drugs are used, the main active ingredient of which are:
- penicillin, which is part of Amoxiclav, Augmentin, Flemoxin Solutaba. They are almost always assigned first. Only if their use does not bring the desired effect, use other groups of drugs;
- cephalosporin available in Cefataxime, Cefuroxime. These antibiotics for coughing in children are prescribed if the child has already taken other antibacterial drugs over the past 2-3 months. They are also used when there is no effect from taking penicillins.
Macrolides and fluoroquinolones
The class of macrolides includes "Azitrotsitsin", "Sumamed". These are effective drugs in the presence of inflammatory processes in the child's airways.
Fairly limited is the use of fluoroquinolones. This is due to the fact that this antibiotic, when coughing in children, significantly affects the development of cartilage tissue and accumulates inbones.
In no case should you treat a child yourself. Since, in addition to the obvious symptoms, the choice of antibiotics is influenced by the age of the child, the conditions for the onset of infection. In some cases, atypical microflora (chlamydia or mycoplasma) can provoke a cough. In this case, completely different antibiotics should be attributed to children with a cough. What, only a doctor can tell.
The right treatment program can only be prescribed by a doctor. At the same time, in addition to antibiotics, he will definitely prescribe an antihistamine course. After the end of treatment, it is necessary to carry out the prevention of dysbacteriosis. If during therapy there is a deterioration in the child's condition, you should immediately seek help from specialists.
