In pediatric practice, thrush in an infant is considered quite common. This is a well-known disease that every child suffers at least once. Many parents are interested in what symptoms accompany the disease and how dangerous it is.
Thrush in an infant: causes
The causative agent of the disease are fungi of the genus Candida, which affect the mucous membranes of the oral cavity. In infancy, the child's immune system is just beginning to form, so he is more vulnerable to such infections. There are two ways to get infected:
- Most often, the infection enters the child's oral cavity due to insufficient hygiene. For example, fungi can be found in an unwashed nipple or on a toy. They can also be on the mother's breast and any object that ends up in the baby's mouth.
- Another route of transmission is also possible - if the mother is a carrier of fungi, then infection can occur during childbirth when passing through the birth canal.
Thrush in an infant: risk groups
In fact, not all children get thrush. There are the following risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing the disease:
- Weakened immunity.
- Premature babies.
- Taking antibiotics, as these drugs destroy not only pathogenic, but also beneficial microflora, which in turn leads to the active reproduction of fungal organisms.
- Children suffer from frequent thrush, often spitting up, as excellent conditions are created in the oral cavity for the reproduction and growth of fungi.
Thrush in the mouth of a child: the main symptoms
Thrush is accompanied by very characteristic signs that are hard to miss:
- First, whitish spots appear on the mucous membrane of the mouth. As the disease progresses, they begin to become covered with a white curdled coating, which is easy to notice when a child cries.
- Thrush in an infant is accompanied by severe itching and even pain. Therefore, a sick baby refuses to eat, often acts up and cries.
How to treat thrush in children?
A child with these symptoms should be seen by a doctor. And although thrush is not considered a dangerous disease, you should not self-medicate. To date, there are a lot of remedies for the treatment of the disease - for the most part these are solutions that need to be lubricated with the oral cavity several times.once a day. Sometimes doctors recommend using a weak solution of baking soda for this purpose. And, of course, you need to follow some precautions that will not only speed up the recovery process, but also prevent the likelihood of a recurrence:
- Take good care of your hygiene. Remember that the pacifier and bottle must be washed and boiled over with boiling water before each feeding. If the baby is breastfed, then do not forget about breast hygiene.
- You also need to monitor the cleanliness of toys, as well as all items that the child takes in his mouth.
- You need to rinse your baby's mouth after every spit up. You can give your baby boiled water from a spoon or bottle.
- Don't forget about boosting your baby's immunity, watch your diet, go outside more often.
