Dysentery is an infectious disease that affects the large intestine. Cases of infection occur regardless of the time of year. However, in autumn and summer they become more frequent.
This is due to a significant change in the nature of nutrition.
Dysentery in a child: epidemiology
The source of this infection can be both patients and carriers. They are contagious from day one. A sick person excretes the pathogen in large quantities along with fecal matter. With contaminated hands, he infects surrounding objects. A he althy person touches them. As a result, the infection easily gets first on his hands, and then in his mouth. Rarely, waterborne infection occurs. Even with clinical recovery, a person can remain a carrier of infection for a long time.
Signs of dysentery in children
Manifestations of the disease are very diverse. The symptoms depend on the individual characteristics of each human body. To a lesser extent, the type of pathogen affects the signs.
Hatchingperiod on average lasts 2-3 days. In some cases, the onset of dysentery is characterized by symptoms of general malaise: headache, weakness, fever, weakness, and sometimes vomiting. Then they are joined by phenomena from the intestines. But mostly it's the other way around. Dysentery begins in a child with an intestinal disorder: the stomach hurts crampingly, the stool becomes liquid and frequent, mucus and streaks of blood appear in it over time. It can retain a fecal character, but acquires a green color. In severe cases, the number of bowel movements reaches 15-20 and even 30-40 times a day. The smell and fecal nature of the stool is not preserved. Now they consist only of mucus, in which subsequently an admixture of pus is found with the naked eye. Straining during defecation is very painful. The abdomen appears distended on examination. Pain is noted in its lower parts. With a mild form, symptoms of intoxication are barely expressed or completely absent. If the dysentery is severe, the patient's eyes sink, the haggard face is distorted by suffering, the look becomes dull. A sharp metabolic disorder further exacerbates intoxication.
Dysentery in a child: complications
They are rarely directly related to the disease itself, unless it is extremely severe. But secondary infection causes many complications, especially in very young children. Their development is facilitated by poor conditions of detention, beriberi, dystrophy. Bronchopneumonia is a common complication. Frequent stomatitis,gingivitis, purulent and catarrhal otitis, cystitis. Sometimes there are jade. Complications cause the occurrence of relapses and exacerbations. Often secondary toxicosis develops.
Dysentery: treatment in children
Start it with a strict diet. From the diet, it is necessary to completely exclude those foods that are rich in vegetable fiber, as they irritate the intestines. Dishes should be well boiled and served mashed. The transition to the usual diet is possible only after at least a month has passed from the day of complete recovery. With a mild course of the disease, from the first hours you need to take Regidron powder. In severe cases, plasma-substituting saline solutions are administered intravenously. Antimicrobials are not always used. They are used only in severe cases of the disease. If the child's dysentery has dragged on, prescribe drugs that increase his immunity. For the speedy correction of the digestion process, enzyme preparations are used.
