Patient's question:
Medical Description: The child is three months old. A few days ago, it might have caught a cold and has been coughing. The doctor at the hospital diagnosed it as pneumonia. When the child coughs, its face turns bluish and there is phlegm.History of Treatment and Effect: The child has been treated for a week without significant improvement. It still coughs and has phlegm and has been in the intensive care unit. Since going to the hospital, it has been on antibiotics and undergoing treatments such as (nebulization), oxygen therapy, and sputum suction.
Help Needed: The parents are very anxious. They don’t know when the child will show significant improvement or when it will recover. Is it necessary to transfer the child to another hospital for treatment?
Doctor's answer:
Hello, pneumonia can manifest symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. It is a common pediatric illness, usually caused by bacterial or viral infections, and with active treatment, the course of the disease typically lasts around 12 weeks.Guidelines
The principle of treating this condition is anti-inflammatory, bronchodilatory, and expectorant. The child should drink plenty of fluids, and family members can help with chest physiotherapy to promote expectoration.
In daily life, family members are the primary source of infection for newborns. Close contact with newborns by family members who have respiratory infections or carry respiratory pathogens can transmit bacteria to the newborn through the air or direct contact. Since newborns have weak immunity, if an adult has a common cold, the child may develop pneumonia.
Therefore, if a newborn coughs—even just 1-2 times at a time—it may indicate inflammation in the lungs. Currently, the child is breathing rapidly, and there are no obvious lung?? signs. In the 0 to 14-day period, as pneumonia is in its early stages, some children may experience a progressive phase, where the cough may worsen progressively. Even if the cough does not worsen after medication, it still takes 7-10 days. However, parents can rest assured that recent cases of newborn pneumonia, especially those occurring in winter, are easier to treat and have a shorter course.
Wishing your baby a speedy recovery!