Thrush is a disease that can overtake the child in the first weeks of his life. It provokes its special fungi that live inside the body of the newborn. If favorable conditions are created for them, then they begin to actively manifest themselves, causing a restless state of the infant.
The very concept of thrush does not fit into medical terminology. The name of the disease was due to such a pronounced symptom as white plaque on the oral mucosa or genitals. In medical reference books, the disease is listed as candidiasis.
Most pediatricians can always give advice on how not to get thrush, what to do if it was not possible to avoid the disease, which drugs help to alleviate the child's condition, and what preventive measures are needed. An experienced specialist who is approached by young parents is ready to share comprehensive information about fungal lesions. He will conduct the necessary research, and if necessary, make a competent treatment strategy for the baby, at the slightest suspicion of candidiasis.
Today, a famous pediatrician is very popular among mothers. Evgeny Komarovsky. The authority of this talented specialist does not cause doubts among parents, therefore, there are so many references to a pediatrician about various diseases of the newborn.
Among other issues, Komarovsky pays a lot of attention to consultations on the topic of fungal diseases of the oral cavity: stomatitis and thrush.
Long-term experience and accumulated experience allow him to help young mothers to identify the causes of thrush, advise rational treatment and preventive measures.
Content
Causes of thrush in the baby’s mouth
Excessive multiplication of yeast-like fungi Candida albicans causes damage to the mucous membranes. This phenomenon is called thrush. Fungi are a component component of the conditionally pathogenic flora of the body of the newborn, and they are also found in acceptable amounts inside adults. Since the advent of good conditions, they begin their breedingwhile creating discomfort. The start for the development of candidiasis is often poor immunity of the infant.
Factors contributing to a decrease in the immune function of the body, and, consequently, the development of thrush, are divided into endogenous and exogenous.
Endogenous causes
- Abnormal intrauterine development of the fetus. Due to prematurity, the child does not always fully develop physiological functions that could counteract the reproduction of candidal fungi. Thrush is more susceptible to children who are fed artificially, and this leads to a deficiency of the enzymes that the newborn receives from mother's milk.
- Complications after surgery.
- Deficiency of vitamins and microelements.
- Hypotrophy. The nutritional disorder, which has become chronic, is accompanied by a reduced body mass index in children in the first months of life.
- Anemia. A condition with a characteristic decrease in the level of hemoglobin in the blood, simultaneously with a sharp decrease in the number of red blood cells.
- Rickets.Hypovitaminosis, there is a decrease in the level of vitamin D in plasma and bone structures, the calcium-phosphorus metabolism is disturbed, the bones become fragile, the nervous system suffers, and malfunctions of the internal organs occur.
- Dysbacteriosis. Violation of the quantitative and qualitative composition of the intestinal microflora, changes in its bacterial habitat.
- Acute or chronic infections.
- Metabolic disorders. Failures in carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism.
- Endocrine diseases, including diabetes mellitus and prediabetes.
- Frequent regurgitation, vomiting.
Exogenous causes
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Mechanical or chemical damage mucous membranes of the mouth of the child. The delicate tissues of the mucous membrane of a newborn are easily injured, due to the fact that blood flows there intensively. Microtraumas violate the integrity of the surface epidermal layers and give way to pathogenic microbes and fungi, which from their usual habitats (skin, mucous membrane) enter the body of a child. A major role in this process is played by the maturity of the oral mucosa, as well as its level of moisture. In almost all newborns, the mouth mucosa is poorly hydrated. Dry shell causes inflammation, fermentation due to increased acidity of saliva. All these factors affect the health of the child’s oral cavity. - Long-term use of antibacterial drugs. Under the influence of antibiotics, the vital activity of many beneficial microorganisms, which are responsible for the proper functioning of the intestinal flora, is inhibited. The enzymes destroyed by antibiotics can no longer synthesize the necessary vitamins. Their lack of a negative impact on the protective barriers of the body. The stability of the intestinal microflora ensures the required level of acidity, which contributes to the prevention of such troubles as thrush. Hormonal and immunosuppressive drugs, along with antibiotics, dramatically suppress the child's immunity, which also leads to complex forms of candidiasis.
- The rapid transition from natural feeding to artificial feeding. Mothers who started to accustom their child to ready-made mixtures, especially with a lot of fast carbohydrates, make it impossible for the baby to get protective antibodies along with breast milk. The high content of sugars in such mixtures violates the acidic environment of the mouth and provokes the growth of fungi.
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Increased pathogenicity and virulence of yeast-like fungal strains. Associated with other fungi, viruses and bacteria, fungi of the genus Candida albicans increase their negative impact on the weakened body of the child. For a newborn, there is a great danger of infection inside a hospital or maternity hospital; a large number of pathogenic fungi circulate within the walls of medical institutions, which can live in the environment for a long time. For nosocomial strains, resistance to most antimycotic and disinfectant substances is characteristic. - Fungal diseases of the mother. If a candidal vulvovaginitis is found in the mother during pregnancy, that is, the fungus affects the vaginal walls, the risk of intrauterine and intrapartum infection of the fetus increases. It is possible infection of the newborn in the postpartum period, through milk or nipples. Pregnant women are difficult to treat, and often suffer from relapses.
- Infants may become infected directly by direct contact with a nurse or doctor, relatives, who act as candidiasis carriers. The presence of surface forms of candidiasis, with the manifestation of the fungus on the nails and skin, facilitates the method of transmission of the disease. The fungus can be picked up through dirty hands, a ventilator, an intubation tube, bedding, toys.
Symptoms and forms of the disease
The first signs of thrush in newborns can make themselves felt in the first month after birth. Symptoms that should alert parents:
- The child’s habitual behavior is changing.
- Baby turns away from the mother's breast, does not want to suck milk from the bottle
- The child is anxious, often crying, can not sleep
- Frequent regurgitation appears
- Due to the refusal to eat, weight is lost
A specific picture of candidiasis in young children can be found. upon examination of the mucous shell of the mouth. The variation of the manifestations will largely depend on the form of thrush and the stage of the disease.
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The light stage begins with small red spots on the walls of the mouth, which over time join a cheesy white plaque. After removal of the plaques is fixed hyperemia. The light form does not give the child painful sensations. - With the development of the average degree of the disease, a child in the mouth is found with an abundant patina of cheesy nature, formed as a result of the combination and increase of plaques. By removing several plaques, bloody erosion can be considered. At this stage, unpleasant symptoms are growing: burning of the mouth and tongue, pain while eating.
- During the severe stage of thrush, intense bleeding of the sores joins the common symptoms, the disease spreads to the surface of the tongue, engulfs the tonsils, gums and palate. A white film of cheesy consistency affects the entire oral area, including the throat and lips. Symptomatology expands with fever, dysbacteriosis, swollen lymph nodes, general malaise.
Breast children most often prone to oral candidiasiswhich proceeds in the following forms:
- Glossitis - defeat pathogenic fungi of the pharynx.
- Stomatitis is a fungal infection of the mouth.
- Bits - fungi breed on the corners of the mouth, forming cracks painful cracks.
- Fungal cheilitis - candidal lesion of the lips.
Like many other diseases, thrush has two types of course:
- Acute
- Chronic
Advice of Dr. Komarovsky for the treatment of thrush in children
General recommendations and preventive measures
Taking into account the fact that many internal and external factors contribute to the development of thrush, special attention should be paid to the true causes of candidiasis. According to Dr. Komarovsky, such a reason is decrease in the protective function of the baby's saliva. This happens most often if the baby’s saliva is very dry, says a famous pediatrician.
In saliva with normal values, colonies of beneficial bacteria must be present, which are responsible for inhibiting the growth of pathogenic flora. When their number diminishes and the antimicrobial properties of saliva go out, the pathogenic bacteria begin their harmful actions, dooming the child to the pain of stomatitis or thrush.
Thus, it can be assumed that the prevention and treatment of thrush in a baby will be reduced to an elementary restoration of the immune properties of salivary fluid, that is, to a decrease in its dryness.
To achieve this, it is necessary to take walks in the fresh air every day, regularly carry out wet cleaning of the apartment, follow the microclimatic parameters of the room (air humidity should be not less than 60–70%, the temperature does not exceed 23 degrees). You can not wrap a child in warm clothes, if the room is warm enough, overheating can be harmful. Timely cleaning of the nasal cavity of the baby will allow him to avoid difficulties with breathing, and the mucous membrane will remain moist.
It is necessary to prevent the long crying of his child. When a child cries for a long time, he dries his mouth.
Pediatrician Komarovsky is sure that the presence of a small white bloom in the baby’s tongue for up to one year, as a rule, is not a pathology and soon passes away on its own without therapeutic measures.Among the representatives of the weaker sex there is a myth that the name thrush is associated with feeding mother's milk. In fact, such an opinion is far from the truth, but one should not be alarmed to find a white tongue in a newborn. It is necessary to fuss in the event that rash and a raid extends to the inside of the cheeks - this is definitely a thrush.
For the most part, the treatment of candidiasis in the mouth of babies is effective even without prescribing a group of medicines, if you follow a certain algorithm - to produce hydration, monitor the purity and humidity of the air.
At the same time, ancillary techniques will shorten the recovery period. To clean the plaque on the mucous membranes, you can prepare a soda solution, which is dipped in a sterile bandage or cotton wool, and then the affected areas of the mouth are treated without sudden movements. Of course, before that you need to take care of clean hands. A teaspoon of 2% soda diluted in a glass of warm water is one of the safe ways to get rid of fungal candidiasis. A high indicator of the effectiveness of this method lies in the formation of an alkaline environment, not intended for the existence of fungi. This procedure is carried out twice a day for an hour before feeding the baby.
Helps to treat candidiasis recognized popular recipes from anti-inflammatory and bactericidal camomile, sage, calendula. Excellent job sea buckthorn oil.
The solution is suitable for washing the nipples of the mother before feeding, as well as for treating the nipples.
From the best side in the fight against thrush proved honey. Honey solution can handle problem areas instead of soda. Before using such a popular recipe, you should make sure that the child is not allergic to bee products.
It is not recommended to give children antibiotics without a prescription. Without establishing the causes of the disease, it is extremely dangerous to treat a child with antibiotics. Hardening of the body, proper nutrition of the mother with the inclusion of foods rich in vitamins in the diet will serve as a reliable protection against thrush.
Having found thrush in infants, breastfeeding should not be stopped. With the relief of symptoms, the baby will start feeding on mother's milk without difficulty.
Drug therapy
With a complex form of candidiasis, the child may need medical treatment.
Among the antifungal agents allowed to receive after 12 months, there are:
- Nystatin
- Mikonazal
- Levorin
- Pimafucin
If the disease is not treatable and the infection has passed into the intestine, to the genitals, oral antimycotics are designed to help you: nizoral, candid, flucanozole.
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