What are the symptoms and treatment of bronchitis in children?

Bronchitis is relatively common in children, with cough as the main symptom, accompanied by fever, vomiting, diarrhea or loss of appetite. Attention should be paid to cough and expectoration, or a small amount of antitussive drugs can be taken according to the situation.

1. It is more common in infants and young children. Most of them first have symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection, and then cough becomes the main symptom. Frequent and deep dry coughs begin, followed by bronchial secretions. The cough usually lasts for 7 to 10 days, sometimes lingers for 2 to 3 weeks, or recurs. Those with mild symptoms have no obvious appearance of illness and generally no systemic symptoms.

2. Infants and young children have more severe symptoms and are prone to fatigue, which affects their sleep and appetite. The fever may reach 38-39°C, occasionally 40°C, and usually subsides in 2-3 days. Even gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain may occur. The older child complained of headache and chest pain again.

3. Dry and moist rales can be heard in the chest. The rales may be coarse or fine, mostly medium moist rales, mainly scattered in the lower chest, occasionally limited to one side.

4. After coughing up the secretions , the rales may temporarily decrease. Occasionally, due to excessive phlegm accumulation in the bronchi, the breath sounds may decrease, but after the phlegm is coughed out, the breath sounds return to normal.

5. In severe cases, the breath sounds in both lungs are coarse , and there may be irregular scattered dry and wet rales and coarse medium wet rales. However, it is difficult to distinguish from pneumonia in the early stages. If deeper rales or crackles are heard and the rales do not decrease significantly after coughing, pneumonia should be considered and a chest X-ray should be performed to confirm the diagnosis. Before treatment, pay attention to strengthening nutrition and actively prevent upper respiratory tract infections.

6. Symptomatic treatment

Cough and expectorant: If the sputum is thick and difficult to suck out, you can use nebulization inhalation and choose 10% ammonium chloride mixture, Bisouping, and Xiaoer Qiangli Tanling (1-2 tablets for 2-4 years old, 2-3 tablets for 5-8 years old). Frequent dry coughs affect sleep and rest. You can take a small amount of antitussive drugs, such as promethazine and chlorpromazine 0.5-1 mg/kg/time, 2-3 times a day. Care should be taken to avoid overdose and prolonged use, which will affect the physiological activity of cilia and make secretions difficult to discharge.