Causes and clinical manifestations of neonatal thrush

What kind of disease is neonatal thrush? Do you know that we must understand what kind of situation it is when we deal with the disease? What is it like for newborns to have this disease? This is something we must know and understand. Considering that everyone may not know so much about this disease, let's take a look at the situation of this disease with the editor below!

1. Causes

Oral thrush is caused by infection with Candida albicans, which is one of many microorganisms. It usually occurs in infants with unclean oral hygiene and malnutrition, and can also occur in frail adults. Candida albicans can often be found in the mouths of healthy children, but it does not cause disease.

The following can cause infection:

1. The mother's vagina is infected with fungi, and the baby becomes infected when passing through the birth canal and coming into contact with the mother's secretions during birth.

2. The bottles and nipples are not sterilized thoroughly, and the mother’s nipples are not clean during breastfeeding.

3. Contact with food, clothing and toys infected with Candida albicans. In addition, infants and young children begin to grow teeth at 6 to 7 months old, and their gums feel slightly swollen and painful. Infants and young children then like to bite their fingers and toys, which can easily bring bacteria and fungi into the mouth and cause infection.

4. Living in a group in kindergarten may sometimes cause thrush due to cross infection.

5. Long-term use of antibiotics or inappropriate use of hormone treatment can cause an imbalance of the body's flora, allowing mold to take advantage of the situation and invade.

2. Clinical manifestations

It is most common in infants under 2 years old.

1. A milky white, slightly raised, spotted membrane appears on the oral mucosa with no surrounding inflammatory reaction, shaped like a milk curd. It is painless. After wiping off the plaque membrane, a red wound without bleeding can be seen underneath. The plaques vary in size and may appear on the tongue, cheeks, palate, or inner lip mucosa.

2. It often occurs on the mucous membranes of the cheeks, tongue, soft palate and lips. The white patches are not easy to wipe off with a cotton swab or wet gauze.

3. When the infection is mild, the white spots are not easy to find, there is no obvious pain, or there is only a painful expression when eating. In severe cases, the baby will be irritable, have a poor appetite, cry, and have difficulty breastfeeding due to the pain, sometimes accompanied by a mild fever.

4. If the damaged mucosa is not treated in time, it may continue to expand and spread to the pharynx, tonsils, gums, etc. In severe cases, it may spread to the esophagus and bronchi, causing candidal esophagitis or pulmonary candidiasis, with breathing and swallowing difficulties. A few may develop chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, affecting lifelong immune function. It may even lead to other bacterial infections and cause sepsis.

Now that we know so much about neonatal thrush, how much do you know? We must fully understand it before we can help our children. Children are our dearest, and we cannot ignore their health. I hope you understand! That’s all we have to introduce here! I hope your children will recover their health soon!