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Subject: Re: pneumonia?
Forum: The Maternal ~ Child Health Forum
Topic Area: Childhood Disease
Posted by HFHS.M.D.L.M. on January 19, 1999 at 00:31:09:
In Reply to: pneumonia? posted by Heather on January 18, 1999 at 17:36:27:
My 11 month old daughter has been running a slight fever (101) for two days and has congestion in her lungs and nose. After taking her to the ER, the emergency room doctor said she has reactive airway disorder. This came as a shock to me considering her regular pediatrician had never given me any indication that she might have a problem. I took her for a second opinion the next day, and was told she had what seemed to be pnuemonia in her right lung. She's being given antibotics along with Pedicare and Tylenol. My questions are:
What is the validity of reactive airway disorder?
(It sounds like how you would call an itch a "reactive epidermis disorder")
Should we be using a humidifer to help my daughter?
Should we be pounding on her to chest to loosen the fluid as my mother insists?
Thank you--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Heather ; Thank you for your question . Reactive airway disease is a term used in patients who have wheeze ( wheezing being a term used to describe an audible musical sound during breathing caused by narrowing of the lower air passages by constriction , inflammation or mucus secretion ). It is associated with a prolonged expiratory phase of breathing .
You may wheeze from various agents , including infections , fumes , smoking , cold weather , the airways being sensitive to these agents . Asthma is a condition of airway hypersensitivity characteristically recurrent( the keyword for asthma ) reversible airway inflammation , constriction and mucus gland secretion and hypertrophy.
Viral and less commonly bacterial respiratory infections may induce wheezing if your baby's airways are sensitive to them or occasionally just by a mild narrowing in the lower airways due to the expected inflammation . The pediatrician may have examined your baby at a time when the inflammation was not contributing to the narrowing of the airways . In other words , your baby was not wheezing at that point.
A pneumonia is a lung inflammation which maybe caused by viral or bacterial agents , and is best cared for by maintaining hydration ( humidified air , drink lots of liquids , try not to suppress coughing unless it affects your baby's sleeping or feeding ) , physiotherapy ( your mom is right in trying to remove those secretions , you can softly tap on your baby's chest and or back moving down upwards in a rhythmic fashion on each side- remember softly )and antibiotics only if a bacterial infection is suspected. Viruses don't get killed by antibiotics , they just have to run their course .
If your baby shows symptoms of respiratory distress , mainly increased breathing rate ( beyond 40/min in an 11 month old ) , retractions , poor feeding , poor urine output , high fevers , pale and sweaty in combination with the other preceding symptoms , she may need immediate medical attention . L.M. Disclaimer : this information is for educational purposes only . Please consult your pediatrician regarding your child's health care. Keywords : Reactive airway disease* ( allergy )
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