Subscribe
113
Yao Li Qin
Pediatrics
About me
Practicing physician, graduated from the Department of Pediatrics with a bachelor's degree from university, has been working in pediatric internal medicine for twenty-five years.
Proficient in diseases
Specializes in common pediatric diseases such as colds, pneumonia, diarrhea, eczema, neonatal jaundice, infant feeding, and more.
Voices
Pediatric viral diarrhea infections are most commonly caused by what?
Children are prone to diarrhea due to the immature development of their gastrointestinal tract, with viral infections being very common among them. The most common virus causing diarrhea in children is the rotavirus. Initially, children may show symptoms similar to a cold, followed by watery or soup-like stools. Children can easily become dehydrated and suffer from electrolyte imbalances, so it is crucial to seek medical attention promptly. Another common virus causing diarrhea in children, similar to rotavirus but often more severe, is the norovirus. Norovirus also damages the intestinal mucosa, leading to watery stools and rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Therefore, it's essential to be highly vigilant and take preventive measures against these viral infections.
How is intussusception diagnosed?
Intussusception is one of the common acute abdominal conditions in infants and young children. The primary clinical symptoms include abdominal pain, vomiting, and "jam-like" stools, with a mass often palpable in the abdomen. Initially, the overall condition of the child is generally fine, but in the later stages, symptoms such as dehydration, lethargy, coma, and shock can appear. Any healthy infant or young child who suddenly experiences episodic abdominal pain or periodic, regular bouts of crying, accompanied by vomiting, bloody stools, and a sausage-shaped mass in the abdomen, should be highly suspected of having intussusception. Once intussusception is confirmed, timely enema treatment should be administered to the child, and if the opportunity for an enema has passed, surgical treatment should be considered.
Pediatric diarrhea is divided into two main categories.
Childhood diarrhea can be divided into two major categories based on its causes: infectious and non-infectious. Infectious factors primarily include viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites, among which viral and bacterial infections are most common. Viral infections are mainly seen in rotavirus infections, while bacterial infections are predominantly associated with pathogenic, invasive, toxigenic, and hemorrhagic strains of Escherichia coli. Additionally, infections from other bacteria such as Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella also occur. Intestinal infections can also cause diarrhea, such as those accompanying upper respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, etc., because the toxins released by the infecting agents during fevers or diarrhea associated with antibiotic treatments can induce diarrhea. Non-infectious causes mainly include dietary and climatic factors.
The main manifestations of rickets in the early stage
Rickets generally refers to vitamin D deficiency rickets, mainly due to insufficient vitamin D in children, leading to calcium and phosphorus metabolism disorders. It is a chronic nutritional disease characterized by skeletal lesions. The main manifestations are changes in the fastest growing parts of the skeleton, which can also affect muscle development and changes in neural excitability. The initial symptoms of rickets are common in infants, especially those under three months old. The main symptom is increased neural excitability; the child is particularly prone to being agitated, irritable, crying, sweating, and shaking their head due to scalp stimulation, but these are not specific symptoms of rickets. Therefore, blood tests are still necessary in the early stages, showing decreased levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, blood calcium, and blood phosphate, increased PTH, normal or slightly elevated alkaline phosphatase activity, and normal or slightly blurry calcification zones in skeletal X-rays. These are the early manifestations of rickets.
Is thrush easy to cure?
Thrush is a common oral disease in children, particularly in infants, caused by Candida albicans infection. Thrush is not easy to cure, so it is essential to treat it promptly when an oral infection occurs. It is necessary to apply a suspension of sodium bicarbonate and an antifungal agent locally to the child's mouth, and all items that enter the mouth, such as bottles and pacifiers, must be sterilized at high temperatures. If the child is breastfed, the mother's nipples should also be thoroughly cleaned. Additionally, for children who have been using antibiotics or corticosteroids for a long time, or who have weakened immune systems, it is crucial to maintain good oral hygiene to prevent the occurrence of thrush. Because all these details about thrush need attention, once diagnosed, it must be treated promptly; otherwise, it is truly not easy to recover from. (Please follow medical advice for the use of medication.)
Clinical manifestations of rickets
Rickets, also known as vitamin D deficiency rickets, occurs because children do not supplement vitamin D in a timely manner after birth, leading to a deficiency of vitamin D in the body and resulting in a nutritional metabolic disease primarily involving skeletal changes. In the early stages, children mainly show symptoms related to mental and emotional state, such as irritability, crying, excessive sweating, shaking their heads back and forth, and rubbing their heads. Subsequently, symptoms like bald patches on the back of the head and softening of the skull bones may appear. As children grow, they may develop conditions such as a square-shaped skull, beaded ribs, pigeon chest, funnel chest, and bracelet-like deformities around the wrists and ankles. In severe cases, children may later develop X-shaped legs and O-shaped legs. If rickets is suspected, it is crucial to promptly conduct a blood test to measure the vitamin D level. If the level is below normal, it is essential to actively treat the diagnosed rickets.
Is pediatric myocarditis curable?
Myocarditis in children is generally caused by a viral infection, which means viral myocarditis is the most common type. This condition indicates that the virus has damaged the myocardial cells, leading to severe symptoms such as heart failure and cardiogenic shock. Once myocarditis is diagnosed in a child, it is crucial to hospitalize and treat them actively. While treating myocarditis, it is essential to use medications that nourish the myocardium and actively treat the primary disease. Most children with myocarditis have a favorable prognosis, but fulminant myocarditis has a poor prognosis, carrying a certain risk of mortality.
Symptoms of a cold in children
Children's cold, also known as acute upper respiratory tract infection in children, is the most common disease among children. It mainly refers to the inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose, nasopharynx, and pharynx, leading to acute rhinitis, acute pharyngitis, and acute tonsillitis, collectively referred to as such. After catching a cold, children can exhibit local symptoms, primarily manifesting as nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, mild cough, discomfort in the throat, or sore throat. Systemic symptoms may include fever, fatigue, headache, body aches, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, which often appears as spasmodic periumbilical pain without tenderness. In infants and young children, local symptoms are not severe, but systemic symptoms are more significant. A general physical examination can reveal congestion in the throat, swelling of the tonsils, and enlargement of the lymph nodes in the jaw and neck area.
Is phenylketonuria often misdiagnosed?
Phenylketonuria belongs to congenital hereditary metabolic disorders and is caused by enzyme deficiencies in the phenylalanine metabolic pathway. Misdiagnosis of phenylketonuria is not common; if the disease develops, meaning that the child has typical clinical manifestations, it is relatively easy to diagnose. However, once a child exhibits the typical clinical manifestations of phenylketonuria such as blood phenylalanine levels, by the time of diagnosis the child may already have varying degrees of neurological damage, meaning the child might already have intellectual disabilities. Therefore, in such cases, we cannot rely solely on clinical symptoms for diagnosis but should instead carry out newborn disease screening promptly after birth. By diagnosing and treating before any clinical symptoms appear, we can prevent the occurrence of neurological complications, allowing the child to grow and develop like a normal child.
What to do if a child has a cold and ear pain?
Children catching a cold indicates that they have an acute upper respiratory tract infection, which is mostly caused by viral infections, while others are caused by bacteria or mycoplasma infections. If a child experiences ear pain after catching a cold, we must be highly vigilant about whether the cold has caused otitis media. It is essential to take the child to an otolaryngology clinic promptly, allowing the doctor to examine the painful ear with an otoscope. If it is confirmed that the child has otitis media, treatment should be administered based on the type of otitis media, such as serous otitis media or bacterial otitis media. With active treatment, the problem of ear pain can be quickly alleviated and cured.