How to treat herpes sore throat in children?

Herpetic or herpes simplex( herpangina, vesicular pharyngitis) is an acute infectious disease accompanied by pain in the throat, sudden increase in body temperature, inflammation of the pharyngeal formations( pharyngitis), violation of the swallowing act( dysphagia), as well as the appearance on the back wall of the pharynx of the vesicle withtheir subsequent ulceration.

How can this disease manifest itself?

Sometimes the disease is manifested by local symptoms - abdominal pain, general malaise, possible nausea and vomiting. If it happens that herpetic angina appears in a child under the age of one year, it is almost impossible to avoid complications.

But in most cases, the disease develops in pre-school children, less often in primary school age. However, this does not exclude the possibility of infection with an adult infection, especially if its immunity is reduced. Next, we will consider how to treat herpes sore throat?

How is the disease transmitted?

Infection is transmitted by airborne, rarely by fecal-oral route due to contact with a sick person or at the stage of recovery of the patient continuing to secrete the virus within 3-4 weeks. That is, the main elements of the external environment involved in the transmission of the causative agent of infection are the hands, the patient's saliva, household items. A carrier of herpetic sore throat can only be a person, since the animals have never been documented cases of infection with this disease. In order for parents to cope with herpes sore throat from a babe( what we'll consider below is how to treat the disease), they need to be well-informed on this issue, that is, to meet the disease fully armed.

Causes of herpetic sore throat in children

For the first time in children, the clinical picture of herpetic angina was described in 1920 by the American pediatrician Zagorsky, who came to the conclusion about the infectious nature of the disease, as well as Gabe, Armstrong and other doctors who established the etiological relationship of the disease with the Coxsackie virusesA. It was later found that Coxsackie A viruses 1-b, 8, 10, 16, 22 and B3 can also be used as pathogens.

Many people wonder how to treat herpes sore throat in adults and children. This disease spreads everywhere, but can occur in the form of sporadic diseases, less often epidemic outbreaks, and it can be combined with meningitis, myalgia, intestinal disorders, etc.

The provoking factors of

Various provoking factors contribute to the development of herpetic tonsillitis:

• general or local hypothermia;
• contact with a sick person;
• acute stressful situations;
• immunodeficiency;
• herpes simplex virus( extremely rare);
• intestinal infections;
• wet feet in the off-season;
• consumes a large amount of ice cream and cold drinks.

What affects the severity of the disease?

The severity of the course of this infectious disease depends heavily on the general well-being and condition of the patient, as well as on the number of viruses present in the body and the immunity that can hold these viruses.

After the child has recovered from the disease, he develops a strong immunity to the virus of the disease, but to other types of the virus, immunity is no longer developing. How to treat herpes sore throat, we will describe below.

Clinical picture of herpetic sore throat in children

The incubation period of the disease can last from 2 to 7 days. Symptoms of herpetic sore throat can be noticed even by the naked eye. The disease in children begins acutely - suddenly the body temperature rises to 39-40 degrees, which is marked by a characteristic state of high fever, often having a two-wave character. In this case, the disease is accompanied by a worsening of appetite, the development of general malaise, headaches and even vomiting. In some cases, cramping pains in the abdomen( especially in the navel) occur. Also, the child may complain of pain in the muscle tissues of the limbs. Cramps are very rare if it is an infant. How to treat herpes sore throat such a crash, not every parent knows.

As a rule, the elevated temperature persists for the first 2-4 days, and then begins to subside. For the disease it is characteristic that on the second day, on the mucous membrane of the soft and hard palate, the tongue, palatine arch and amygdala, small( 1-2 mm in size) papules appear that cause reddening, which in the future quickly turn into surface vesicles,filled with hemorrhagic or serous content. The number of these bubbles, as a rule, varies from 2-3 to 15-20 elements.

It is important to know how to treat herpes sore correctly. It is because of the appearance of the bubbles in the mouth cavity that the component of the painful swallowing act joins. A few days after its occurrence, the vesicles burst and a mucosal defect is exposed-surface erosions of different sizes of sites with a narrow band of hyperemia( blood vessel overflow) and a grayish-white bottom. Sometimes during the course of the disease, several erosions merge into one. Mildly painful erosions slowly epithelize within 2-3 weeks. It is also worth noting that a change in the condition of the pharynx is usually accompanied by painful swallowing and often abundant salivation. These are the unpleasant symptoms of herpes sore throat in children. How to treat the disease will depend on how pronounced its manifestations are.

What else is going on?

Infectious disease does not extend to the gum. If during the whole time the weakened child has a certain number of affected elements, this process is accompanied by a rise in body temperature and a weakening of the general state of the body. How to treat herpes sore throat in children, you can check with a pediatrician beforehand.

Regional lymph nodes increase and, when palpated, become painful. In some cases, there is a slight increase in lymph nodes and other areas. Sometimes during outbreaks, changes from the throat are limited to hyperemia without the formation of surface vesicles. There are no changes in the blood formula in the clinical picture of the general analysis. Some patients have leukocytosis with an increase in ESR, which is quite natural for infectious pathologies.

Diagnosis of herpetic sore throat

An accurate diagnosis of herpetic sore throat is established based on the virological and serological tests performed. As a material for virological research, pharyngeal flushes, taken during the first 5 days of the course of the disease, are used. The serological test for the purpose of detecting an increase in antibody titer is based on the study of serum collected in the first days of the disease and after 2-3 weeks. Of all the diagnostic methods in this case, the most informative is immunofluorescence analysis, which consists in determining the surface and intracellular antigens that are characteristic of certain pathogens.

During the differential diagnosis of herpetic tonsillitis, doctors repel the child's age, the seasonality characteristic of the disease, and the localization of the elements of damage in the environment of the oral cavity. Herpes sore throat is not characterized by rashes on the face skin, nor does gingivitis develop, and the mucous does not bleed.

Treatment of

Treatment of herpetic angina in children is practically the same as treating such complicated viral forms of sore throat and pharyngitis. It is also symptomatic, due to which manifestations of the disease weaken, and the process of recovery is accelerated. Manifestations of this pathology can be seen in the photo. How to treat herpes sore throat in children with medication?

Drug therapy includes:

• antihistamines, which contribute to the removal of swelling in the throat( Diazolin, Fenkarol, Claritin, Suprastin);
• for the prevention of re-infection use antiseptics( "Furacilin", "Miramistin");
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for effective reduction of inflammation, which significantly reduces pain( "Ibuprofen", "Nimesulide");
• at a high temperature experts recommend using antipyretics( Nurofen, Nimesulide, Ibuprofen, Panadol).

Let's take a closer look, even than to treat herpes sore throat in children:

• According to reviews, it is effective to rinse the sore throat with solutions of salt, furacilin, potassium permanganate or herbal medicinal herbs( chamomile, sage, eucalyptus, oak bark, calendula).
• Only when the form is started or serious complications of herpetic sore throat are prescribed antibiotic.
• Painkillers( "Geksoral", aerosol "Ingalipt").
• "Interferon" to improve the general state of immunity, as well as counteract the development of infection.
• It is mandatory to use vitamin preparations to speed up the recovery process.

How to treat herpes sore throat in children in folk ways?

What do grandmothers advise?

Folk remedies for treatment of herpetic sore throat in children:

• infusion of hips, mint leaves, lime, cumin, thyme, anise;
• hot tea with honey, lemon and raspberry;
• rinsing the throat with a warm solution with the following composition: 15 g of salt per glass of water, mix with 10 g of soda and 5 drops of iodine;
• for warm relief and disease prevention is well helped by warm milk mixed with honey;
• solution of water propolis can be used for the treatment of the throat.

Care for a sick child

We have figured out how to treat herpes sore throat in a child. Komarowski confirms that therapy should be not only symptomatic, but also complex, because it will accelerate recovery and reduce the risk of complications.

Competent care for the patient is as follows:

• The child is extremely necessary to ensure peace and bed rest.
• It should be isolated from others, in order to avoid infection and further spread of the infection.
• It is very important to give plenty of drink and make sure that it is not very hot.
• In no case can the throat be heated, because it will promote the reproduction of bacteria, which can slow down the healing process.
• It is necessary to ventilate the room approximately twice a day, but not for long and so that the child is not frozen.
• It is necessary to keep a balanced diet, at which meals should be predominantly liquid, warm, and, most preferably, vaporous. No salty foods and soda in the diet should not be.

Now you know with what means you can get rid of this unpleasant ailment. But such a complex therapy requires permission from a doctor, so parents should use this information only for informational purposes. Remember that self-medication of this infectious disease can lead to quite dangerous consequences, which can sometimes be very difficult to fix.

We examined in detail how to treat herpes sore throat. Take care of children!