How to treat bronchitis in children?

Written by Hu Bai Yu
Pulmonology
Updated on September 19, 2024
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For pediatric bronchitis, it is primarily important to determine the cause of the infection in the child and to treat the disease based on its cause. Choose corresponding sensitive antibiotics or antimicrobial drugs for treatment. If coughing and expectoration are severe, it may be necessary to use some antitussive and expectorant drugs. Moreover, if the child shows signs of wheezing or obvious suffocation, nebulized inhalation can be used for treatment to relieve symptoms. It is generally advisable to be cautious; if the baby shows signs of breathing difficulty, it is best to take the baby to the hospital for a chest X-ray. Typically, this will only reveal a coarse lung texture, but if the pathogen causing bronchitis in children is complex, then combined medication may be required for treatment.

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Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
45sec home-news-image

How to cure bronchitis completely?

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial mucosa caused by pathogenic microorganism infections, smoking, air pollution, and other harmful substances' stimulation, allergies, etc. Clinically, it often presents symptoms such as cough, sputum production, and chest tightness. For treatment, medications that stop coughs, promote mucus clearance, and relieve asthma can be used. If there is a bacterial infection, sensitive antibiotics can be chosen for treatment. After treatment with these medications, bronchitis can be cured. However, if the causative factors of bronchitis mentioned before reoccur, bronchitis can recur. Therefore, bronchitis is not curable.

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Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
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Can bronchitis be cured?

This still depends on the specific situation. If it is acute bronchitis, in most cases, the recovery is usually good after treatment and it can generally be cured. However, in some individual cases, such as elderly and frail patients or those who have not received timely treatment, symptoms may persist and develop into chronic bronchitis. If it is chronic bronchitis, treatment is relatively difficult and it's hard to completely cure. Patients often suffer from the condition every year, with episodes lasting more than three months, affecting the quality of their daily life.

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
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Does bronchitis cause asthma?

Bronchitis can be classified into acute bronchitis and chronic bronchitis based on the onset and progression of the condition. Acute bronchitis usually begins suddenly, with generally mild systemic symptoms. It can include fever and is mostly characterized by a dry cough or a small amount of mucous sputum. Over time, the amount of sputum may increase and the coughing may intensify, occasionally accompanied by blood-streaked sputum. There is generally no significant hemoptysis or chest pain. The duration of cough and expectoration can be quite long, potentially lasting two to three weeks. A small portion of patients may experience prolonged symptoms, eventually progressing to chronic bronchitis. The most common symptoms of chronic bronchitis are also cough and expectoration, but these symptoms last much longer, typically persisting for more than two years and occurring for three months each year. A small number of bronchitis patients may experience bronchial spasms or bronchial asthma, leading to varying degrees of chest tightness, shortness of breath, or wheezing.

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Written by Li Jiao Yan
Neonatology
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Symptoms of bronchitis in children

Pediatric bronchitis is an infection of the bronchial mucosa caused by various pathogens. Clinical presentations commonly begin with symptoms of upper respiratory infection such as nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, or low-grade fever, followed by coughing as the main symptom. Initially, the cough is dry, later accompanied by phlegm. Symptoms can be more severe in infants and young children, often including fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, generally without systemic symptoms. Auscultation of the lungs reveals coarse breath sounds, with fixed and scattered dry rales, and medium to coarse moist rales. Infants and young children often have difficulty expelling phlegm, which may be audible in the throat and lungs as a rattling sound. If the infant or young child has wheezing bronchitis accompanied by eczema, or other allergic histories, they may develop pronounced symptoms of difficulty breathing, and may even progress to asthma.

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Written by Yan Xin Liang
Pediatrics
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What should I do if my baby has bronchitis?

Bronchiolitis in babies is an inflammation, which may be caused by infections such as bacteria, viruses, or mycoplasma. The primary treatment is anti-infection, for which antibiotics like oral cephalosporins or penicillin can be chosen for the treatment. Additionally, treatment includes expectorants and cough suppressants, where one or two types of traditional Chinese or Western medicine can be used orally. If the coughing is frequent, nebulized inhalation can be administered to achieve local anti-inflammatory, expectorant, and cough suppressant effects. While treating, it's important to observe the effects and administer intravenous infusions if necessary.