Antibiotics for angina in children

Acute tonsillitis or tonsillitis is a very dangerous disease and is most often caused by bacteria. Usually organisms-pests are staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci, mycoplasmas, chlamydia, pathogenic fungi. Antibiotics cope with all these pathogens quite successfully. This approach is used by doctors in the treatment of angina in both adults and children.

Sore throat can be a complication of an acute respiratory viral infection or flu. Pathological bacteria in this case begin to multiply actively against the background of a weakened immune system, and such a sore throat will also require antibiotic treatment.

Angina is the very case when it is necessary to choose the lesser of two evils: despite the rather aggressive effect of antibacterial drugs on the child's body, possible side effects, it is almost impossible to cure angina without antibiotics. And its consequences can kill the child or make him disabled.

If sore throat is caused by a virus, it will be called herpetic sore throat. This is the only sore throat that cannot be cured with antibiotics, since antibiotics have no effect on viruses at all: their target is bacteria.

The wrong prescription of an antibiotic for such a sore throat will only aggravate the situation. Dysbacteriosis, diarrhea, vomiting or an allergic reaction will be added to the sore throat and general ill health in the child. With herpes sore throat, a competent complex antiviral treatment with antiseptics is required to prevent the development of "bad" bacteria in the throat.

Diagnostics of the sore throat

According to the famous children's doctor Yevgeny Komarovsky, angina as understood by the doctor and sore throat as understood by mom and dad are two completely different things. For parents, any “red throat” is already a sore throat. In fact, in most cases, the cause of the reddening of the throat is the virus, not the bacteria.

You can watch the video of the famous doctor here:

To answer the question of whether a child needs antibiotics for angina, the doctor must conduct a bacterial culture test. A swab from the tonsils and larynx will be sent to the bacteriological laboratory.

Plus the research is that the physician will know exactly which pathogen caused the disease and will be able to choose an effective targeted antibiotic. The downside is that it takes quite a long time to wait for the bakseeding result - about two weeks. Therefore, the doctor will most likely prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic to the child.

A sick baby will definitely have blood and urine samples taken for tests.

An experienced ENT or pediatrician can quite easily determine a viral (herpetic) sore throat "by eye" and without special tests. It differs in characteristic places of localization of papules and visually differs from bacterial sore throat.

When will the doctor prescribe antibiotics?

If the child's sore throat is not caused by a virus.
If the body temperature of a sick baby has exceeded 38-39 degrees, in some cases the temperature may be over 40 degrees.
If, upon visual examination, the doctor discovers in a severely reddened throat, on the tongue, on the tonsils a white, yellow or purulent plaque, which will have a film or cheesy structure.
If the child has enlarged lymph nodes, especially the submandibular.
If a child complains of severe sore throat, it is difficult for him to swallow and speak.
If the child feels "aching" in the joints.
If the baby is lethargic, drowsy, inactive, his condition is serious.

Penicillin antibiotics cope most effectively with angina. They are followed by cephalosporins and macrolides.

The doctor will prescribe fluoroquinolones as a last resort if the child has a pronounced allergy to the drugs of the previous groups, or for some reason they do not help him. These are "artificial" antibiotics that have no analogues in nature, they are produced in a laboratory. Fluoroquinolones are contraindicated in children under 12 years of age, but even after 12, doctors try to use fluoroquinolones with great care.

You cannot put the question bluntly. The doctor will decide which antibiotic is best to treat your child, besides, each group of antibiotic drugs has its own advantages.

Penicillins are mild, but short-lived and not as strong as we would like. Macrolides are slightly more powerful, but take longer to be excreted from the body. Cephalosporin drugs are more toxic, but very effective.

Much when prescribing a particular medication will depend on the severity of the sore throat and its type and type.

Angina in children is different: acute primary, secondary somatic (if it accompanies an infectious disease in the clinical picture, for example, scarlet fever), specific (fungal).

In toddlers, catarrhal angina is quite common (moderately pronounced, with damage to the tonsils). When treating catarrhal sore throat, doctors often prescribe penicillins and macrolides.

The child may have follicular tonsillitis (more pronounced, with a change in the normal values of leukocytes in the blood, the presence of protein in the urine). In the treatment of such a sore throat, macrolides are especially effective.

If the doctor diagnoses "lacunar angina", then, as a rule, he will prescribe cephalosporins, because such a sore throat is more pronounced and can occur at a body temperature of about 40 degrees with significant "shifts" of leukocytes and ESR in the blood test.

The most dangerous is necrotic angina. This is a very severe form of the disease with necrosis of certain areas of the tonsils, which spreads to the tongue, larynx, and arch. When treating such a sore throat, the doctor can immediately resort to drugs of the fluoroquinolone group.

The more severe the disease, the more powerful and faster-acting antibiotics will require treatment.

The names of penicillins that are prescribed to a child with angina

The names of antibiotics - macrolides, which are prescribed to a child with angina

The names of cephalosporins that are prescribed to a child with angina

The names of fluoroquinolones that are prescribed to a child with angina

Treatment features

Treatment of angina sometimes takes place in a hospital (with complicated forms of the disease with a very high temperature and even vomiting), but more often at home.

Staying at home is most suitable for children, because in a familiar environment, the baby's recovery always goes much faster. If the doctor does not object to home treatment, all prescriptions must be followed, and their list will be quite impressive.

Prescribed antibiotics should be taken at regular intervals. The fact is that each antibiotic has a maximum duration of action, and so that the antimicrobial process is not interrupted, the next dose must be taken in a timely manner. Usually, with two doses of the drug, the break is 12 hours, and with four doses, the break will be 6 hours.
Do not stop taking the antibacterial drug even if your child is feeling better. Be sure to complete the assigned course. How many days it will be, the doctor will decide. When the antibiotics start to work, the baby usually feels noticeably better and the parents are tempted to stop treatment. Remember, not all bacteria - pathogens in the baby's body are destroyed by the first batches of antibiotics, and by canceling the drug, you can harm the child.

Strictly adhere to the dose! When prescribing the drug, the doctor will calculate the individual dosage, taking into account the child's age, body weight and the severity of the disease. It is not worth calculating all these parameters on your own.
Do not drink antibiotics with juice or milk. After all, the ascorbic acid contained in the juice, or animal proteins in milk, interfere with the normal absorption of the antibiotic from the tissue. You can drink antibacterial agents only with plenty of ordinary drinking water at room temperature.
The effectiveness of the antibiotic should be evaluated 72 hours after the start of administration. If there is no improvement on the third day, the temperature has not dropped, the baby's general condition remains sluggish and all signs of intoxication are evident, immediately inform the doctor about this. Probably, the antibiotic was chosen incorrectly, and it is necessary to change the drug for another.
While taking the prescribed antibiotics, you should start taking bacteriophages, which will help protect the child's body from dysbiosis. The doctor will tell you the name of the drug, most often Linex, Atzilakt, Probifor, Bifiform, Bifidumbacterin, Florin Forte are used for these purposes. But antihistamines, if there is no allergy to an antibiotic, should not be taken.

In parallel with antibiotics, the doctor may also prescribe immunomodulators and vitamins.

Local antibiotics

Topical antibiotics are an excellent alternative to pills and injections. This is true, but not in the case of angina. Angina is a serious diagnosis that requires a more systematic approach to therapy. Local antibiotics will perfectly help relieve some of the symptoms - they will reduce inflammation in the throat, pain, but, unfortunately, they will not be able to cure the whole disease.

Local antibiotics for angina can be prescribed as an adjunct to fundamental therapy. If deemed necessary by the doctor. Common practice shows that children do not need such additional measures. Therefore, pediatricians often use antibiotics in sprays not for acute angina, but for chronic tonsillitis.

When asked what drugs help with angina locally, until recently, one could say with confidence that this is a Bioparox aerosol. According to numerous reviews of both doctors and patients, this medicine has proven itself only from the best side.

However, it has recently become known that Bioparox ... is out of production!

The manufacturers cited the huge popularity of aerosols as the reason. "Bioparox" was so widespread, and patients used it when they wanted and as much as they wanted, without asking doctors. All this has led to the emergence of a large number of new strains of bacteria. They are resistant to Bioparox. The drug was found to be ineffective.

According to the results of research by an international group of experts, the positive result from the use of "Bioparox" in the past few years in 40% of cases was caused by the placebo effect.

Antibiotic sprays that have not yet lost their effectiveness:

Isofra. The composition contains a rather powerful antibiotic framycetin. The spray is recommended for children over one and a half years old.
"Polydexa". Polydexa contains two antibiotics at once - neomycin and polymyxin. Not recommended for children under 2.5 years of age.

Before using antibiotic sprays, it is necessary to treat the throat with an antiseptic, and before that, rinse with a furacilin solution. Both soda solution and saline are suitable.

In the treatment of follicular sore throat, doctors often allow to use additionally, for disinfection and anesthesia, sprays "Orasept", "Faringo spray". "Anginal spray" "Octenisept". They do not contain antibiotics.

Inhalation

Steam inhalations with angina cannot be carried out, since any heating of the place where bacteria live and multiply will only cause an even more intensive growth of microorganisms.

For inhalation during the period of the fight against angina, only nebulizers are suitable.

Inhalation at the initial stages of the development of the disease perfectly helps to relieve the inflammatory process in the throat, but does not cure the sore throat on its own, therefore they cannot be considered an alternative treatment.

Inhalation with an antibiotic should not be prescribed to yourself. Be sure to check with your doctor.

Most often, at home in nebulizers, special inhalation forms of antibiotics "Dioxidin", "Ceftriaxone", "Streptomycin" are used.

Inhalation with a solution of the antibiotic "Tobramycin", which "specializes" in staphylococci, also effectively helps with angina.

General advice for parents

A child with angina should have their own dishes - a bowl, a spoon, a plate. You should also avoid close contact with other children. Because angina is a contagious disease.
The microbes that caused the appearance of sore throat reproduce, multiply and ... shit. These waste products of bacteria cause severe intoxication in the body. Therefore, in the process of treating angina, do not forget to give your child a lot to drink. The liquid accelerates the elimination of toxins.
Do not strive to cure a sore throat quickly, it is impossible. Concentrate on correct adherence to all prescriptions. Usually, the course of treatment for sore throat is 10 to 14 days.
The most optimal for the child during the treatment of angina is bed rest.

Some interesting facts

Angina, according to pediatricians, ranks third in frequency of occurrence in children, only slightly behind ARVI and ARI.
Most often, angina falls ill in the first and fourth quarters of the year.
Rural children are less likely to get sore throat than urban children.
The most severe angina is in children aged 3 to 5 years.
Among schoolchildren aged 8-9 years, boys are more likely to get sore throats.

For the opinion of Dr. Komarovsky on when to give antibiotics to a child, see the next video.