Pollinosis in children
For many parents, spring is a dangerous time of the year, because their children, with the beginning of flowering trees, begin to suffer from a severe runny nose and a stuffy nose. But this is not always a sign of a cold, because the cause of everything can be an allergy - hay fever.
How to recognize this ailment? You should be aware that colds are most often dangerous in the cold and wet season (winter, early spring), and a runny nose in the warm season (from April to August) can be the result of dangerous allergens: pollen of wormwood, bluegrass, fescue, alder and birch.
Content:
- Symptoms of pollinosis in children
- Causes of pollinosis in children
- Diagnostics
- Treatment of pollinosis in children
- Nutrition Tips
- Prevention recommendations
- Resume for parents
- Which doctor should I go to?
Symptoms of pollinosis in children
In children, hay fever most often begins with redness of the skin and an increase in temperature. Also, the child may complain of headache and weakness. Along with the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx, the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract becomes inflamed. The development of conjunctivitis (itching, burning in the eyes, tearing) and allergic rhinitis are also characteristic.
Sometimes in children, itching and burning can go to the throat or ears. A little later, the child begins to sneeze violently. Nasal discharge is usually thin, watery, and clear. Please note: if your baby often rubs his nose with his palm, this may indicate hay fever. You may also notice that the child has begun to sleep worse, he has become irritable and has decreased appetite.
Video: who sheds tears for allergies, is heredity to blame and what does ambrosia have to do with it - we'll talk about all this in today's video:
Causes of pollinosis in children
Pollinosis is an extremely common disease in children, and this is largely due to the negative environmental situation in cities. Every year, doctors receive more than 12 million complaints of seasonal hay fever. Until the age of 14, boys are more susceptible to this disease, and after that, girls.
Allergy is usually caused by pollen of a certain size, which, getting on the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx and eyes, irritates cells sensitive to allergies. As a result, they become inflamed, trying to protect themselves from the pathogens of pollinosis. The dirtier the city air, the stronger the irritation. This explains why it is city dwellers who are more likely to suffer from allergies.
Affects the tendency to hay fever and genetic predisposition. But the child does not necessarily inherit the intolerance to substances that the parents have: he inherits only the propensity for allergies. It is likely that allergic parents will have a child prone to hay fever if born during the flowering period of dangerous plants (trees, cereals, weeds).
A favorable background for the development of hay fever are also chronic respiratory diseases and dental diseases that impair blood circulation in the nasopharynx. Diathesis, food allergies, or dermatitis are also dangerous factors.
Diagnostics
Most often, the diagnosis of hay fever in children is not difficult, since allergy symptoms have a clear relationship with the flowering period of plants. In the off-season, all signs of the disease disappear. The diagnosis becomes even more obvious if the child has blood relatives who suffer from a similar problem.
To determine the type of allergen, special studies need to be performed, including:
- Skin tests.
- Detection of IgE antibodies in blood serum, which appear in response to an allergen.
- Provocative tests.
An impressive number of allergens are used to determine which pollen of a particular plant causes an inflammatory reaction in a child. For this purpose, a set of pollen allergens of fruit and ornamental trees, grasses, flowers and cultivated plants is used.
Skin tests are not performed during an exacerbation of the disease. It is imperative to wait for remission of other chronic diseases, if any. The child should not receive corticosteroids or antihistamines.
Provocative tests are rarely performed for children.
Treatment of pollinosis in children
Pollinosis in children must be treated, because over time the symptoms will only intensify, and the body's defenses will become weaker. Thus, the sensitivity to other allergens will also increase. Dangerous consequences of hay fever can be bronchial asthma and asthmatic bronchitis.
Sick children are prescribed antihistamines that can cure and prevent the development of pollinosis. Also, parents should adjust the child's nutrition by eliminating food allergens from the diet.
Treatment of pollinosis in childhood is carried out in the following areas:
- Treatment of allergies during an exacerbation.
- Therapy during remission, which is aimed at preventing relapse.
- Allergy-specific immunotherapy.
Treatment of allergies during an exacerbation includes aspects such as:
- Complete exclusion of contact with the allergen, or minimizing it.
- Taking medications.
- Compliance with a diet.
To exclude contact with pollen that causes allergies, you will need to transport the child to another area. It is important that no plants grow in this area that provoke the body's inflammatory response. Moving is not always possible. Therefore, efforts should be made to minimize the child's contact with pollen.
This can be achieved in the following ways:
- Minimize your child's outdoor exposure in hot or windy weather. Do not take him out for a walk in the morning.
- Do not go to the forest, to the park, to the country house and to other places where an abundance of flowering plants grows.
- Do not mow the lawn with your child nearby.
- Choose clothes for the child in such a way that no open areas remain on his body.
- Wear sunglasses when walking outdoors. After the street, rinse the child's eyes with water.
- Upon arrival home, immediately change clothes, bathe and wash the child. Hands should be washed using hypoallergenic soap. Rinse nose and mouth with saline solutions.
- Use an air purifier, humidifier and air conditioner at home. Wet cleaning should be done every day.
- Windows should be covered with mesh, which should be regularly moistened and washed frequently.
- You need to air the room in the evening.
- Do not use for skin and hair care products that contain extracts of herbs and plants that can provoke allergies.
Taking medications is aimed at stopping the inflammatory reaction and reducing allergy symptoms.
These funds include:
- Antihistamines that stop H1-histamine receptors. They not only relieve inflammation, but prevent allergies from developing further. These can be funds such as: Claritin, Loratadin, Ebastin, Erius, Telfast, etc.
- Cromones, which relieve inflammation from the mucous membranes. Representatives of this group of drugs: Kromohexal, Kromosol, Allergokrom, etc.
- If the allergy is severe, then the child is prescribed glucocorticosteroids: Fluticasone, Hydrocortisone, Budesonide, Mometasone, Beclomethasone.
- To facilitate nasal breathing and remove puffiness from the mucous membrane of the paranasal sinuses, the use of vasoconstrictor nasal agents is shown: Nazol, Irifrin, Metazone, Naphthyzin, etc.
For local treatment, drugs are used in the form of aerosols, ointments, sprays and drops. Systemic drugs are also used. For the treatment of pollinosis, tablets and injections are used.
Antihistamines form the basis of therapy. They can be applied throughout the entire flowering period of the plant that causes the allergy. Drugs with a vasoconstrictor effect are not used for more than a week. Otherwise, the nasal mucosa may begin to atrophy.
Antihistamines of four generations are used to treat hay fever.
First-generation drugs act quickly, but not for long. Therefore, they have to be applied several times a day. Another drawback is their pronounced side effects, which are manifested in lethargy, increased drowsiness, nausea and stool disturbance. Therefore, they try not to prescribe such drugs to children. Representatives of this group: Suprastin, Diphenhydramine, Diazolin, Fenkarol, etc.
The second generation drugs do not cause drowsiness and work throughout the day. They can be taken as much as necessary, since they do not provoke addiction to the body. However, such agents can have a toxic effect on the liver, heart and blood vessels. Representatives of the second generation of antihistamines: Ebastin, Cetirizine, Cetrin, Erius, Fenistil, Ketotifen, etc.
For the treatment of pollinosis, children are most often prescribed drugs of the 3rd and 4th generations. They act during the day and have a minimal set of side effects. However, they can be used only after the child reaches 3 years of age. Representatives of this group are such drugs as: Terfen, Telfast, Lordestin, Levocetirizine, etc.
To make medicines more convenient to use for the treatment of children, you can use them in the form of drops, in the form of a syrup or ointment.
Cromones are used to relieve allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis. They are also prescribed for inflammation of the pharynx, trachea and larynx. This reaction manifests itself in the form of an allergic cough. The drugs are available in the form of eye and nasal drops, in the form of a spray and aerosol. They begin to be used 30 days before the start of flowering of allergenic plants and continue to be used until the end of this season.
Glucocorticosteroids are used only when hay fever has a severe course, and other drugs do not achieve the desired effect. Hormonal drugs are prescribed in a short course, after which the little patient is transferred to standard antihistamines. Only a doctor can prescribe such treatment; independent use of corticosteroids is unacceptable.
To select the optimal therapy, the doctor focuses on the child's age, on the duration of the course of the disease, on the severity of allergy symptoms.
Nutrition Tips
The hay fever diet is practiced during an exacerbation of the disease. All foods that can cause food allergies, that is, cross-react with pollen allergens, are removed from the child's menu.
To isolate these foods, you need to know which plant the child is allergic to. After that, the doctor will give specific recommendations for drawing up the correct menu.
It is very important to create a healing atmosphere at home. In the premises, it is imperative to do wet cleaning; in the summertime, hang wet sheets or gauze rolled into several layers in door and window openings. Hygiene is also extremely important: the child should be bathed after every trip outside. It is useful to gargle, rinse the eyes and nose. For bathing, it is better to choose a hypoallergenic soap.
Prevention recommendations
During remission of hay fever, allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is practiced. It boils down to the fact that the child's body is gradually adapting to the allergen. This leads to the fact that the allergy eventually goes away. ASIT can be practiced with children from 3 years old.
The child is injected subcutaneously or internally with a drug that contains allergens in a minimum concentration. The procedure can be carried out only under the supervision of an allergist and only in a medical facility. Drops applied under the tongue can also be used. The dose is gradually increased, as the body gets used to substances that previously caused an acute reaction in it.
ASIT can be performed before the allergenic season or throughout the year. The effect lasts for several years.
Resume for parents
Pollinosis in children is a serious illness that requires treatment. It should not be ignored, since a harmless rhinitis can ultimately turn into bronchial asthma. It will be difficult to cope with it.
Self-medication for hay fever is unacceptable, since it is impossible to determine the allergen "by eye". It is necessary to follow all the recommendations given by the doctor. In the treatment of hay fever, every aspect is important, from taking medications to diet. This is the only way to achieve not only a stable remission, but also a complete cure for the disease.
Video: School of Doctor Komarovsky "Seasonal Allergy":
Which doctor should I go to?
If your child develops allergy symptoms, you should see an allergist. Sometimes consultation of an immunologist, dermatologist, pulmonologist, ophthalmologist, otolaryngologist is required. It is good if there is an opportunity to visit a nutritionist. He will create an optimal menu, excluding prohibited products from it.
The author of the article: Sokolova Praskovya Fedorovna | Pediatrician
Education: Diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received at the Volgograd State Medical University. A specialist certificate was immediately received in 2014.
