Bronchiolitis

Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the bronchioles the least air passages of the lungs. The illness influences infants and young children most often because their small airways can become blocked more easily than those of older children or adults. Day-care presence and exposure to cigarette smoke can also increase the likelihood that an infant will develop bronchiolitis. It most often happens in young children, commonly between 3 and 6 months of age. About one in nine babies gets bronchiolitis in his or her first year of life, normally during the fall and winter months. Conditions which increase the chance of severe infection include prematurity, anterior chronic heart or lung disease, and a weakened immune system due to illness or medications.

Children having bronchiolitis may be more possibly to develop asthma later in life but it's unclear whether bronchiolitis causes or triggers asthma, or whether children who ultimately go on to develop asthma were simply more prone to developing bronchiolitis as infants. Though a child's bout of bronchiolitis may be scary peculiarly for parents, signs and symptoms typically last for about a week and then go away. In the meantime you can have a number of self-help precautions to make your child more comfortable.

Concerned parents stand over the crib, listening to their baby cough and struggle to breathe. As these airways become inflamed they soar and fill with mucus, making it difficult for a child to breathe. Bronchiolitis bursts out with signs and symptoms similar to those of a common cold but then progresses to coughing and wheezing. There is of course also ravelment of the bronchi (bronk-eye) the larger breathing tubes as well - so we can say that there is also a bronchitis.

Studies are being done to elucidate the relationship between bronchiolitis and the later development of asthma. RSV infections are accountable for more than half of all cases of the illness and are most widespread in the winter and early spring. Other viruses related with bronchiolitis include influenza and adenovirus. Diagnostic interventions have slight effect on clinical outcome and apart from ancillary measures there is no specific treatment. Bronchiolitis therefore presents an conniving clinical conundrum and a major challenge to researchers. Careful mapping of the inflammatory pathways in the pathogenesis of bronchiolitis should lead to development of new therapies to relieve symptoms.

Causes of Bronchiolitis

The common Causes of Bronchiolitis :

• Parainfluenza virus.
• Rhinovirus.
• Chlamydia pneumoniae.
• Adenovirus.
• Mycoplasma pneumoniae
• Enterovirus.
• Influenza virus.

Symptoms of Bronchiolitis

Some common Symptoms of Bronchiolitis :

• Rapid breathing (tachypnea).
• Nasal flaring in infants.
• Bluish skin due to lack of oxygen (cyanosis).
• Fever (variable).
• Intercostal retractions.
• Cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing .

Treatment of Bronchiolitis

• Tilt your infant's mattress so her head is higher than her body.
• Cleaning out the nose might help your child eat drink and sleep.
• Concomitant otitis media is common and may be treated with oral antibiotics.
• Do not smoke around a child with bronchiolitis.
• Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol, Tempra, or Panadol) can be used to bring down fever. Give the right amount based on your child's weight.
• Give your child plenty of clear fluids (such as water juice, and gelatin-water) at least 2-3 ounces every 1-2 hours while she is awake.
• Use a suction bulb to clear the nose. Put 1-2 drops of saline in each nostril.
• Antibiotics are not indicated unless bacterial infection is recommended (eg, toxic appearance, hyperpyrexia, consolidation or focal lobar infiltrates on chest radiograph, leukocytosis, positive bacterial cultures).