It is important for a pediatrician to see a sick baby. Every health condition is dangerous for a baby since his or her immune system is not yet fully developed. This makes the physician’s right prescription and diagnosis crucial from the get-go.
Bronchitis is a condition that can hit anyone regardless of age. Its usual symptoms are coughing, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing. If you notice any of these symptoms on your baby, you have to see the pediatrician right away for the baby to be given proper bronchitis treatment in Singapore. The physician will most probably require some laboratory tests to help in diagnosis. There are those who require an x-ray test to know if the baby suffers from pneumonia. Others may even require for a bacterial culture of the baby’s phlegm to figure out if there is any infection.
Prescribing Bronchitis Treatment
Once a diagnosis is done, the next step is finding bronchitis treatment for the baby. This could be the same treatment plan as those of adults. Usually the physician’s prescription may include the following: cough suppressant, ibuprofen or aspirin, expectorant, bronchodilator inhaler, and acetaminophen.
The expectorant works by thinning out the secretions coming from the lungs. When the baby experiences heavy coughing, the doctor may prescribe a cough suppressant. This medication will be able to suppress cough and at the same time loosen the phlegm. This is crucial in preventing the irritation of the bronchial tubes which is often the result of severe coughing.
A bronchodilator on the other hand is responsible for opening the air passages for the baby to stop wheezing, coughing, and having difficulty in breathing.
The baby may also have fever due to bronchitis. If that happens the ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and aspirin may be included in the treatment plan.
On Antibiotics
In most cases, antibiotics may no longer be prescribed since bronchitis is viral in nature. Antibiotics cannot get rid of viruses. This can only be prescribed when the baby’s condition is caused by a bacterial infection. When the baby is not responsive to any of the treatments and if the baby’s find it hard to breathe, the physician often prescribes hospitalization.