Having been hospitalised twice, I can't help but feel 'something' each time achik shows signs of fever or cold. And she did that again yesterday. She had her varicella and pneumococcal jabs last Saturday and started to have fever that evening, which I thought was due to the jabs. But when the fever didn't go away after three days and she started to cough, that feeling came. I did some information searching on pneumonia amongst children and here are my findings. Credit to
Info Sihat.
Symptoms:
- Demam panas
- Batuk dengan atau tanpa kahak
- Sakit dada
- Tiada selera makan, tidak mahu makan
- Rasa tidak sihat, sering merengek
- Pernafasan laju atau susah bernafas
- Muntah atau cirit-birit
Achik had only the first two symptoms when she suffered from the pneumonia. She ate and drink milk well. She was grumpy a bit when her body temperature was high, but back to her normal active self when it subsided.
Children who suffered from pneumonia will be hospitalised when:
- Pernafasan laju
- Sukar untuk bernafas
- Bibir menjadi biru
- Batuk berdarah
- Tidak boleh makan atau minum atau tidak kencing
Sounds a bit too late to me. I don't think parents should wait until the above signs appear to have their children admitted to the hospital. Furthermore, in a number of pneumonia cases that I came across, which sadly ended with the death of the children, the only sign that the parents could see was the fever.
Prevention checklist:
- Mengekalkan amalan cara hidup sihat - always striving for this
- Amalan kebersihan diri dan persekitaran yang baik - this too
- Teruskan penyusuan susu ibu - am doing it
- Mengambil immunisasi boleh mencegah jangkitan kuman di paru-paru - done
Based on my experience, (1) always observe the number
3. If the symptoms do not go away after 3 days, do something. (2) take action as early as possible. In fact, in some cases, the bacteria that infect the lungs actually come from the infected upper respiratory organs like nostrils and throat. Therefore, early treatment can avoid them from spreading to the lower respiratory organs.
