Cold in the baby | Common cold

Cold in the baby

Even a baby can be affected by a cold, because in the first weeks and months of life, the immune system is confronted with a lot of stress factors and must first learn to deal with them. Just as with adults, viruses are the cause of the common cold in most cases. Affected by the viral infection are mainly the respiratory tract and especially the nose.

A cold in a baby usually has a harmless course and takes about one to two weeks until it heals on its own. As a reaction to the viral infection, a fever may occur under certain circumstances, which should be observed. Normally, the administration of antipyretic agents, which are specially designed for babies, is sufficient.

In case of doubt, the treatment can be discussed with the pediatrician. What could lead to problems in the course of the treatment is a stuffy nose due to the cold, as the baby does not get enough air when drinking the milk and therefore refuses to eat. Here, decongestant nasal drops or saline solution can help, as they clear the nose and allow the baby’s food and fluid intake to function normally again.Other signs of a cold are a runny nose, whiny or restless behavior and fatigue.

In addition to drug therapy to treat the symptoms, rest, plenty of sleep and plenty of drinking are suitable measures to help a cold heal. Common colds, or flu-like infections, are among the most common diseases. 11% of all patients coming to the family doctor’s office complain of cold-like symptoms.

In the course of a year, every person suffers from 3-4 colds on average. Children are far more frequently affected and fall ill with a cold 11-13 times. The flu-like infection is almost exclusively caused by viruses.

The viruses are assigned to different virus families, which in turn have numerous subtypes. To name a few: Rhinoviruses, Coxsackieviruses, Coronaviruses, Parainfluenza virus and Adenoviruses. Especially in humid environments, viruses can survive for a particularly long time.

Infection is caused by droplet infection via the air and smear infection through contaminated material (e.g. handkerchiefs etc.). After ingestion, the virus attaches itself to the body’s own cells, injects its genetic material and stimulates the cell to reproduce the virus genome. This is then either released into the body by appropriate cell dissolution or transported outwards through the intact cell wall.

The many new viruses created by this process immediately infect further body cells. This creates a snowball system. The initial symptoms of a flu-like infection usually manifest themselves as neck scratching, runny nose, hot flushes and slightly increased temperature.

Headaches, aching limbs and coughing with sputum can also occur. A flu-like infection is usually diagnosed by the doctor through a patient interview (anamnesis). To be complete, he will listen to the patient’s lungs with a stethoscope (to rule out bronchitis), look down the throat (to rule out involvement of the throat and tonsils), look into the ears (to rule out middle ear infection) and tap the sinuses (to rule out sinusitis).

Further diagnostic measures can usually be dispensed with in the case of colds. In some cases, the viral infection is followed by a so-called bacterial superinfection, which should then be treated as a complicated course with antibiotic-containing medication. Further complications of a flu-like infection are bronchitis (when the lungs are affected), inflammation of the middle ear (when the middle ear is affected), sinusitis or in severe cases, sinusitis or laryngitis.

In these cases antibiotic therapy should always be administered. If the course of a cold is uncomplicated, the therapy usually only includes symptomatic measures, which consist of the relief of headaches and reduction of fever. Here, preparations such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or ASS 100 should be used.

Furthermore, a sufficient amount of fluids per day should be ensured, which should consist of 2-3 liters of water and tea. The patient should ensure a calm daily routine and several times a day inhalative steam baths made of chamomile or salt as well as red light irradiation of the paranasal sinuses should be carried out. Also numerous substances from natural medicine, such as the South African Cape geranium, coneflower, chamomile or sage, thyme, ivy, primrose or mallow are used in the treatment of colds in the form of teas or drops.

However, it should not be forgotten that many medicinal plants are inedible in their pure form and are even poisonous to humans. For this reason, preparations from the pharmacy should be used. Also, interactions between medicinal plants and additionally taken conventional medicine should not be underestimated and should be considered.

Home remedies that have been established for a very long time, such as drinking chicken soup or eating vitamin C-rich fruit and vegetables, are also used again and again in the treatment of colds. Often the mechanism of action is not known, but the effect is confirmed by the users. The common belief that colds are caused by moisture or cold (wet feet, wet head) has not been confirmed by many studies.

Only a strong hypothermia and thus throttling of the immune system could be shown as a favorable factor. The flu-like infection must be considered separately from the flu caused by the influenza virus.It changes its external appearance every season and must be identified again and again so that a suitable vaccine can be found. There is no vaccination possibility against a flu-like infection due to the many possible pathogens and the corresponding variability.

In general, one can say that the flu infection is more harmless and progresses faster than the (influenza) flu, which is characterized by a sudden onset, severe headache and aching limbs, high fever, severe dry cough and poor general condition. As a rule, the flu infection heals without consequences within a few days to a maximum of 2 weeks. Patients who have a concomitant disease that throttles the immune system must start antibiotic therapy at an early stage in order to avoid a bacterial superinfection.

These patients include HIV patients, people with diabetes mellitus and patients undergoing chemotherapy. In addition to a generally healthy diet and lifestyle with sufficient exercise and sports, a diet rich in vitamins and fiber and daily stress reduction, the prevention of a cold would only involve avoiding contact with an already infected person. Also after contact on hygenic measures, like hand washing, should be paid attention.

Otherwise, it must be noted that the occurrence of colds cannot be ruled out despite appropriate preventive measures and must be accepted up to a certain extent. Only unnaturally frequent colds should be carefully observed and the suspicion of an accompanying disease (possibly malignant tumor disease or other immune system throttling diseases) should be raised.