Introduction – Tonsillitis in the baby
Especially small children and babies have more frequent tonsillitis than typical colds. The tonsils are part of the immune system in the throat and serve the purpose of intercepting pathogens. However, this also leads to many inflammations, in which the children have pain in the throat and the throat is strongly reddened.
Depending on the pathogen, a purulent coating on the tonsils is also possible. There are many different bacteria or viruses that can cause tonsillitis. However, babies under one year of age are less frequently affected by acute tonsillitis.
Why do babies have tonsillitis so often?
Babies and toddlers do not have a fully developed immune system and react more quickly to various pathogens. Often tonsillitis is not the primary disease, but a consequence of a simple viral cold. Bacteria can take advantage of the weakened immune system of the child and attack the tonsils.
Frequent bacterial pathogens are the streptococci, including the scarlet fever pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes. Babies are particularly affected who have older siblings in kindergarten or school age, as they have a lot of contact with pathogens. In addition, the palatine tonsils of babies are even more involved in the body’s own defense system, while the importance of the tonsils decreases significantly with age.
Most common are tonsillitis in spring and autumn. Certain risk groups are more affected by infectious diseases than other children. These include in particular premature babies and babies with chronic diseases, since in both cases the immune system is not fully developed and therefore cannot counter the pathogens appropriately.
Diagnosis
In most cases the diagnosis is a pure visual diagnosis. The doctor looks at the baby’s neck. The tonsils, which are located on both sides of the transition between the mouth and the neck, are clearly swollen and reddened. Especially in case of bacterial inflammation, pus deposits may also be visible. To determine whether the tonsillitis is caused by a virus or a bacterium, a throat swab can be taken.
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