Contents
According to historical statistics, infant mortality in the Russian Empire significantly exceeded the European average. The reason for this was the lack of antibacterial drugs, the neglect of elementary sanitary and hygienic standards for the care of infants, and their innate weakness due to poor health and sometimes exhaustion of parents. Most often, children were struck by intestinal infections caused by pathogenic organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus. Until the age of one, only about 75% of babies survived then.
Due to poor nutrition, women in labor had difficulty with lactation. Obviously, without mother’s milk, the situation with infant mortality worsened – the child did not receive protective substances, and therefore his immunity remained vulnerable and did not fulfill its functions in full. In such difficult conditions, the baby’s body was forced to deal with multiple pathogens on its own.
The widespread use of antibacterial drugs and antiseptic agents designed to fight pathogenic microorganisms has somewhat improved the situation. However, as it turned out, the aspirations of pediatricians and infectious disease doctors for a successful solution to the problem turned out to be premature.
The problem was that bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus and Enterococcus (Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella) had a huge resistance to medicines and no less adaptability to any adverse conditions.
Evidence of the mutation of the pathogenic flora, as they say, is obvious:
Staphylococcus aureus has learned to produce new enzymes that destroy antibacterial substances;
In addition, the pathogen rebuilt itself and began to live in complex colonies that are insensitive to antibiotics.
Research scientists show that single, scattered representatives of pathogenic microflora are sensitive to almost all antibiotics, including the most common penicillin. The same effect was achieved when staphylococci lived in habitual small colonies.
No one took into account that bacteria had long ceased to exist in the form of single-layer settlements. Now they live in multi-layered colonies. The antibacterial agent destroys only the top layer or the bottom layer, and the rest of the bacteria continue their life activity safely.
These two properties of Staphylococcus aureus have turned a seemingly harmless bacterium into a formidable adversary. Staphylococcus is a real scourge of hospitals. It is extremely difficult to deal with it, and neither cosmetic repairs nor ultraviolet treatment will help here.
It often happens that hospital workers themselves become carriers of staphylococcus aureus.
Symptoms of staphylococcus in infants
Infection with staphylococcus manifests itself quite quickly. Staphylococcus aureus is an extremely aggressive and virulent pathogenic microorganism that reveals its presence almost immediately after infection. The normal content of Staphylococcus aureus in the body is zero. If the infection occurred in a maternity hospital, then by 2-5 days the baby begins to have problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
The main symptom is frequent stools. However, in a healthy breastfed infant, stools can be regular and quite frequent.
In this case, the disease can be detected based on additional symptoms:
Skin rashes (pustules, boils, etc.);
Long-term non-healing navel;
Gushing regurgitation;
The appearance of greenery, pus, blood in the stool;
Change in the color and structure of the stool: yellow or greenish stools, frothy.
Children older than one month suffer from staphylococcal infection somewhat less often, and their symptoms differ. In such children, the disease passes by the type of gastroenterocolitis or toxic infection.
Defeat by toxicoinfectious type
Staphylococcus often forms colonies on food surfaces. In the course of life, the microorganism actively produces enterotoxins. After eating contaminated foods, both the bacteria themselves and the toxins they have produced penetrate into the child’s body.
Symptoms include:
Signs of general intoxication of the body (fever up to 37.5-39.0, headache, weakness and lethargy, drowsiness, nausea);
Paleness of the skin;
Frequent vomiting and diarrhea.
Most often, the children’s body is attacked by bacteria when using the following products:
Dairy products: milk, cottage cheese, kefir, etc.;
Fruit and vegetable juices;
Baby food from jars.
Parents who constantly feed their child with store-bought food are especially at risk. As you know, such products are often transported and stored incorrectly.
Children infected with staphylococcus aureus suffer the disease much harder than adults:
A high degree of intoxication leads to the fact that the child practically refuses to eat;
Frequent diarrhea and vomiting lead to dehydration and the removal of electrolyte salts from the body. As a result, the metabolism is significantly disturbed;
If a child has frequent manifestations of toxic infection, and they are severe (pallor after vomiting, problems with sleep and awakening), you should immediately transport the child to the hospital on your own or by calling an ambulance.
Gastroenterocolitis lesion
The acidity of the stomach of a child does not have the degree that is observed in an adult. Staphylococcus in the course of life produces a lot of enzymes and toxins that destroy the cellular structures of the mucous membranes. As a result, the mucous membrane of the stomach, small and large intestines is damaged. The so-called gastroenterocolitis develops.
The disease has two components:
Gastritis. In children, the disease is expressed in refusing to eat and frequent vomiting. It is not so easy to distinguish vomiting from natural regurgitation without special knowledge. To draw the right conclusion, it must be borne in mind that experts refer to vomiting in an infant as a volume of vomit that exceeds three tablespoons. Spitting up more than three times a day is also considered pathological.
Gastritis in children is accompanied by symptoms of intoxication, as well as respiratory disorders (breathing is hoarse or more noisy);
The child’s voice becomes hoarse;
The sucking reflex is weakened;
There is dryness of the lips. Eyeballs visually sink deeper;
The wall of the peritoneum loses its tone. As a result of a functional test (pinch on the skin), the fold straightens slowly. This indicates dehydration of the body.
It is impossible to cope with the disease at home, you should immediately transport the child to the hospital and start specific therapy.
Enterocolitis. It is a lesion of the mucous membrane of the large and small intestines. For diagnostic purposes, fecal analysis is performed. Normally, staphylococcus aureus should not be detected in the feces, however, a small amount is recognized as the norm, since even children’s immunity can suppress the infection. To make a diagnosis of infectious enterocolitis, the staphylococcal count in feces should be 10 to the power of 2 colony-forming units per gram.
The clinical picture is typical for severe colitis:
Frequent diarrhea with impurities of mucus, pus, blood;
Light-yellow feces, upon contact with atmospheric air, takes on a green tint;
Milk in the body is not completely processed. In the feces, lumps of curdled milk are found;
After several bowel movements, the feces lose their structure and take on the appearance of yellowish or green water;
Wandering pains in the abdomen;
The child becomes restless. The picture is similar to intestinal colic (pulls legs to the stomach, screams, etc.);
Bloating and increased production of intestinal gases (abdominal gurgling), frequent passing of gases;
Gradually, signs of dehydration develop: dry skin, loss of elasticity of the skin, retraction of the eyeballs, etc.
It is quite simple to determine the pathology by the number of bowel movements during the day. If a breastfed child empties the intestines 7-10 times, this is not the norm. In formula-fed babies, the normal number of bowel movements is 1-2 times a day.
The presence in the structure of feces of foreign impurities (blood, mucus, pus) always indicates a pathological process in the area of the large or small intestines.
If the number of staphylococci in the feces is less than a certain norm, a diagnosis of dysbacteriosis is made. It often happens that pediatricians speak of dysbacteriosis even if the specified value is exceeded. However, in this case we are talking about infectious enterocolitis. Accordingly, the treatment should be different.
Symptoms of Klebsiella in infants
Klebsiella belongs to opportunistic pathogens, since it is constantly present in the human body. These bacteria are champions in the frequency of intestinal infections they cause. Most often, Klebsiella affects the intestines, that is, it belongs to enterobacteria. However, penetrating the nasal mucosa, it can cause ozena (fetid runny nose).
Most often, Klebsiella enters the body of a child in a hospital.
There are several reasons for infection:
Adults often neglect the rules of personal hygiene and sanitation of household items. Klebsiella usually enters the body of a child precisely after contact with the hands of an adult carrier or dirty objects;
Often, Klebsiella infects infants in the process of interacting with public toys in clinics and hospitals;
Contact with a dirty pacifier. If the pacifier falls on the changing table or on the floor, parents often wipe (and sometimes suck) the item and place it back in the baby’s mouth. This is a direct route to infection.
Klebsiella as a whole is characterized by the same symptomatic complex. However, unlike Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium is less aggressive and affects mainly children with a weakened immune system, dysbacteriosis, or an existing staphylococcal infection.
What is the danger of staphylococcus in infants?
In the absence of adequate antibiotic therapy, staphylococcal lesions lead to many severe and deadly complications:
development of dehydration. Prolonged and painful diarrhea, as well as frequent vomiting, lead to the fact that water is removed from the body with great speed along with electrolyte salts. The body is unable to bring all systems into a state of dynamic equilibrium (homeostasis). As a result, shock can develop and death can occur. In children, dehydration begins much earlier due to less fluid in the body;
Infectious-toxic shock. Staphylococcus aureus is one of the leaders in terms of reproduction rate. As mentioned, the bacterium produces many toxic substances. With excessive reproduction of toxins and enzymes, there are so many that the body loses the ability to maintain all the necessary vital functions: the kidneys, heart, liver and brain fail;
Intestinal bleeding. Prolonged enterocolitis leads to destruction of the intestinal epithelium, perforation of its walls and massive bleeding;
Peritonitis. With perforation of the walls, food and feces go beyond the intestines, infecting the abdominal cavity;
Sepsis. By destroying the intestinal walls, staphylococcus can enter the bloodstream. This will lead to blood poisoning, and the risk of death will increase many times over;
The development of carriage of Staphylococcus aureus. Even if the treatment is carried out in a timely and effective manner, there is a risk of developing a carriage of the bacteria. The microorganism begins to exist in a latent form. Clinically, carriage resembles sluggish dysbacteriosis: decreased appetite, stool instability, diarrhea alternating with constipation and periods of normal bowel function, heaviness in the abdomen, bloating, flatulence (colic), frequent regurgitation.
Over time, either staphylococcus is reactivated, or the child’s immune system, together with bifidumbacteria, will “pacify” the pathogen.
Treatment of staphylococcus in infants
Therapy of an infectious lesion with staphylococcus comes down to three main aspects:
Establishing control over the intensity of reproduction of the microorganism, the destruction of pathogens by the method of sanitation and the use of bacteriophages;
Supportive treatment (restoration of water balance in the body, prescription of therapeutic nutrition);
It is absolutely unacceptable to treat infants with antibiotics. Antibacterial therapy with the use of macrolides or cephalosporins is advisable only in children with confirmed sepsis.
In this case, probiotics do not help, because against the background of taking antibiotics, the beneficial flora does not take root, besides, staphylococci or Klebsiella quickly destroy the incoming negligible number of beneficial bacteria.
It is most reasonable to carry out treatment with specialized bacteriophages – viruses that devour a certain type of bacteria. Staphylococcus bacteriophage is used in pure form or in the form of a complex (a mixture of phages of staphylococcus, salmonella, shigella, etc.)
Prevention of staphylococcus in infants
Staphylococcus aureus is everywhere. It is impossible to protect a child from this bacterium. However, with sufficient functioning of the immune system and timely treatment of staphylococcal infections, this is not a problem. According to statistics, almost 100% of the world’s population are carriers of Staphylococcus aureus in a depressed state.
However, the risk of infection in the first months of a child’s life should be minimized.
For this it is recommended:
Properly disinfect household and feeding items: bottles, nipples should be processed in sterilizers, and in their absence, boiled;
Avoid contact with public toys. In the clinic, hospital, toys should be their own;
Teats dropped on any surface should be sent for sterilization;
The room in which the child is located must be regularly ventilated;
Wet cleaning should be carried out as often as possible. Staphylococcus feels great on dust particles.
Thus, staphylococcal infection is one of the most dangerous and formidable. Staphylococcus is the causative agent of many dangerous inflammatory diseases. The infection is most difficult for children under one year old, especially infants, whose immunity is not yet sufficiently effective.
Most often, Staphylococcus aureus affects the mucous membranes of the intestines and stomach, which causes the development of severe gastroenterocolitis.
Diagnosis of diseases caused by Staphylococcus aureus is not particularly difficult. It is much more difficult to find the optimal and safe treatment for the child. Antibacterial therapy is indicated in a strictly limited number of cases, the use of bacteriophages is more effective and safer. In general, therapy should be complex.
Klebsiella is less aggressive, and causes infectious lesions only in debilitated children. Often, the bacterium peacefully coexists with Staphylococcus aureus. Both the manifestations and methods of treatment of Klebsiella infections are similar to the fight against staphylococcus aureus.
It is desirable that the child in the first months of life does not meet with such dangerous pathogens, so special attention should be paid to preventive measures.