Vomiting and diarrhea in a child without fever

Such a phenomenon as diarrhea and vomiting without fever in children is observed quite often. It is quite natural that such a state of the child causes excitement among parents, especially if it is still very small.

Not always vomiting and diarrhea will indicate some serious illness, however, only a doctor can adequately assess the situation. Of course, parents should know the possible causes of a child’s condition disorder, but this does not mean that you do not need to see a doctor.

Causes of vomiting and diarrhea in a child without fever

Often parents are too careless about vomiting and diarrhea in their children, if the body temperature remains normal. This is due to the fact that adults are accustomed to the temperature against the background of any disease. However, it is worth considering that some pathological conditions can occur without this symptom. Perhaps the child has reduced immunity, or even has diseases of the immune system. As a result, the body’s defenses do not react, and the body temperature does not rise.

It is also worth remembering that in infants, the symptoms of many diseases are blurred, and the deterioration occurs much faster than in older children. Therefore, in just a few hours, the baby can fall into a serious condition that threatens life.

Vomiting and diarrhea without body temperature in children can occur for the following reasons:

Intestinal infection

The most common intestinal infections in childhood are rotavirus infection, dysentery, salmonellosis, and escherichiosis. They can occur without fever, but it is possible to increase body temperature to subfebrile levels, and in some cases to high values.

Vomiting and diarrhea have the following features:

• Vomiting does not depend on food intake, it can be single or more frequent.

• Vomit consists of the food that the child has eaten.

• Viral infections are characterized by loose, watery stools.

• For bacterial intestinal infections, mucous stools with foam and a pungent odor are characteristic.

• Diarrhea with intestinal infection prevails over vomiting.

In addition, the following symptoms are characteristic of an intestinal infection:

• Severe cramping pains in the abdomen.

• Restlessness of the child, which, as diarrhea and vomiting increase, will change to drowsiness and lethargy.

• Refusal of water and food.

• As the disease progresses, elevated body temperature may join.

• Symptoms of dehydration: sunken eyes, dryness, lack of urination, sunken fontanelle (in infancy), convulsions. These symptoms should never be ignored.

Treatment of intestinal infections in children under the age of one year is carried out only in a hospital. If the child is older than a year, then the issue of hospitalization is decided depending on the severity of the patient’s condition.

Therapy consists of the following main activities:

• The appointment of antitoxic drugs – enterosorbents.

• Appointment of nitrofurans, Furazolidone.

• Elimination of the cause of vomiting and diarrhea: antibacterial or antiviral therapy.

• Parenteral rehydration therapy.

• Elimination of symptoms of the disease: lowering body temperature, relief of pain.

The final stage of treatment is restorative therapy with the appointment of probiotic preparations.

Food poisoning

Food poisoning in childhood most often occurs either through dairy products or breast milk. Juices, fruit and meat purees, both own and factory-made, are also dangerous.

Features of vomiting and diarrhea in food poisoning:

• Repeated exhausting vomiting, which occurs shortly after eating.

• Frequent stools with an unpleasant odor and with impurities of blood.

• Diarrhea and vomiting may quickly stop, but the patient’s condition will worsen.

Other symptoms of food poisoning:

• Abdominal pains are severe, proceed as spasms.

• The capriciousness of the child, which, as the disease progresses, is replaced by lethargy and drowsiness.

• The patient refuses food and water.

All children with suspected food poisoning are subject to hospitalization (under the age of 3 years). As for older children, the issue of inpatient treatment is decided depending on the severity of the patient’s condition.

Treatment for food poisoning boils down to the following points:

• Gastric lavage.

• Appointment of nitrofurans, Furazolidone.

• Purpose of enterosorbents.

• Carrying out parenteral rehydration therapy.

• Appointment of anti-inflammatory drugs, antispasmodics.

The course of treatment for food poisoning always ends with restorative therapy with the appointment of probiotics.

Dysbacteriosis

Vomiting with dysbacteriosis occurs infrequently, no more than 1-2 times per day. The chair is unstable, constipation is replaced by foamy diarrhea. Other symptoms of dysbacteriosis are: loss of appetite, rumbling and pain in the abdomen after eating, white coating on the tongue. Skin reactions are possible, but do not always occur. These include rash, itching and dry skin.

Treatment of dysbiosis is outpatient. To begin with, the child is offered nitrofurans for intestinal sanitation, then, against the background of nutritional correction, the intestinal microflora is restored with the help of eubiotics and probiotics.

Allergic reaction

Vomiting and diarrhea without fever may occur due to an allergy to a food or drug. In younger children, such a reaction often occurs on the first complementary foods.

Vomiting begins shortly after feeding, contains undigested food debris. In addition, the child develops itching, hives and other skin reactions. Severe allergies are accompanied by swelling of the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, respiratory failure.

Treatment depends on the severity of the allergic reaction. In mild cases, therapy is carried out at home. Antihistamines, enterosorbents and hormonal drugs are prescribed (in severe cases).

Causes of vomiting in a child without fever

The causes of vomiting in a child without fever can be very diverse, most of them are presented in the table:

Another pathology in which vomiting is observed without fever is appendicitis. But with appendicitis, vomiting will be only the first sign of inflammation that has begun, and after a few hours the body temperature will still increase.

Causes of diarrhea in a child without fever

The causes of diarrhea without fever in a child may be as follows:

• Intestinal infection, minor poisoning. With an intestinal infection, diarrhea is frequent, on average it happens up to 5 times per knock. If the child has poisoning, then there will be no foreign impurities in the stool, and if there is an intestinal infection, then the feces may have a non-standard color and mucous consistency. Since the work of the intestines is disturbed, particles of undigested food will be present in the stool. In addition to diarrhea, the child will experience pain in the abdomen, the tongue will be coated with a white coating. Probably a rash. As for treatment, it depends on the severity of the intestinal infection or poisoning. In mild cases, the child stays at home.

• Allergy to a drug. Diarrhea manifests itself a couple of hours after taking the drug. In addition, there may be skin reactions. Treatment is reduced to refusing to take the drug.

• Enteritis. Inflammation of the small intestine is characterized by severe diarrhea up to 6 times per knock. The feces are greasy with particles of food. Pain is localized in the navel, appetite disappears. Treatment is carried out at home.

• Parasitic infection of the intestine. The chair is unstable, diarrhea is replaced by constipation. The child loses body weight, abdominal pain is possible in the form of colic, sleep is disturbed. Perhaps increased salivation and lethargy. Treatment is reduced to the appointment of anthelmintic drugs.

• Dysbacteriosis. Feces are frothy, have an unpleasant odor and happen up to several times a day. In this case, there is bloating, loss of appetite, pain occurs in the abdomen a couple of hours after eating. Sometimes there are skin reactions, the tongue is covered with a dense white coating. Treatment at home.

It should be remembered that diarrhea without fever can also develop with other, more serious diseases. Therefore, if diarrhea does not go away after a day, then a specialist consultation is required.

Causes of vomiting and diarrhea that are safe for a child’s life without fever

Vomiting and diarrhea without an increase in body temperature do not always indicate serious health problems for the child. Often these two symptoms simply accompany the natural physiological states of children.

Only vomiting (without fever and diarrhea) can occur in a child for the following reasons:

Physiological regurgitation

An infant may spit up milk or formula. At the same time, his health does not worsen, body weight remains within the normal range. Children spit up to 20 ml at a time. The departed contents are represented by curdled milk without impurities.

Causes of physiological regurgitation can be as follows:

• Large amounts of food.

• Incorrect posture of the child during feeding.

• Imperfection of the digestive tract of infants.

• Incorrect latch on the nipple.

To reduce the frequency of spitting up, the baby should be kept with the head slightly raised up during feeding. After eating, you need to give the baby a vertical position for 15 minutes. This will allow excess air to escape. It is equally important to monitor the amount of food that the infant consumes.

Teething

Vomiting at the appearance of the first teeth is not associated with food intake, its volumes are insignificant, cyclicity is not observed. It happens because of the crying of the child during feeding, which is explained by the soreness of the gums. At the same time, during the cry, children swallow too much excess air. Also, do not force your child to eat while he is teething.

You can help your child in the following ways:

• Massage the gums with your finger or with a teether.

• Apply a gel with an anesthetic component to the gums.

• Refuse force-feeding if the child does not want to eat. Incorrect introduction of complementary foods

Vomiting with improper introduction of complementary foods happens once and does not harm the health of the child. It is explained by the fact that the body either does not accept a new product, or the fact that the enzymatic system is not yet able to cope with the introduced components.

In the event of vomiting, the new product should be excluded from the child’s menu for several weeks or more. After this time, you can offer it again, but in a small amount.

psychogenic vomiting

Neurotic vomiting is typical for children over the age of three years. It occurs as a reaction to a certain stress factor.

Common causes of psychogenic vomiting are:

• Parents insisting that the child eat,

• The child has suffered strong positive or negative emotions, including resentment or excitement.

• The child is very worried before any important event for him.

If a child has episodes of psychogenic vomiting, then it is necessary to protect him as much as possible from a stressful situation and consult a child psychotherapist.

What can be given to a child with vomiting and diarrhea?

Most likely, parents who themselves gave the child an antibiotic for vomiting and diarrhea will claim that both of these symptoms stopped 1-3 days after the start of the drug. However, it is known that a viral intestinal infection resolves on its own during these periods, which means that taking antibiotics was unreasonable and unnecessary. In case of poisoning, diarrhea stops after all harmful substances are removed from the body. Therefore, antibacterial therapy does not have a positive effect on the course of the disease.

Nevertheless, it is possible to help the child’s body cope with infection and poisoning by offering him probiotic preparations and enterosorbents. The action of the first medicines is aimed at destroying viruses, and the second at binding harmful substances and preventing them from entering the bloodstream. Therefore, in case of food poisoning, the child is given enterosorbents, and in case of intestinal infection, probiotics.

If the child is very small and is breastfed, then he is allowed to give Enterosgel, Linex and Bifidumbacterin probiotics. When a child is over two years old, he can already take the following sorbents: White coal, Enterosgel, Filtrum and Smecta. After two years, diarrhea can be eliminated with a drug called Enterol.

Recovery after vomiting

The first priority for parents is to restore electrolytes and lost fluids. Antiemetic drugs are not given to the child, and either enterosorbents or probiotics are offered for diarrhea, depending on the cause of the disease.

The lost fluid is restored with the help of special saline solutions, which can be purchased at the pharmacy. The most famous of them is Regidron and Regidron Bio, but you can also purchase Disol and Trisol preparations. If there is no opportunity to visit the pharmacy, then you can make a saline solution yourself. To prepare it, you need a liter of boiled water, a teaspoon of salt, five teaspoons of sugar. It is necessary to ensure that a sick child constantly drinks this liquid, but in small sips.

As soon as the attack of diarrhea or vomiting ends, you need to give the child water or a saline solution. Don’t wait for the medicine to take effect. If vomiting is repeated, then water is offered again. Infants are applied to the breast as often as possible and additionally watered during feeding. Older children are fed with boiled vegetables, rice, lean meat, they are offered kefir or another fermented milk product. Food is given in small portions. Until the end of the disease, children can be on the BRN diet (lamb, rice, apples and crackers). The liquid must be ingested during meal breaks (at least 60 ml for infants, at least 100 ml for children after 2 years). If the child drinks the prescribed volumes of liquid, but asks for more, then you should not refuse him this.

Under a categorical ban during vomiting and diarrhea are carbonated drinks and juices, chicken broth and milk, as well as rice water. All these fluids will aggravate the course of the disease due to dehydration of the body.

When should a doctor be called?

If vomiting and diarrhea are persistent and do not stop within 4 hours, then you should call a doctor so that he adequately assesses the condition of the child. Hospitalization may be required, as persistent vomiting often indicates meningitis, concussion, or other serious illness.

Situations in which calling a local doctor or an ambulance is mandatory:

• Three or more episodes of vomiting following each other for less than three hours.

• Refusal of the child not only from food intake, but also from fluids.

• Everything that the child eats and drinks comes out with vomit.

• Lack of tears while crying.

• The child is drowsy and lethargic, he has dry lips and eyes.

• Vomit contains blood impurities.

• Complaints of headaches, as well as neck muscle tension and loss of consciousness.

• Suspicion of poisoning.

The remaining episodes of vomiting and diarrhea, as a rule, are successfully stopped by taking the above drugs, adequate replenishment of the lost fluid and electrolytes.

Causes of vomiting and diarrhea that are safe for a child’s life without fever

• Nutritional errors. If the child’s diet is not balanced, then diarrhea can develop in him at any age. In this case, loose stools with undigested food particles appear. Often parents are able to independently identify the relationship between diarrhea and a particular product. Such diarrhea is explained by the imperfection of the digestive system of children. To avoid such situations, it is necessary to correctly introduce the first complementary foods and limit children in carbonated water, chips, sweets, etc.

• Psychogenic diarrhea. Diarrhea of ​​a psychogenic nature, as a rule, happens once and occurs against the background of an emotional shock. Thus, the vegetative system of the child reacts to stress. To avoid such situations, it is important to protect the baby as much as possible from traumatic situations. Perhaps a single appointment of an antidiarrheal drug and the introduction of a short diet without milk and fatty foods.

• Indigestion or overfeeding the baby. Vomiting and diarrhea will occur immediately after eating and will contain particles of undigested food. The frequency of diarrhea and vomiting does not exceed two times. A new food product (this is especially true for exotic products), the introduction of complementary foods, or too large amounts of food can lead to indigestion. To help the body cope with vomiting and diarrhea, it is necessary to remove an unsuitable product from the child’s menu and ensure an adequate drinking regimen.

• Strong emotional shock. An episode of vomiting and diarrhea against the background of emotional stress in children occurs, as a rule, once. Thus, the autonomic nervous system reacts to shock. In order to prevent such situations, you need to create a comfortable psychological environment for the baby, eliminate stress from his life. Medicines for diarrhea and vomiting may be offered. You need to do this once.

• Acclimatization when changing the climatic zone. The development of vomiting and diarrhea is likely in the first two days of the child being in a new climatic zone. This is due to the adaptation mechanisms of the body to new conditions. To eliminate unwanted symptoms, you need to provide the child with maximum peace, do not give him new foods and give up physical activity.