Bronchiolitis,
bronchitis and asthma are three entities that have much in common, they are not
always easy to distinguish and sometimes overlap, so there is considerable
confusion, fortunately, to define more than to treat them.
Bronchiolitis is the infection of the bronchioles, which are the thinnest end and opens bronchial tree and in the pulmonary alveoli. This disease, almost exclusively in infants and children less than two years, may be caused by different viruses, but especially by the so-called "respiratory syncytial virus" or VRS, and is manifested primarily by whistles and difficulty breathing. In parallel, bronchitis infection would the larger bronchi born in the trachea and will end up forking up the bronchioles. However, this term always pediatricians use auscultation demonstrates that there bronchial obstruction which may be caused by a virus but also by noninfectious inflammation, such as allergic.
Latter would what happens repeatedly in asthma: translates the special sensitivity of the bronchi, which overreact to various agents (dust mites and pollen, but also viruses, cold air and moisture), closing, inflamed, and causing subsequent respiratory distress.
bronchiolitis, bronchitis and asthma share obstruction bronchial tree, wheezing and difficulty breathing, but also bronchiolitis may facilitate or cause the onset of asthma, although some experts believe they really are and its first manifestation. Moreover, many pediatricians use the term bronchitis not asthma alarm with the word, so that the boundaries between these three entities are even vaguer.
Bronchiolitis usually begins with cold symptoms of upper respiratory symptoms and superimposed on those of a common cold, but that two or three days are added signs of respiratory distress, of varying intensity, consistent with inflammation and obstruction that the virus has caused in the bronchioles:
- Increased respiratory rate greater than 50 breaths per minute.
- Flaring nostrils, dilated nostrils with each breath, and chest in drawing or sinking of the spaces between the ribs, as an expression of the effort required to get air into his lungs.
- grunting as a grunt, the difficulty to remove air.
- Wheezing or whistling hiss, also expiratory.
This effort can be stressful for the baby, which must be addressed as soon as possible, but when added to these signs of cyanosis or bluish lips and fingers, breathing is not only difficult but insufficient, for it fails to adequately oxygenate the blood, and even if the child has already been visited and diagnosed, you should go to hospital urgently, as if watches him lethargic or worsen symptoms of difficulty.
In mild cases, treatment is very poor, because antibiotics are totally ineffective to treat any viral infection, and bronchioles Baby do not respond to medications used to dilate and inflammation bronchi in asthma, so it comes down to the same care that are recommended for a cold (saline, clean air and good hydration), while maintaining an attitude of expectation armed, because if it gets worse, treatment should be hospitable and the child may require intensive care.
Bronchiolitis is the infection of the bronchioles, which are the thinnest end and opens bronchial tree and in the pulmonary alveoli. This disease, almost exclusively in infants and children less than two years, may be caused by different viruses, but especially by the so-called "respiratory syncytial virus" or VRS, and is manifested primarily by whistles and difficulty breathing. In parallel, bronchitis infection would the larger bronchi born in the trachea and will end up forking up the bronchioles. However, this term always pediatricians use auscultation demonstrates that there bronchial obstruction which may be caused by a virus but also by noninfectious inflammation, such as allergic.
Latter would what happens repeatedly in asthma: translates the special sensitivity of the bronchi, which overreact to various agents (dust mites and pollen, but also viruses, cold air and moisture), closing, inflamed, and causing subsequent respiratory distress.
bronchiolitis, bronchitis and asthma share obstruction bronchial tree, wheezing and difficulty breathing, but also bronchiolitis may facilitate or cause the onset of asthma, although some experts believe they really are and its first manifestation. Moreover, many pediatricians use the term bronchitis not asthma alarm with the word, so that the boundaries between these three entities are even vaguer.
Bronchiolitis usually begins with cold symptoms of upper respiratory symptoms and superimposed on those of a common cold, but that two or three days are added signs of respiratory distress, of varying intensity, consistent with inflammation and obstruction that the virus has caused in the bronchioles:
- Increased respiratory rate greater than 50 breaths per minute.
- Flaring nostrils, dilated nostrils with each breath, and chest in drawing or sinking of the spaces between the ribs, as an expression of the effort required to get air into his lungs.
- grunting as a grunt, the difficulty to remove air.
- Wheezing or whistling hiss, also expiratory.
This effort can be stressful for the baby, which must be addressed as soon as possible, but when added to these signs of cyanosis or bluish lips and fingers, breathing is not only difficult but insufficient, for it fails to adequately oxygenate the blood, and even if the child has already been visited and diagnosed, you should go to hospital urgently, as if watches him lethargic or worsen symptoms of difficulty.
In mild cases, treatment is very poor, because antibiotics are totally ineffective to treat any viral infection, and bronchioles Baby do not respond to medications used to dilate and inflammation bronchi in asthma, so it comes down to the same care that are recommended for a cold (saline, clean air and good hydration), while maintaining an attitude of expectation armed, because if it gets worse, treatment should be hospitable and the child may require intensive care.
