How can I tell if my baby has an ear infection?
It can be difficult to tell, but if your child has a cold and then gets a fever about three to five days later, it may be caused by an ear infection. She may also tug at her ear or be out-of-sorts. Sucking and swallowing can also hurt, so if your baby starts to feed and then pulls away from your breast or a bottle, seemingly in pain, see your GP.
How common are ear infections?
Ear infections are very common in pre-school children, especially in the winter months.
What causes them?
The problem starts in the Eustachian tube, which connects the middle ear to the back of the nose and throat and transports bacteria from there to the middle ear whenever you yawn or swallow. That's fine as long as the tube is in working order; a healthy Eustachian tube lets the fluids drain back out. But if the tube is swollen due to a cold, allergy, or sinus infection, the fluid becomes trapped in the middle ear. Now any bacteria or viruses living in the fluid have a warm, wet environment in which to flourish; pus develops, and pressure on the eardrum causes it to bulge and become inflamed, a condition known as acute otitis media. Fever appears as your child's body attempts to fight the infection.
Another reason children are susceptible to ear infections is that their Eustachian tubes are short and horizontal. As a child grows up, the tube will triple in length from half an inch/1.25 centimetres to 1.5 inches/3.8 centimetres. It will also become more vertical, reducing the likelihood of infection.
Treatment with antibiotics — usually Amoxicillin — will wipe out the germs, but the fluid may take up to three months to be reabsorbed by the body. Fluid alone may not require medical attention, but if your child has the symptoms of an ear infection, such as a fever, it would be a good idea to call your GP.
What will increase the likelihood that my child will develop an ear infection?
Several factors can increase the risk of ear infections, including allowing your child to drink his bottle lying down and exposure to cigarette smoke. Children under one year of age who spend time in nurseries are more likely to suffer ear infections, as they're exposed to more colds, which can lead to more ear infections. Heredity may also play a role: if you had numerous ear infections as a child, your baby is more likely to get them, too. Breastfeeding helps to prevent ear infections.
Are ear infections serious?
They can be, and they can cause babies and their parents a lot of pain. A severe or untreated infection can break the eardrum and flood the ear canal. Although this happens very rarely, it's important to ask your GP to examine your child's ear if you think she may have an infection. Repeated ear infections can also lead to hearing loss, and while the eardrum heals well, repeated infections can cause scarring. This also happens in a relatively small number of cases, but it's important to stop repeated mild ear infections developing into severe infections to prevent possible long-term damage to your child's hearing.
While your baby is in the throes of an ear infection, you may find yourself staying up all night with a wailing child, making several trips to the GP and to the chemist for medicines, and worrying whether repeated ear infections will lead to hearing loss. All of this can be very stressful.
What does it mean if I see pus oozing from the ear canal?
The appearance of pus or bloody-yellowish fluid indicates the development of a small hole in the eardrum, which will usually heal by itself, but you should call your GP.
My baby has a bad cough and fever. Could she have pneumonia?
Pneumonia is a general term for an infection of the lungs that may be caused by a number of different viruses and bacteria. Since fever and cough are pneumonia's main symptoms, it can be hard to tell if your baby has it. If your child has a cold that seems to get suddenly worse after a few days or doesn't seem to be getting any better after about two weeks, call your doctor.
How is pneumonia diagnosed?
There are two types of pneumonia, viral and bacterial. Viral pneumonia typically starts like a cold and slowly but steadily gets worse. Your child may have a fever of 38.6 degrees C/101.5 degrees F or more, a worsening cough, and rapid breathing. With bacterial pneumonia, your child will have a sudden onset of symptoms - fever up to 39 degrees C/103 degrees F, rapid breathing, and coughing. She won't want to eat, and she'll seem very ill.
Your doctor will listen to your child's lungs with her stethoscope. Since pneumonia is an infection of the lungs, she'll be listening for decreased breathing sounds or other abnormal sounds in your child's lungs. If your child has pneumonia she will usually be admitted to hospital where a chest X-ray will be ordered to see what's going on in your child's lungs. It's likely that she'll have more tests there to determine the cause of pneumonia - and appropriate treatment. These tests might include doing a nasal or throat culture, or they may take some blood to see if the infection is viral or bacterial.
How is pneumonia treated?
Treatment depends on what kind of infection it is, how ill the child is, and how old she is. Viral pneumonia, like all other viral infections, doesn't respond to antibiotics, so treatment may be limited to rest and fluids. Your doctor may also provide your child with supplemental oxygen through a tube or mask to make breathing easier. Bacterial pneumonia will be treated with antibiotics, which may be given via a drip.
What can I do to prevent my child from getting pneumonia in the future?
There are a number of things that you can do to boost your child's chances of staying healthy and decrease her chances of getting pneumonia:
Keep her up to date on her vaccinations. The Hib, diphtheria, and whooping cough vaccines are all important in preventing diseases which can lead to pneumonia.
Practice good personal hygiene. Wash your hands and your children's hands frequently to prevent the spread of germs.
Create a smoke-free environment. If you and your partner smoke, give up. Studies have shown that children who live around cigarette smoke become ill more often and are more susceptible to illnesses such as pneumonia, upper respiratory infections, asthma, and ear infections.
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