Thrush is a common disease in newborns, especially in premature infants one week after birth. Commonly known as "white mouth paste", Chinese medicine is called "snow mouth disease". Caused by candida albicans infection, it belongs to a kind of fungi, also known as mold. It is generally believed that it is caused by low immune function of newborns, such as weakness, malnutrition, diarrhea, or long-term use of various antibiotics or hormones such as prednisone due to infection.
If the mother finds small white spots on the inside of the baby's mouth, she sometimes finds these spots on the baby's tongue. Mom can gently try to remove these white spots with clean fingers or cotton swabs. If it is easy to clean them, then these are the residues of milk. If these white spots are difficult to clean, the baby's mouth is accompanied by bleeding symptoms, which is probably thrush bacteria.
Check the baby's mouth, you can see that there are white spots on the oral mucosa, which are distributed in the baby's tongue, throat, cheeks and lips.
When breastfeeding, mothers should pay more attention to the baby's mouth. If white spots are found in the baby's mouth, they are slightly convex and similar in shape to breast flaps. Then stop and take a closer look. If you wipe off the white plaque with a cotton swab, you can see a bloody wound below, then the baby is probably infected with thrush. That thrush will not only grow in the mouth, but also spread to the throat, tonsils, gums and even esophagus and trachea. It can also be infected, and it is difficult to breathe and swallow. A few cases may be complicated with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, which may affect lifelong immune function. It can even be secondary to other bacterial infections, leading to sepsis.
If you find that your baby refuses to eat and cries, you should pay attention to whether there is any disease in your baby's mouth. Thrush can be very painful, and the baby will refuse to eat because of the pain. After thrush, the baby may be accompanied by slight fever, irritability, crying and dislike breastfeeding. At this time, mom should pay more attention.
2. What are the causes of thrush? What are the causes of thrush?
Thrush is an infection of oral mucosa, which is caused by a mold named Candida albicans. In fact, Candida albicans exists in the mouth, skin and vagina of normal people, but the onset depends mainly on the adaptability and resistance of the body. The following conditions can lead to infection:
● The mother's vagina is infected by mold, and the baby is infected by contacting the mother's secretion through the birth canal;
● Bottles and nipples are not disinfected thoroughly, and the mother's nipples are not clean when breastfeeding, which can become a source of infection;
● Contact with food, clothes and toys infected by Candida. In addition, infants and young children begin to teether in 6 ~ 7 months. At this time, there may be slight swelling and pain in the gums, so infants love to bite their fingers and toys, which is easy to bring bacteria and mold into the mouth and cause infection.
● Kindergartens live in groups, sometimes suffering from thrush due to cross infection;
Long-term use of antibiotics, or improper use of hormone therapy, leads to imbalance of flora in the body, and mold takes advantage of it to multiply and cause thrush.
Third, the baby got thrush, what should I do?
At present, the commonly used method is to use antibiotics-nystatin; The second is to wash children's oral cavity with 2% ~ 4% sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) solution before and after breastfeeding, so that the oral cavity becomes an alkaline environment to prevent the growth and reproduction of Candida albicans.
The biggest disadvantage of these two methods is that they are often repeated, and nystatin is an antibiotic. Too many nystatin tablets can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. But it is not good for the baby's immune system.
Therefore, despite taking the baby to the hospital for treatment, the hospital also suggested using nystatin tablets, so far there is no better way.
Last time, it was also an accidental opportunity. Knowing the Qingjiang red grass, Baidu said it was an ancestral Chinese herbal medicine. It has a good effect on thrush. The key is not to hurt the baby. After my youngest son used it, it was fine once, and it didn't happen again. I've used nystatin before, but I keep repeating it. It's annoying!
4. Can infant thrush be prevented? If so, how to prevent it?
● Women with vaginal mycosis should be actively treated to cut off the route of infection;
● Wash the tableware eaten by infants and steam it 10 ~ 15 minutes.
● Breast-feeding mothers should wash the areola with warm water before feeding; And every time you hold a child, you should take a shower, change your underwear, cut your nails and wash your hands first;
● Dismantle, wash and dry the bedding and toys of infants and young children regularly; Baby's toiletries should be separated from parents and disinfected regularly; Someone with beriberi at home can also cause thrush, because the bacteria of beriberi are related to the bacteria of thrush;
● Children should regularly carry out some outdoor activities to increase the body's resistance;
● Infants and young children who live collectively in kindergartens must have separate appliances and cannot be mixed; In addition, avoid contact between infants and infants with thrush;
● Antibiotics should be used under the guidance of a doctor.