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Blood infection or blood poisoning is a condition that can affect any person, at any time. Yet, children, especially newborns, are more susceptible to this disease. This is because of the simple reason that their immunity levels are very low. Children who are not vaccinated are more vulnerable to blood infections and also children between 2 months and 36 months of age (when the immune system has not yet fully developed). Babies under 2 months are shielded from such infection as they receive antibodies from their mother in the womb. The only exception is the group B strep newborn contract from their mother during birth. The risk of the blood infection in the child will start to decreases eventually, as the child turns two and by the time the child turns 3 years old they will be at a lower risk.
So now you will want to know what blood infection in children is? What are the consequences of the blood infection in children? How would you know whether your kid has contracted blood infection? How would you know when to seek medical attention? Continue reading to know how you can identify the symptoms of sepsis, reasons, and its treatment.
Blood infection, which is also known as sepsis is a condition that happens when the immune system overreacts to an infection and attacks organs and tissues in the body.
Sepsis happens when bacteria that cause infection in another part of the body somehow manage to get into the bloodstream of the baby. The presence of bacteria in the blood is a condition called septicemia. Septicemia if not detected on time and promptly treated, can lead to sepsis. Since blood poisoning happens when bacteria enter the blood in conjunction with another infection, the baby will develop an infection before developing sepsis.
The infection can occur in any part of the baby’s body, like the lungs, bones, joints, abdomen, urinary tract, or even the skin. If undetected, blood infection in children can harm the organs like kidneys, liver, bones or even the lungs. It can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated on time.
Even though the major cause of blood infection in babies is bacteria, rarely virus and fungi can also bring about blood infection once they enter the blood stream. The child can contract a blood infection by:
Most babies and children having blood infection do not show any significant symptoms of this disease, making it difficult to diagnose the disease. However, a sudden rise in body temperature or fever that is higher than 100.4 degrees F can be a symptom of the blood infection.
In addition to fever, babies below 3 months show the following symptoms:
Older children show following signs:
Since there are no significant symptoms of sepsis, and most of the symptoms are subtle, your doctor may order a series of lab tests to confirm or to rule out blood infection in children. The doctor first looks for ant sign of ear, throat, or lung infection once your baby develops a fever. If there are no signs they will consider the possibility of a blood infection. If blood poisoning is suspected, your doctor will run:
Timely treatment is essential as the infection can quickly spread to tissues or to heart valves. Therefore, while the lab test’s result are awaited, the doctor will prescribe antibiotics to reduce the fever and minimize the effect of infection on other organs. Once the result of lab test comes out positive then:
If the infection is in the initial stages, children can recover fast with antibiotics. The infection will clear up in a week or so, but it’s very important to make sure the child takes the whole course of antibiotics and return for any follow-up visits.
If you notice any signs of sepsis, call your doctor and get it checked. It is not necessary that the symptoms may be of sepsis, but it’s better to rule it out with a proper medical check-up. Take your child to the doctor if:
Always remember that blood infection if detected early and treated on time can be totally cured with antibiotics. So it is necessary that if notice any unusual signs, seek medical attention immediately. Follow the above tips and prevent sepsis in children.
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