Pneumonia in kids: How to spot a lower respiratory tract infection

The air quality in major cities has been declining consistently. This has given rise to several respiratory infections including bronchitis and pneumonia. Even among kids, there lies the danger of severe chest infections, warns pediatrician Dr Nihar Parekh.

Taking to Instagram, he recently explained how parents can detect lower respiratory tract infections in kids at home. According to him, there is a very helpful 'tool' to check for any signs of severe bronchitis, bronchopneumonia or an impending pneumonia in kids. Besides telling his viewers what it is, he also discusses how it can be checked.

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Dr Parekh says, "The most undervalued tool that can be used by parents is measurement of respiratory rate (RR) i.e. the number of breaths your child takes in a minute."

"Normally, we are not measuring the respiratory rate, but during this poor air quality season, incredibly low AQIs, with the kind of crazy lung infections, pneumonia, bronchopneumonia and bronchitis, I would beg every parent that if your child today has a cough and cold, is running a fever, please keep an eye on their RR," he adds.

According to the pediatrician, if the RR is more than beyond a certain number, parents should take their children to the doctor the same day or the very next day.

In the video, Dr Parekh also explains how one can measure their child's respiratory rate.

He shares, "When the child is sleeping peacefully, take the shirt off and count the number of times the chest rises exactly for a minute. If your child is under one year of age RR more than 50/minute is a problem. If your child is 1-5 years of age, anything above 40 breaths/minute is a problem. If your child is above 5 years of age, anything above 30/minute."

"Make sure your child does not know you're measuring it, because they can get very conscious, hence best done in their sleep," she advises.

As per Dr Parekh, flaring of the nostrils or suprasternal notch can be a sign of lower respiratory tract infection. Suprasternal notch is the large, visible dip in between the neck, also known as tracheal tugging - when the skin in the middle of your neck sucks in.

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According to Cedar Sinai, cases of bacterial pneumonia can lead to symptoms including:

- Fever

- Chills

- Fast or hard breathing

- Headache

- Fussiness

- Tiredness

- Loss of appetite

- Cough

In case you notice any of the above-listed symptoms in your kids or any irregularities in the respiratory rate, it is imperative that you take your child to a doctor immediately.

The doctor will get a chest X-ray done, will do blood tests and if need be, will also ask for a sputum culture, which is a test done on the mucus or the sputum that is coughed up from the lungs and into the mouth.

Depending on what the cause of your child's respiratory symptoms is, your doctor will discuss the necessary treatment.