Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is threatening, and symptomatic treatment is the key.
In the infusion room of Ningxia Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are many small patients treated by infusion.
From November 24th to 25th, the reporter visited many hospitals in Yinchuan and found that the pediatric consulting rooms and infusion rooms of major hospitals were crowded with children with fever and cough. Among them, many children have "mycoplasma pneumonia" which has been frequently searched recently. Many citizens are worried about this: what disease is mycoplasma pneumonia? How to prevent and treat it? The reporter interviewed pediatric experts from relevant institutions and hospitals.
The incidence of mycoplasma pneumoniae infection by disease control experts this year did not exceed the level in 2019.
Gong Rui, chief of the infectious disease prevention and control department of Ningxia Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview that mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is a common respiratory pathogen and a microorganism between virus and bacteria. Its incubation period is relatively long, and most of the symptoms are mild, and only a few people will develop into severe diseases. "This disease has a periodic epidemic every three to seven years. Our tests on some sentinel hospitals have found that the incidence rate this year has indeed increased compared with last year, but it has not exceeded the level in 2019."
"In community-acquired pneumonia, this is a common pathogen, not a new and rare disease, nor a terrible pneumonia. Therefore, this is just a common disease, and it is a common disease. You don’t have to panic. " Gong Rui said that at present, mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is on the rise. One of the reasons is that in the process of fighting the COVID-19 epidemic in the past three years, the people have done a relatively good job in respiratory protection measures such as wearing masks, and the overall incidence of respiratory infections has shown a downward trend. After the epidemic control is released this year, it is inevitable that mycoplasma infection will increase in autumn and winter when respiratory diseases are on the rise. Most people infected with mycoplasma pneumoniae are children over 5 years old. This kind of respiratory infection will cause great infection in the population. If there is close contact and no corresponding protective measures are taken, children infected with mycoplasma pneumoniae will also transmit this mycoplasma to adults.
Pediatric experts have a good effect in treating mycoplasma pneumonia with integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine.
"Since July this year, the number of children infected with mycoplasma pneumoniae has gradually increased, especially in the past month, the number of children with mycoplasma pneumonia has increased significantly. There are 150 beds in the fourth-floor ward of general pediatrics in our hospital, and all of them are full at present, most of them are children with respiratory tract infection, and more than half of the children with mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. " Li Lei, deputy director of the General Pediatrics Department of Yinchuan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, said that the symptoms of mycoplasma pneumoniae infection are similar to those of most pneumonia, with fever and cough as the main clinical symptoms, accompanied by headache, runny nose, sore throat and earache. At present, the training and treatment of mycoplasma pneumonia are standardized, and there are scientific guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, which can be accepted by many secondary hospitals and community hospitals.
"Some children have severe immune reactions and mixed infections, which will cause refractory diseases. But don’t worry, there are still many ways to treat the symptoms. If it is refractory mycoplasma pneumonia, such as azithromycin resistance, we can change the dressing and replace it with other types of antibacterial drugs. If it is a compound infection, other antibacterial drugs can be added. If it is caused by abnormal immune response, it can be treated with glucocorticoid, and if necessary, it can be treated with immunoglobulin. " Li Lei said that infection with mycoplasma pneumoniae does not necessarily cause pneumonia, and only when mycoplasma pneumoniae invades the lower respiratory tract can mycoplasma pneumonia occur.
The reporter saw in the pediatric clinic of Ningxia Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine that there were also many children who came to see a doctor. Wang Huimin, the chief pediatrician of the hospital, said that there is no need to panic about mycoplasma pneumonia in children, and Chinese medicine has some special treatments. "For mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, as well as high fever, cough, pneumonia, etc., Chinese medicine combined with children’s physique, using decoction or external treatment, can achieve good results." Wang Huimin said that the 2023 edition of "Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Mycoplasma Pneumonia in Children" mentioned that according to the principle of syndrome differentiation and treatment, mycoplasma pneumonia can be treated with traditional Chinese medicine such as clearing heat and dispersing lung. In addition to oral administration of traditional Chinese medicine, there are many distinctive external treatments for mycoplasma pneumonia and other respiratory infectious diseases. For example, massage for children, acupoint application, cupping by suction, fumigation and washing with traditional Chinese medicine, pricking collaterals and bloodletting. "If the child has mycoplasma pneumonia, azithromycin should be used. Chinese medicine believes that antibiotics belong to cold substances, and cold is easy to hurt the spleen and stomach. You can take some dietotherapy to care for your child’s spleen and stomach and improve your resistance. " Wang Huimin said.
The hospital takes many measures to alleviate the problem of difficulty in seeing a doctor and hospitalization
At present, mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is not only threatening, but also the season of high incidence of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and other respiratory diseases. Pediatric clinics in major hospitals are overcrowded. Many parents are worried that if they go to the hospital now, they will not be able to see the disease and live in the hospital. In this regard, the reporter learned that at present, all major hospitals in Yinchuan have taken active measures to deal with the peak of pediatric visits.
Zhao Guiqin, chief physician of pediatrics and deputy director of general pediatrics of the First People’s Hospital of Yinchuan City, told the reporter that autumn and winter are the seasons of high incidence of respiratory infections every year, and the hospital has prepared four countermeasures in advance. First of all, in the outpatient clinic, the appointment registration method is adopted, and the plus sign is added at any time according to the number of patients. Secondly, increase the number of pediatric clinics and sitting doctors, increase the previous general pediatric clinic to two general pediatric clinics in the morning and two general pediatric clinics in the afternoon, and have a pediatric specialist clinic every day. The pediatric emergency department of the hospital is also open 24 hours a day. Third, in order to improve the patient’s medical environment and make the people feel less crowded, the hospital expanded the waiting area on the second floor of pediatrics; In order to solve the problem of pediatric infusion, the hospital transferred the work of adult infusion to the community, and all the infusion rooms on the second floor of the emergency building gave way to pediatric patients; In order to solve the shortage of pediatric hospitalization, on the basis of the original 41 beds, 24 beds were added on the seventh floor, and they were adjusted at any time according to the situation of children. Fourth, in recent years, hospitals have opened holiday clinics and evening clinics to meet the medical needs of the masses on weekends and after school.
On the morning of November 25th, Wang Aiping, deputy director of general pediatrics department of Yinchuan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, was busy in the clinic. She told reporters that in order to cope with the peak of mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, the hospital has increased the number of outpatient clinics and the number of doctors since September. All the doctors in the children’s health department of the hospital are involved in the work of pediatric outpatient clinics. At present, the number of pediatric outpatient clinics has increased from 9 to 15. In mid-October this year, the hospital started the evening clinic again, and it was normal from 18: 00 to 22: 00. With the increase of hospitalized children, on the basis of 140 conventional beds in pediatrics, 14 beds on the first floor have been added, and at the same time, beds in pediatric wards have been appropriately increased according to the situation to meet the needs of hospitalized children as much as possible. "We have also increased the number of observation beds in the emergency department. If the patient is seriously ill and cannot be admitted to the hospital for a while, he will be temporarily placed under observation in the emergency observation room. The next day, the doctor in the pediatric inpatient department will go to the emergency observation room to evaluate, and those who need to be admitted to the hospital will be given priority to ensure that the children who need hospitalization will be admitted to the hospital as soon as possible. In short, we are ready for a long-term battle and go all out to cope with the peak of medical treatment. Parents don’t have to be too anxious. " Wang Aiping said.
In addition, the reporter learned that in order to facilitate the residents to seek medical treatment nearby, the Health and Wellness Committee of the Autonomous Region has collected and sorted out the medical institutions that can provide pediatric diagnosis and treatment services in the whole region, and published a list of 81 medical institutions on the official website and WeChat WeChat official account, including the addresses of branches of 3A hospitals and hospitals in cities and counties, whether there are outpatient and emergency services, whether they can be hospitalized by infusion, etc., so as to facilitate the people to choose a suitable hospital nearby for timely treatment. (Reporter Shang Lingbin/Wen Wei Guochang/Figure)