Congenital Pneumonia: Paediatricians caution pregnant women against self medication

Tue, Nov 12, 2019
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Health

Paediatricians caution pregnant women in Gombe State against self medication and advised them to always watch out for early signs of congenital pneumonia in infants for immediate medical treatment.

The experts, from Department of Paediatrics, Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, gave the advise in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
on Tuesday in Abuja, on the commemoration of the World Pneumonia Day.

Pneumonia is caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi and leaves children fighting for breath as their lungs get filled with pus and fluid.

NAN reports that World Pneumonia Day is observed globally on Nov. 12 to highlight the severity of pneumonia and bring
people from all over the world to promote the prevention and treatment of the disease.

The theme for 2019 is “Healthy Lungs for All” which aims to promote lung health globally.

Dr Yasangra Adeniyi of the Department of Paediatrics, Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, however, defined congenital pneumonia as
an infection that infants acquire while in the womb as a result of bacteria-infected water entering the womb.

She said “pneumonia is one of the leading causes of mortality in children under five years in Nigeria; the paediatrics department of
Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, handled many cases on congenital pneumonia.

“One of the risk factors is prolonged rupture of the amniotic fluid during labour. If it breaks for up to 18 hours before delivery,
the child can contact it from the bacteria that goes up into the womb.

“If the mother of the infant is bleeding before delivery or has fever or pain while passing urine, such can predispose the child to
congenital pneumonia.

“So, any pregnant woman with these signs should report to the hospital to be placed on medication and antibiotic to reduce
the risk of newborn having the infection.

“We have seen a lot of cases of congenital pneumonia in this hospital and have managed a lot of them, where most of them require
admission while some even require oxygen administration.”

She urged pregnant women to be proactive so as to identify signs of congenital pneumonia for prevention rather than wait for it to
occur before treatment.

She explained that “a child with congenital pneumonia may have fever, may not cry at birth, may have difficulty in breathing or
may be breathing fast or noisy, and may be unable to suck breast and be weak.

“The infection is treatable. We admit such children and give them antibiotics because the infection is mostly caused by bacteria,
so, mothers and pregnant women must watch out for the signs.’’

While warning that pregnant women who were delivered of their babies at home were at greater risk of the infection, Adeniyi urged
pregnant women to always ensure they attended antenatal and avoid home delivery.

Another Paediatrician in the  department,  Dr Mercy Raymond, advised mothers against taking infants with pneumonia to patent
medicine stores for medication, saying that doctors were in better position to identify and treat such cases.

According to Raymond, pneumonia, which is usually presented as acute illness, is not a chronic disease, but a disease with serious
health implications that can be treated if appropriate measures are promptly taken.

She called on residents of Gombe State to immunise their children against all kinds of micro-organisms that caused illnesses,
adding that “we have vaccines for them.

“Some of the ethological agents, meaning, some of the micro-organisms that cause pneumonia, like streptococcus pneumonia,
haemophilus influenzae, micro bacterium tuberculosis, there are vaccines for them.” (NAN)

-Nov 12, 2019 @15:56 GMT |

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