Sore throat in children: diagnosis, treatment, prevention

Abstract

Introduction. Sore throat often accompanies acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis in both children and adults. Inflammation of the posterior pharyngeal wall, acute pharyngitis, almost never occurs in isolated form in children and is often accompanied by symptoms of acute adenoiditis and / or tonsillitis.Aim. To study the effectiveness of the treatment of exacerbation of chronic non-streptococcal tonsillitis with an antiseptic herbal product in childhood.Materials and methods. We examined 58 children diagnosed with exacerbation of chronic tonsillitis for the period from June 2018 to December 2019. The age of the children ranged from 6 years 4 months up to 14 years old, the average age was 8.3 + 2.4 years, the group included 32 boys (55%) and 26 girls (45%). The duration of the disease ranged from 1 to 5.5 years. The exacerbations of chronic tonsillitis occured 3-4 times a year. The patients included in the study received the antiseptic herbal product in the form of drops at a dose of 15 drops five times/day for 7 days, and then 15 drops three times/day for another 7 days. The course of therapy was 14 days.Results. The provided course of therapy resulted in the significant positive changes overtime: reduced intensity of complaints already at the second visit, significant reduction of complaints at the third visit and actual relief of complaints by the fourth visit in the patients receiving the monotherapy with antiseptic herbal product.Conclusions. Preservation of the normal microbiome of the upper respiratory tract in children maintains effective functioning of MALT and thereby reduces the risk of the development and chronification of inflammation in the oropharynx. The antiseptic herbal medicinal product may be regarded as the alternative to antibiotic therapy in children with exacerbation of chronic tonsillitis, as it has a multifunctional effect on the mucous membranes lining upper respiratory tract, stimulates innate and adaptive immunity, and increases the resistance of mucous membranes to the pathogens.