Pneumonia Experiences

[SundanceLeopard]

Looking to find what other people's experiences have been with the treatment/recovery time for pneumonia. My 6yo was recently diagnosed after a 3 week cough. She's now had 2 courses of antibiotics, steroids and an inhaler but isn't showing any signs of improvement. We're on day 11 of little to no appetite, not drinking as much albeit is still drinking 'enough', getting more breathless than she was previously, no change to the cough, has looked like a ghost for the past 24 hours and is fluctuating between running fevers and feeling cold (cheeks felt like they'd had ice packs held against them). Please reassure me that there is an end in sight, it just feels like an uphill battle at the moment.

When was the last review with a medic? The change to breathing sounds like it needs a review.

You would hope to see an improvement now, but I am not a medic but trust your instincts and see if you can get a review today things can change quickly with kids & recovery is not always linear.

Sometimes they do need more help with breathing via a nebuliser etc -

Do you have a kids SATS machine at home?

@rainrainSummerornot she was reviewed in a&e yesterday which is where she had the steroids and inhaler as she'd developed a wheeze. We have a oximeter that claims to work from the age of 4 but isn't always accurate unfortunately. I may take her to get checked out again tonight as the cold/paleness is something that developed overnight

What is the SAT reading?

Is your GP practice any good for on the day appointments, can you get seen this afternoon?

Keep an eye on breathing rate & if pulling in at ribs or neck & if worried just go back down for a review.

Hope things get better soon

What caused the pneumonia? If antibiotics didn't work, didn't this mean it was viral? Did they rule covid out? Especially when a cough was a symptom? Running fever: what virus/bacteria causes this? Did they test? Did they test for past covid infection with a PCR test? Knowing that pneumonia is the most common covid complication, how did they rule it out? ''The type of pneumonia associated with COVID-19 is almost always in both lungs at the same time (bilateral)'' Was his pneumonia in both lungs at the same time? https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24002-covid-pneumonia

Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience.

Has a sputum sample been tested? This should be done if the antibiotics don't seem to be helping. It may be that the infection is viral but it also may be that she is on the wrong ones. (Unfortunately, this happened to my DS and he was very ill for a while and the nurses were concerned about sepsis. He still had the infection 4 months later when he was given the right antibiotics.) Pneumonia can go downhill quickly, so do get her checked again if you're worried. Has she had a chest x-ray? Is she in pain when she breathes?

Also, we were sent away from hospital with instructions to use the inhaler more (treatment for a viral wheeze) when the condition was very much more serious. There seems to be a tendency to play down chest infections in children and young people in our local hospital. I hope it's not widespread but be on the lookout for this.

I hope your DD feels better soon. (BTW DS hardly eats when he gets pneumonia, but he makes up for it later.)

@ForRoseExpert she has been tested for Covid which was negative. I'd say it is bacterial and not viral as there was a slight improvement once started but has deteriorated since. It is double pneumonia with the right being slightly worse

@rainrainSummerornot oxygen levels have fluctuated between 93-95%. Thank you!

@Chaotica only thing they have done is a chest xray to confirm the diagnosis, no septum or bloods tested. She hasn't complained about pain other than occasionally a pain on her side around where her lungs are. From previous experience our local hospital is the same with down playing respiratory illnesses. It can be very frustrating!

Asking the GP/practice nurse to order a test on a sputum sample would be the way to go then @SundanceLeopard . The x-ray should have told them something (and might also have ruled some nasty things out), but you do need to know at this stage whether she is on the right antibiotics if she isn't improving.

I had two courses of antibiotics, a course of prednisone and a few inhalers. I'd already had a "a chest infection/bronchitis" for a month before they gave me anything and then I had a chest xray. It took about three months to feel totally better, and about a year to get back to normal in regard to cardio ability.

It can take a really long time to feel even vaguely well ☹️

But antibiotics didn't get rid of it, this is why they were used twice and she is still not well. Also steroids, inhalers didn't work. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4471-pneumonia ''Blood tests: Your provider can use a blood test to help determine what kind of infection is causing your pneumonia; Sputum test: You’re asked to cough and then spit into a container to collect a sample for a lab to examine. The lab will look for signs of an infection and try to determine what’s causing it.'' This is why it's important to know what caused pneumonia: ''The best way to prevent pneumonia is to get vaccinated against bacteria and viruses that commonly cause it. There are also everyday precautions you can take to help reduce your risk of pneumonia'' - did they tell you about prevention, vaccines? This is an American website, America always promoted covid vaccines for children, while UK was busy fighting and winning against covid vaccines, allowing and encouraging children to be exposed to covid repeatedly and without treatment, prevention, monitoring. Now everything is a mystery, while UK children continue to be exposed to repeated infections, despite safe vaccines

Our local hospital would consider admitting a little one with those sats. Both my DS's have been in and needed to maintain 95 in air over a reasonable amount of time to be considered for discharge. It sounds like you're being vigilant and proactive but get help if you feel things are not going well.

My 9yo ds was in hospital for two nights last year with pneumonia. He had had a cough for a few weeks then developed temperature of 40 and very rapid heat beat and severe chills and shakes. He had to have antibiotics via IV and a different oral one. Once released he had to be on two different ones for two weeks. When he started the IV ones in hospital he started improving within a few hours. They did a blood test and confirmed it was caused by pneumococcal bacteria and he was on the correct antibiotics to fight it. If in any doubt take your dd to get checked again. I hope she starts to feel better soon.

I would go back to AandE personally, if she is getting more breathless, that is a worrying sign

It sounds like she needs admission and iv antibiotics, I'd go back to a&e.

I just saw the update about the SATS @SundanceLeopard . If her readings are around that level for more than a brief time, I'd take her back in. (This is the advice I've been given for DS and he is older and perhaps better able to withstand illness.)

How is she now? Hope things are ok?

I would think about going back to A&E, especially if she is more breathless.

She might need different antibiotics or IV antibiotics. It might also be worth asking for an ultrasound to check what's going on inside.

DD developed pneumonia when she was little but as she was being treated for scarlet fever, it went unnoticed until the infection became really very serious. Although the x-ray showed the infection, it wasn't until she had an ultrasound that we discovered her left lung had completely collapsed and there was a partial collapse of her right lung. Her thoracic cavity was filled with fluid which was causing the collapsed lung. At 4 she couldn't describe what was happening, she just kept saying her tummy hurt.

How are things now @SundanceLeopard ?