A Burgas children's doctor has written a book on atypical pneumonia. It says a child can have the lung infection without a high fever and without looking seriously ill. The author, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Boris Angelov, heads the first paediatrics ward at the University Hospital in Burgas (UMBAL Burgas).
The monograph is called "Atypical Bacterial Pneumonia in Childhood". Its reviewers, Prof. Dr. Penka Perenovska and Prof. Dr. Dimitrichka Bliznakova, say it has practical value for paediatricians and family doctors.
Atypical pneumonias are lung infections that often lack the usual signs of classic pneumonia. According to the research Angelov analysed, they account for up to 30% of pneumonia cases in children, mostly of school age. The main cause is the bacterium mycoplasma.
The main symptom is a stubborn dry cough that can last for weeks. Children may also feel weak, have a headache and a sore throat, and run a slight fever. While the lungs are inflamed, a child often plays and eats as normal. Sometimes a doctor finds none of the usual signs of pneumonia even when listening to the chest again.
Parents should see a doctor if the cough goes on or gets worse and the child's general condition declines. A child with trouble breathing or fast breathing, blue lips and severe weakness needs urgent medical help.
In the monograph, Angelov writes that ordinary antibiotics do not work against all pneumonias, and the wrong drug can slow recovery. A child should start to improve 48 to 72 hours after treatment begins. If not, a doctor should examine the child again. Parents should not change the medicine on their own.
The book also covers why the diagnosis is hard, how to treat the illness correctly and which modern tests are used, including PCR. Angelov also writes about bacteria becoming more resistant to antibiotics. His main conclusion is that a quick and accurate diagnosis helps a child recover and cuts unneeded antibiotics.
Angelov wrote the book because of a rise in cases of mycoplasma pneumonia treated without success with the wrong antibiotics. Another reason was a 17-year-old patient with tularaemia, a rare lung infection. For months he was given various drugs, including for suspected tuberculosis, but nothing worked. After specific tests, doctors found the cause and prescribed treatment that worked.