The Moment I Realized That My Son Is Not Breathing Right and What I Did Afterwards Changed His Life

As a first-time mom to a toddler, I navigate the parenting world with vigilant measures. I read, research, and educate myself in ensuring that his well-being is taken care of perfectly.

I genuinely believe that I did everything in my power to keep him healthy and happy. Then my son started to have a fever with a cough on and off. As my child was hospitalised previously for high fever, I thought this was just another episode of fever.

I gave him medicines that we had in hand, hoping he will get better with plenty of bed rest. What made me change my mind immediately that night was when I saw how his chest went up and down rapidly.

Red flag!

Without any hesitation, I took him immediately to the emergency room. 

After consulting with the doctor, I was informed that my son had contracted pneumonia. My swift decision to take him to the ER might have saved his life as my doctor informed me that pneumonia is the single most significant infectious cause of death in children worldwide¹.

What Is Pneumonia?

Pneumonia is swelling (inflammation) of the tissue in one or both lungs. A bacterial infection usually causes it. It can also be caused by a virus².

Pneumonia is highly contagious, and it can spread from one person to another¹. So I did more digging to find out about pneumonia in children.

Common Symptoms of Pneumonia

Some of the symptoms of bacterial pneumonia include:

• Bluish colour to lips and fingernails³
• Confused mental state or delirium, especially in older people³
• Cough that produces green, yellow, or bloody mucus³
• Fever³
• Heavy sweating³
• Loss of appetite³
• Low energy and extreme tiredness³
• Rapid breathing³
• Rapid pulse³
• Shaking chills³
• Sharp or stabbing chest pain that’s worse with deep breathing or coughing³
• Shortness of breath that gets worse with activity³

Different Types of Pneumonia In Children

Here are the three (3) main types of pneumonia that all parents should be aware of:

1. Bacterial pneumonia⁴

Various bacteria cause this. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common bacterium that causes bacterial pneumonia.

Many other bacteria may cause bacterial pneumonia, including:

• Group B streptococcus
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Group A streptococcus

2. Viral pneumonia⁴

Various viruses, including the following, cause this disease:

• Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV (most commonly seen in children under 5 years or under the
  age of 5)
• Parainfluenza virus
• Influenza virus
• Adenovirus

It is said that early symptoms of viral pneumonia are the same as those of bacterial pneumonia. However, with viral pneumonia, respiratory involvement happens slowly. Wheezing may occur, and the cough may worsen.

Viral pneumonia may make a child susceptible to bacterial pneumonia.

3. Mycoplasma pneumonia⁴

This presents somewhat different symptoms and physical signs than other types of pneumonia. They generally cause mild, widespread pneumonia that affects all age groups but more commonly in older children.

Symptoms usually do not start with a cold and may include the following:

• Fever and cough are the first to develop
• Cough that is persistent and may last three to four weeks
• severe cough that may produce some mucus

Getting Your Child Vaccinated to Help Prevent Pneumonia

After weeks of treatment, my son recovered and was back to his usual self. My husband and I then decided to get him vaccinated with pneumococcal vaccine.

Other than getting him vaccinated, I also teach him to cover his mouth when sneezing or coughing, make sure that his environment is clean and smoke-free, and teach him to wash his hands regularly⁷.

Out of the 8.8 million worldwide annual deaths among children under the age of 5 years in 2008, 467 000 (330,000 - 529,000) cases were due to pneumococcal infections as estimated by World Health Organization¹.

Pneumococcal disease is one of the most widespread vaccine-preventable diseases in Malaysia⁵. Acute otitis media (AOM) is closely associated with viral upper respiratory tract infections⁸. Still, the most common microbial agent found in the middle ear fluid during AOM is Streptococcus pneumoniae⁶.

Now that you have educated yourself with new information, it is time to take action and start vaccinating your child against deadly diseases.

In conjunction with World Pneumonia Day, let’s raise more awareness of pneumonia and the importance of prevention and treatment of the disease.

And let’s protect our future generation today!

Reference

1. (n.d.) World Health Organization. Pneumonia. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/pneumonia
2. (n.d.) National Health Service. Pneumonia. Retrieved from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pneumonia/
3. (n.d.) John Hopkins Medicine. Pneumonia. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/pneumonia
4. (n.d.) Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Pneumonia in Children. Retrieved from https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/pneumonia-children
5. (n.d.) Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia. Pneumococcal Vaccine. Retrieved from https://www.myhealth.gov.my/en/pneumococcal-vaccine/
6. (Sept 2005). National Library of Medicine. Pneumococcal acute otitis media in relation to pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16148847/
7. Burton M, et al. (2011). The effect of handwashing with water or soap on bacterial contamination of hands. www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/1/97
8. Chonmaitree T, Revai K, Grady J, Clos A, Patel J, Nair S, Fan J, Hendrickson K. (March 15, 2008). Viral Upper Respiratory Tract Infection and Otitis Media Complication in Young Children. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2744371/

• This article is written based on the author's personal experience.
• This educational material is brought to you by GSK. 
• GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical Sdn Bhd (3277-U)
• NP-MY-SYN-JRNA-210005 12/2021 
• ©2021 GSK group of companies or its licensor
• For further information please contact your doctor.