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Epidemiological background of current respiratory infections
Cases of respiratory infections are frequent, especially among children. Influenza and Mycoplasma pneumoniae have become the two protagonists, making countless families feel anxious.
Whenever such a high incidence period comes, many parents can't sleep at night because of their children's cough and fever. In the hospital, long queues have become the norm, and a number plate may have to wait for half a day. How to distinguish Mycoplasma pneumoniae, influenza, and bacterial infection from routine blood tests?
In this case, parents especially want to quickly understand their child's condition through some routine tests, such as routine blood tests, so that they can take countermeasures as soon as possible.
Routine blood tests and respiratory tract infections
Routine blood tests are an essential part of diagnosing respiratory tract infections, and doctors can usually make a preliminary determination of whether the infection is caused by bacteria or viruses by looking at the white blood cell count and its differentiation (such as the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes).
However, this traditional way of judging is not without its limitations. Although it is generally accepted that an increase in the total number of leukocytes may indicate a bacterial infection, while a decrease in leukopenia may be a viral cause, this rule is not absolute.
Sometimes, even with bacterial infections, the white blood cell count of patients may not rise but fall, especially in some patients with weakened immunity, which requires us to make a final judgment not only on the results of blood routine.
Application and challenges of routine blood testing in the identification of different respiratory tract infections
Routine blood testing is an art when it comes to identifying different types of respiratory infections.
For example, when detecting Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, we look at specific inflammatory markers, such as platelet counts, in addition to the regular white blood cell count.
In bacterial infections, platelet counts may be mildly elevated, while in severe viral infections, especially influenza, platelet counts may be low.
C-reactive protein (CRP) detection is also critical to help us more accurately determine the activity of inflammation and the type of infection.
For example, a significant increase in CRP levels is often associated with a bacterial infection, whereas a viral infection may cause only a mild or no increase in CRP.
In those cases where routine blood testing is inconclusive, specific antibody testing (eg, Mycoplasma pneumoniae IgM) can provide additional clues.
This specific antibody test can help confirm or rule out certain types of infection, especially if clinical symptoms do not completely match routine blood count results.
The role of parents in the diagnosis of respiratory tract infections in children
It is important to know how to analyze the routine blood report, but it is also important to accurately grasp the timing of the test. Parents' ability to judge at this point directly affects the accuracy of the test results.
We often see that parents are often anxious because they are worried about their children's health, and they want to have a blood routine test not long after their children have symptoms.
However, early testing does not always lead to accurate results, because it takes time for the white blood cells and other inflammatory markers in the body to change after infection, and the data that may be obtained from doing it too early does not reflect the true condition.
When parents describe their child's condition, detailed information can provide doctors with more clues, including when the child started to have a fever, whether the symptoms have worsened, whether other family members have similar symptoms, and whether the child has recently been exposed to patients with respiratory infections.
This is all important information for evaluating a patient's condition and determining the type of infection, which can help doctors make more accurate diagnosis and treatment decisions.
Protect your child's health together
Although a routine blood test is a common diagnostic procedure, it does not completely determine a child's condition, especially if we are trying to distinguish the type of infection such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae, influenza or bacterial infection.
Factors that determine this include timing, comprehensive symptom information, and other specific indicators.
From this point of view, parents and doctors need to work together and work together. Doctors have the medical expertise to analyze and interpret the results of the examination and give the appropriate treatment plan.
Parents, on the other hand, are aware of their children's physical condition and living conditions, and the information they provide is of great help to doctors in assessing, diagnosing and treating diseases.
Parents should not only learn medical knowledge, but also learn to communicate with doctors to jointly defend their children's health.
When we understand this, we can have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of respiratory infections, and we can also understand and use the results of routine blood tests more scientifically to provide better care for our children.