Increasing vomiting, abdominal pain in children: What should parents do?

Many children are hospitalized because of vomiting

Ms. Le Thi Thuy Quynh – Thanh Tri, Hanoi said that in the past 1 week, both her sons and her sister’s children had abdominal pain and vomiting. Quynh took her child to the hospital to see many mothers who also took their children to the doctor because the baby had vomiting and diarrhea even though he was completely healthy before.

Quynh said that many mothers are also worried about vomiting and digestive disorders in their children, while recently there has been a lot of information about a mysterious hepatitis disease in children, which makes them even more worried.

Ms. Bao Ngoc – Hanoi also shared that her daughter was tired after going out, didn’t eat and vomited a lot. After the eldest daughter suffered like this, even the younger daughter showed signs of vomiting, then she was thirsty and kept vomiting.

When the baby got better, but the baby’s condition was still tired, so Ngoc and her husband sent her to the hospital. When entering the hospital while waiting for the examination, Ms. Ngoc also saw that there were 10 children, 8 of them were bowing their heads in plastic bags to vomit. The children all vomited and all looked tired.

According to BS. Dao Truong Giang, Pediatric Specialist, Saint Paul Hospital, Hanoi, recently, there has been an increase in children showing signs of vomiting and going outside to visit the hospital.

Similarly at Nhoa Nhi, 103 Military Hospital, according to a pediatrician, “there are children admitted to the hospital in a state of dehydration, fatigue, pale lips, cold hands and feet, unresponsive calls”.

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Viet Ha – Head of Gastroenterology Department of National Children’s Hospital, gastrointestinal infections are the most common cause of abdominal pain and vomiting in children.

The cause of vomiting and abdominal pain in children is acute gastroenteritis caused by viruses such as rotavirus, norovirus, calicivirus, adenovirus, Covid-19.

Gastroenteritis and intestinal inflammation can occur when children eat contaminated food or water or close their hands or play with contaminated toys. The hot weather of summer increases the growth of flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, ants, etc., leading to the spread of pathogens.

In addition, Assoc. Ha said that the habit of using ice and cold drinks causes easy infection if the water source is polluted. Summer is the time when children and their families can travel more, use prepared foods or street foods that are susceptible to bacteria or bacterial toxins such as meat, fish, seafood, ice cream, eggs. , milk and vegetables increase the inflammation of the stomach – intestines caused by bacterial infections.

Children with vomiting must receive intravenous fluids at the National Children’s Hospital.

Vomiting due to bacterial gastroenteritis usually begins suddenly and resolves rapidly within 24 hours. Other manifestations such as bloody diarrhea, fever or abdominal pain will appear at the same time or after 12-24 hours.

When a child is vomiting, parents should take the child to the hospital if the vomiting lasts for more than 24 hours or the child vomits continuously, vomits everything after eating or drinking, the vomit is green or yellow, there are signs of vomiting. presence of bright red blood or clots.

In addition to vomiting, the child may have diarrhea at the same time or after vomiting, abdominal pain. Diarrhea may persist even after the abdominal pain has gone. Children need to be taken to a medical facility if they have loose, watery stools many times a day, bloody stools or signs of dehydration.

For children with a history of Covid-19 or contact with someone with Covid-19, living in epidemic areas, parents also need to pay attention to symptoms of abdominal pain and vomiting.

Results from studies around the world show that 30-40% of children infected with Covid-19 have gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

After being infected with Covid-19 from 4-6 weeks, about 10% of children have abdominal pain and vomiting. When these symptoms appear, the child needs to be examined because the child may have appendicitis, intussusception, acute pancreatitis, and peritoneal effusion.

Taking care of children with vomiting and abdominal pain

According to Assoc. Ha, when a child has a stomach ache, the first thing parents should do is reassure, comfort and let the child lie down. It is necessary to closely monitor the child to detect abnormal signs to take the child to the hospital in time.

Do not use pain relievers because they can obscure the necessary signs to detect the disease, making it difficult to diagnose.

Children need to drink enough water to avoid dehydration when vomiting or diarrhea a lot. It is best to give your child an oral rehydration and electrolyte solution (Oresol).

There are many preparations (tablets, powder packs) to make Oresol solution, parents need to mix according to the instructions. Parents should not let their children drink too much at once, but should patiently let them drink slowly, in small sips, 50-100ml of Oresol after each time the child has vomiting or diarrhea.

If the child has been taking Oresol according to the principle of little, but still vomits and has a lot of bowel movements, parents need to quickly take the child to the hospital for rehydration, electrolytes with intravenous fluids.

Parents do not self-administer anti-vomiting and anti-diarrheal drugs. Children should be given liquid, easily digestible foods during the illness and return to normal and eat more when the child recovers.

If the child has not vomited for 12-24 hours, the baby can eat and drink normally but still give him plenty of water.

Start with foods that are easy to digest like cereal or yogurt. If the child has a fever of 38.5oC or higher, parents should use common antipyretic drugs such as Efferalgan, Hapacol, Tylenol to keep the child’s fever. Do not arbitrarily take antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription.

K.Chi