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Inside our mouth, there scrimmages a huge variety of different bacteria, viruses, and fungi which is called oral flora or oral microbiome. Although it is hardly or not at all invisible, it is your body’s first line of defence and also the second largest and most diverse flora after the gut flora.
It’s a truly complex community: with around 770 different species of bacteria, viruses, and fungi living in there. Under normal conditions, they work together and form a protective barrier against pathogens. The mouth is essential for swallowing, digestion and speech, and together with the nasal cavity it also plays a crucial role in respiration.
The throat microbiome is the dual passage for both respiration and digestion. It is a major and highly reliable gatekeeper against respiratory tract infections. Its condition also determines the frequency and severity of diseases such as pharyngitis and tonsilitis.
While the oral microbiome, having a strong and direct impact on overall health and wellbeing, can be involved in various conditions in the mouth, the throat microbiome serves as an indicator of respiratory health and plays an important role in the body’s overall immune defence system. You therefore surely agree that it is worth to support both the oral and throat microbiome.
When we come down with a cold, we often have a sore throat. It is mostly a bacterial or viral infection of the upper respiratory tract. This is by far the most common illness in preschool children.
A cold or sore throat can affect young children up to 6–8 times a year as their immune system is not fully developed, adults in average feel uncomfortable for 2–3 times a year. Unfortunately, such an infection can spread easily within communities or families due to close contact and shared spaces. And, of course, sore throats often don’t come alone: they are accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose, sneezing, and sometimes difficulties in swallowing. All this happens because the oral and throat microbiome is not in balance.
As 70% of common colds are caused by viruses, antibiotics are oftentimes inefficient, unnecessary, and can even do harm. However, if the doctor prescribes a course of antibiotics, please follow all instructions
Beside professional advice from your physician, there are some measures to ease your little one’s symptoms in case of sore throat or common cold. Unfortunately, there is no miracle cure. However, there are a few things you can do.
Firstly, please clarify if medical help is required. And, if you have a cold or someone else around you is ill, try to minimise contact as much as possible.
During this time of their lives, children are constantly experiencing new things and embarking on new adventures. New surroundings, new friends, new experiences - every day, children see and learn something new. As they make their way through school, their bodies are continuously confronted with new microbes.
Taking care of children's teeth sometimes seems like an almost superhuman feat. The popularity of children in all kinds of goodies, sweets and the not very widespread desire to brush their teeth certainly does not help to fulfill it.
Sometimes when a child is sick, anti- biotics are the only option. But they are not a catch-all solution and could affect digestive health, if not taken consciously.