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What Is The Cause And Treatment For Horse Voice In A Child?

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Posted on Thu, 12 Feb 2015
Question: Hi,
My son is 3 years old and has what appears to be esophigal thrush. I noticed he was hoarse a few days ago and his hoarse voice has not gone away. Today I took a flashlight and looked in his throat, there were a few white spots on his tonsils. He doesnt have white spots on his tounge but his breath does smell a little sour. He had been diagnosed with thrush just like this over the summer. Over the summer, he wasn't on antibiotics.....but got it from possibly milk bottles? He has been on antibiotics this fall and ended them a few weeks ago. Augmentin and Flonase, the nose spray steroid. Are there any other tests I need to do with him to rule out underlying diseases? He is eating and acting normally other than the hoarse voice, although he has been a little more thirsty than normal lately.

I want to make sure his immune system is functioning properly or there may not be diabetes?. Over the summer when he had thrush the first time, I was worried about cancer and the hospital did a Complete Blood count with differentials. They came back normal.

Should I be concerned this is the second time my 3 year old has had thrush??
doctor
Answered by Dr. Sumit Bhatti (36 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
FIrst rule out adenoid hypertrophy.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query.

1. First rule out adenoid hypertrophy. Adenoid tissue enlarges between the ages of 3 and 7 years in children, leading to mouth breathing, dryness of the throat (hence the thirst), repeated sore throats, laryngitis (hoarseness), similar appearance of the tonsils and breath odor.

2. I would be skeptical in calling this an oral or esophageal thrush unless he has undergone a diagnostic endoscopy with positive fungal cultures or biopsy. He also does not seem to have any condition leading to decrease immunity.

3. Short courses of antibiotics do not cause fungal overgrowth easily. How long has he been on the steroid nasal spray and what was the indication for the antibiotics and the steroid nasal spray?

4. The white spots on the tonsils is either a resolving follicular tonsillitis or food debris trapped in the tonsillar crypts. This is normal as the tonsils are designed to scrape against and pick up pieces of the food that is swallowed.

5. Get an X-ray skull lateral view and upload the image (not the report) here. A throat swab, routine blood tests and a close-up, clear images of his throat will help.

I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them.

Regards.
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Sumit Bhatti

Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist

Practicing since :1991

Answered : 2685 Questions

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What Is The Cause And Treatment For Horse Voice In A Child?

Brief Answer: FIrst rule out adenoid hypertrophy. Detailed Answer: Hi, Thank you for your query. 1. First rule out adenoid hypertrophy. Adenoid tissue enlarges between the ages of 3 and 7 years in children, leading to mouth breathing, dryness of the throat (hence the thirst), repeated sore throats, laryngitis (hoarseness), similar appearance of the tonsils and breath odor. 2. I would be skeptical in calling this an oral or esophageal thrush unless he has undergone a diagnostic endoscopy with positive fungal cultures or biopsy. He also does not seem to have any condition leading to decrease immunity. 3. Short courses of antibiotics do not cause fungal overgrowth easily. How long has he been on the steroid nasal spray and what was the indication for the antibiotics and the steroid nasal spray? 4. The white spots on the tonsils is either a resolving follicular tonsillitis or food debris trapped in the tonsillar crypts. This is normal as the tonsils are designed to scrape against and pick up pieces of the food that is swallowed. 5. Get an X-ray skull lateral view and upload the image (not the report) here. A throat swab, routine blood tests and a close-up, clear images of his throat will help. I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them. Regards.