Knowing how the child gets the flu, what primary measures should be taken at the same time, the parent can protect his child from the severe course of the disease and its many complications. Fortunately, now there are a huge number of various drugs, it is not difficult to choose among which (of course, with the help of a qualified doctor), and the acquisition itself will cost reasonable money.
Relevance of the issue
Signs of flu in children can be observed literally every six months. Change of seasons, spring and autumn are periods when epidemics traditionally cover the whole country, and it is extremely difficult to protect oneself from infection. The general collective name "flu" includes many different pathologies provoked by pathogens that differ from each other with similar manifestations of infection, so vaccination, no matter how advertised, can not provide 100% protection.
In the area of responsibility of modern parents - to know what measures should be taken to prevent infection, and what to do if the flu in children still started. To navigate the issue, you need to understand the nature of the disease. Influenza is usually called a pathology provoked by viruses, for the treatment of which drugs are used that affect the root cause, that is, the viral agent. Antimicrobials, for example, do not help with the flu - they eliminate bacteria, but are ineffective against viruses.
What will the doctor advise?
By the way, sometimes antibiotics for influenza for children are still prescribed, but not at the initial stage of the disease. If at first a malicious virus that activates negative processes enters the body, immunity falls, there is a risk of infection with microbes, bacteria. If the tests show such a secondary lesion of the body, the doctor prescribes antimicrobial compounds. In fact, this is not so much the treatment of the flu itself as the complications associated with the course of a serious pathology.
It usually takes some time to develop a secondary lesion. If you turn to the doctor in time, first they will prescribe special drugs designed to eliminate viruses, and only with time, if there are indications, they will recommend taking an antimicrobial anti-flu drug for children. Occasionally, doctors prescribe such drugs from the very beginning of the disease, they usually motivate it “just in case”. Such logic is strongly condemned by many experts.
What to do?
Normally, the treatment of influenza in children involves the use of special tools designed to fight viruses. One of the most famous names presented in modern pharmacies is Anaferon. For the treatment of the baby, you need to choose a special format, it is called “children’s”. Under the influence of active components, the vital activity of the viral agent is inhibited, the colonies cannot grow. At the same time, the immune system is stimulated, all processes in the body proceed faster.
Antiviral treatment of influenza in children is reasonable if the baby is already sick, and a laboratory study confirmed that the cause is in the virus.
As a rule, the first day or even two doctors recommend to refrain from any drug therapy, and only from the third day of the course of the disease begin to support the body's forces with external means. Tests on interferon, as tests have shown, can reduce the time required for a full recovery, and also significantly reduce the likelihood of complications. But all these advantages are possible only if the means are used correctly, under the supervision of a doctor, observing the provisions of the instructions.
It's important to know
Common complications of influenza in children include:
- pneumonia
- bronchitis;
- sinusitis.
Using the drug prescribed by the doctor, the development of such pathologies can be prevented. The recommended treatment program is continued exactly as long as the doctor advised. Even if the primary signs of influenza in children have already exhausted themselves, but the doctor recommended that you drink any means after that, you should follow the instructions - as a rule, the doctor has good reason to believe that such treatment will really be useful.
To be ill or not to be ill?
Those who produce antiviral influenza for children recommend using their products not only when infected with an agent, but also as a prophylaxis in times of high danger. As many experts agree, for such therapy, only medications designed to increase the activity of the immune system should be used. Some commercially available products designed specifically for children activate the generation of interferon by internal systems.
Influenza prophylaxis in children involves daily intake of a small dose of a drug that has the described features. Is it worth it, in principle, to carry out such therapy, first you need to check with the doctor. Choosing a specific tool is also better together with a doctor who is able to assess the needs of the body of a particular child. In addition, specialists are better versed in the variety of products presented in modern pharmacies.
Features of prevention
Means designed to prevent influenza in children can be used in a course. Manufacturers recommend drinking them for at least three weeks, but not more than a quarter of a year. Proper use of the medication helps reduce the likelihood of infection during a period of high epidemiological risk. This is most relevant for children with weak immunity and for those who are allergic. The latter category is in particular danger, since the flu significantly aggravates the course of the allergy, often creating a serious threat to life.
Signs and control: influenza in children
“How many days the temperature is high, and everything still doesn’t subside!”, - sometimes, it is with such complaints that the doctor, whose children suffer, infected with a malicious virus, turn to the doctor. Indeed, the disease in question is characterized by a significant and prolonged increase in temperature. It is not easily tolerated, and many try from the very beginning to take more antipyretic compounds in order to quickly drive off an unpleasant symptom. The popularity of such funds is growing by leaps and bounds. Many are firmly convinced that a simple antipyretic is a substance that can completely defeat the flu, although in fact the drugs do not treat it.
The most popular flu medicine for children of the year that lowers the temperature is Paracetamol, as well as numerous products developed on its basis. It must be remembered that they can bring down the fever, but the virus does not eliminate it: this is only a temporary measure to get rid of a severe symptom that returns when the effect of the medication comes to an end.
Do I need it?
Since flu symptoms in children always suggest a serious increase in temperature, doctors pay special attention to parents: you need to be more careful with this manifestation. As soon as the fever begins, you should not immediately take special medications, there will be no benefit from this. A febrile condition that lasts several days is a perfectly normal response from the body that has detected the viral agent. Temperature is associated with activation of the immune system, so the body fights viruses faster. Having taken an antipyretic, thereby weakening one's own natural defenses.
Normally, medications for heat in children with influenza should be used if the temperature exceeds 38.5. The doctor may recommend taking such a drug earlier if convulsive conditions have been observed in the past with an increase in temperature. A special approach is required for children under 3 months of age, as well as for people with chronic pathologies (age does not play a role).
For help - to the doctor
Observing the primary symptoms of influenza in children, especially in a situation where the temperature has risen sharply and to very high, you should immediately seek help from a qualified doctor. It is not always possible to get an appointment, and the condition of the child may not allow this, therefore it is necessary to call the local pediatrician at home, describing by phone all the manifestations of the disease. The doctor will examine, listen to the baby, formulate exactly what measures, means should be applied in the first place to alleviate the condition. It is often recommended to do warm water wipes - this method helps to combat temperature, but does not require additional medications.
To combat other symptoms, the doctor additionally prescribes various means: products of the pharmaceutical industry, natural compounds. Usually, influenza in children is accompanied by a sore throat, severe cough. The head may hurt. From each of the manifestations they use their own remedy.
Cough deserves special attention: there are several varieties of this symptom, each of which requires its own method of treatment. It can be "Lazolvan", drops "Herbion", tablets "Libexin" or "Broncholitin", etc.
If the flu is associated with a runny nose, it is recommended to use aerosols, means for washing the nose, and drops for the nose are designed for very young children. Effective drugs include Aqualor, Pinosol, Tizin, etc. If additional symptoms are poorly expressed or, in principle, absent, there is no need for such funds.
Features of the disease
Influenza is equally dangerous for both children and adults. The resistance of the body to the viral agent decreases with cooling, a significant role is played by the lack of vitamins in daily nutrition, especially in winter, spring. Medicine knows many types of viruses that can provoke a disease. They are transmitted from the patient to the healthy through the air: if someone nearby coughs or sneezes, it is likely to catch the infection. You can get the viral agent through common household items. A harmful life form quickly enters the bloodstream and can provoke serious negative consequences. Recently, various flu vaccines for children have been advertised more and more actively, but their effectiveness is a big question - too many forms of viruses are common, while one vaccine can save only one type of pathogen.
It's curious
By the way, the first official mention of the flu came to our times from the fifth century before the beginning of our era. The disease was described by the ancient Greek Hippocrates in a two-volume work on epidemics. He called the disease catharsis and was convinced that a sharp increase in temperature, accompanied by the release of sweat, allows you to cleanse the human body. Influenza is a word that appeared in 1743 and since then has gradually been used in world-class medical practice.
Important to know: symptoms
The easiest way to get the flu is from someone who already has the virus. The first five days of the course of the disease are especially dangerous, therefore parents, if the flu has started in a child of 3 years old (and of a different age), must not only take care of their child, but also take measures not to become infected with the virus themselves, otherwise the epidemic will undermine the strength of the whole family right away. Accuracy, compliance with hygiene measures, isolation of the patient (within reason) allow to preserve the health of the next of kin.
Many viruses are known (in particular, that is why flu shots for children cause so many disputes) that can provoke similar symptoms:
- when infected, a person feels a chill;
- he is worried about heat;
- cough;
- body aches;
- headache;
- under the influence of the virus, the mucous membranes are severely affected, and the body as a whole is intoxicated.
Often, children under the influence of the disease change significantly: they become lethargic, lose their appetite, want to sleep. Quite quickly, the situation is supplemented by new symptoms - the temperature rises to 40.5, it persists for several days, and the cough becomes as if barking. The child complains of a sore throat, a runny nose persists.
Special occasion
With the flu, some children suffer from eye pain. If complications occur, there is a chance of symptoms indicating a negative effect on the central nervous system. Head may be spinning, convulsive states, hallucinations are possible. Sometimes the child is sick, vomiting. Often, flu is associated with intestinal disorders.
First control measures
It has already been indicated above that in the first two days of infection, doctors recommend that you refrain from using pharmaceutical products. It is known that viruses multiply well in the cold, at high humidity, but do not tolerate heat, so the most effective way to eliminate the problem at the initial stage is to drink plenty of hot water.
You can do compresses, massage, put mustard plasters. Foot baths recommended. Viruses are especially active if the body cools unevenly, so you need to be careful: do not go in the dangerous season without a hat, do not dress out of weather (for example, it is too warm).
Since the child loses his appetite, the task of parents is not to insist on the absorption of unwanted food. Limited nutrition helps cleanse the body’s systems. Abundant food during viral infection will in no way help maintain strength, on the contrary, worsen the condition of the child. You need to eat exactly when you want it, and, as a rule, this indicates the beginning of recovery. But during the active phase of the disease, decoctions, herbal infusions, juices, compotes come to the rescue.
Official approach
According to doctors, flu is one of the most common diseases on our planet. Almost a third of all cases of children's hospitalization is provoked by the flu itself. Up to 7% of children who died under stationary conditions died precisely for this reason. Every year during the epidemic season, several tens of millions of children around the planet suffer some form of flu, and more than half of these are people under the age of 14.
Kids are in particular danger. As is known from medical reports, 65% of all cases of the disease among them are due to influenza. Complications are more typical for this ailment than for any other viral pathologies. During the epidemic of the disease in the country, the mortality rate rises sharply. This damage is not only to the health of the nation, but also to the economy of the nation.
Official information
Flu provoke orthomyxoviruses containing RNA. This agent spreads very quickly, the colonies are actively progressing, so the symptoms of the disease are pronounced. The respiratory tract is the first to suffer, and general toxicosis is soon observed. Although the disease is terrible for people of any age, the average incidence among minors is 5 times higher than in adults. The most severe pathology occurs in children three years of age and younger, but the likelihood of complications is characteristic of all persons infected with the virus, without exception. In modern Russian pediatrics, flu is one of the most pressing problems.
A sick person is the main source of infection. In the first few days, the virus is able to separate from the mucous membranes, and the concentrations are truly huge, although it is impossible to see the microscopic form of life with the eye.
Sneezing, coughing, even a simple conversation - this is the path to the spread of the disease. Household items, excreta - all this helps the disease to spread further. Infection through towels, dishes that are not thoroughly washed or a baby's nipple are possible.
This is explained by the ability of the nasopharynx to separate salivary particles, sputum, mucous secretions. All this is released into the environment. Organic matter contains the virus, and soon an infected zone rich in dangerous particles forms around the person. Some of them settle rather quickly, while others persist in the atmosphere longer. Range of distribution - up to three meters.
Technical points
Having overcome the virus, you can acquire immunity, usually quite persistent, but specific - it applies only to the type whose infection has occurred. You can get sick again if a person encounters a new form, an adjusted option. For this reason, vaccination does not show such a positive effect as we would like to see.
To classify the pathogen in medicine, there is a system for isolating antigen that reacts with antibodies. Moreover, the binding procedure takes place according to a specific scenario, which allows us to classify the disease as one of the known types.
The surface antigens of the virus are highly variable. Some viruses have been studied in medicine in quite detail, in detail, but there is also a group that is practically unknown to science. , . , : (, ) , . , , 15 .
Among all the variants of the course of the disease in practice, the most common type of flu is. This is a disease characterized by manifestations of intoxication and disorders in the respiratory tract. The incubation period lasts no more than 3 days, after which the course is stormy. The child is in a fever, chills, on the first day the temperature often rises to 40 degrees. The child complains of a headache, especially palpable in the temples, forehead, eyes and muscle tissue, joints, and sore. A person feels weak, loss of appetite, vomiting appears.
A febrile peak in babies of one year old and younger is possible with convulsive manifestations. Those who are older have the likelihood of meningism, delirium, delirium.
It is easy to notice the flu visually: the skin turns pale, as if marble. This is especially pronounced in young patients. Often there is a bright blush. With a careful study, you can notice tachycardia, and the manifestations are closely associated with a febrile state. Blood flow problems can trigger an abdominal intestinal syndrome.
Hard case
Assessing the condition of the patient, the doctor reveals how strongly intoxication is expressed, and against this background he makes a diagnosis, formulates a conclusion regarding the severity of the form. The most dangerous case is when a virus infection negatively affects the central nervous system, provokes a hemorrhagic syndrome, noticeable by bleeding from the nose, skin petechiae (small rash that occurs when the vessels rupture), and the presence of red blood cells in the urine.
There is a likelihood of developing an atypical form. It usually includes the erased course, when the symptomatology is weak and manifests itself briefly. There is a risk of infection and a hypertoxic form, proceeding especially hard. Such a disease is characterized by shock associated with toxicosis on the background of viral infection. ICE syndrome, pneumonia develops, internal hemorrhages are possible.
Risk group
The highest probability of influenza infection in children six months of age and younger. Often, the disease begins atypically, toxicosis is mild, manifestations are minimal, but the baby loses his appetite, can not sleep. Such patients, earlier than others, encounter complications in the form of a bacterial complication. The disease develops rapidly, a high probability of death.