When a person has a common cold, it is fearless. Usually it passes within 3-5 days. But viral diseases such as influenza pose a serious threat to both health and life. Very often they cause various complications, and sometimes they can be fatal. Swine flu, the symptoms of which we will describe in this article, is a life-threatening disease. There is no universal cure for it. The reader will be able to find out what swine flu is. Symptoms in humans, treatment and prevention are also described in our article.
Description of the disease
The h1n1 virus (swine flu) is an infectious disease that affects the respiratory tract. Usually a person becomes infected with them by airborne droplets. A child may become ill with swine flu after interacting with a patient. The average incubation period is 3-4 days. How is swine flu manifested? Symptoms: severe fever, chills, weakness, and cough.
Today in medicine it is customary to isolate several forms of this virus, but 3 of their subtypes, conditionally called A, B and C, are considered the most common. The most dangerous subtype for a person is A.
Who can get infected
A person or an animal can become ill. For example, pigs, in whose honor the name is given, are most susceptible to this flu. Even half a century ago, this virus was transmitted extremely rarely from animals to humans, but, mutating, H1N1 gradually became unsafe for humans. Such changes first occurred in 2009.
Medical history
As mentioned above, not only people are infected with this flu, but also pigs, as well as birds. In recent years, quite often there are large epidemics at large livestock firms. For this reason, English farmers lose at least £ 60 million annually.
At the end of the last century, the swine flu virus began to interact with bird and human flu, which caused it to mutate into a completely new subtype - H1N1.
First cases of infection
For the first time, signs of swine flu in humans have been reported on the North American continent. Then in February 2009, a Mexican child who was six months old was infected with this virus. Further along the continent stretched a chain of infections. By the way, the vast majority of cases worked on farms. Today, this subtype is freely transmitted from one person to another. The human body does not have immunity to this strain, and this greatly increases the risk of the spread of the virus around the world.
H1N1 can be considered a distant descendant of the "Spaniard", which in the 20s claimed more than twenty million human lives. The first major outbreak occurred in 1918 in Spain. The name was given in honor of the country.
Disease severity
As of May 2009, 500 people fell ill with swine flu, 13 of whom died. To date, infections have been reported in only 13 countries around the world. The countries of North America are considered the most dangerous, in which the first swine flu epidemic "swept". Statistics show that approximately 5% of those infected die from this disease. However, we will take into account that in the United States, medicine is well developed. If signs of swine flu begin to appear in Africa, then the disease will bring much more negative consequences. On this continent, most people live in unsanitary conditions, and their income does not allow the use of quality medical services.
How does swine flu appear in children
Symptoms are almost no different from the picture of the usual flu, which children get sick seasonally. The first signs begin to appear in the child just a few days after contact with an infected person.
The main symptoms of swine flu in children are:
- fever;
- chills, severe weakness;
- redness of the throat;
- aches.
Often there are cases of damage to the gastrointestinal tract. They lead to vomiting and diarrhea. Naturally, diarrhea entails serious moisture loss in the body. Therefore, you should give your baby a lot of water. Doctors recommend non-carbonated mineral water, juice and tea.
Symptoms of swine flu in children sometimes manifest in shortness of breath. With age, the course of the disease is more easily tolerated. That is why children under 5 years old are the hardest, since their immune system has not yet fully formed. If you notice similar symptoms in your child, you should immediately contact your doctor.
As manifested in adults, swine flu
Symptoms in adults are similar to seasonal flu. A few days after infection, muscle pain, severe fatigue and chills, fever, cough, sore throat, diarrhea and vomiting occur. Another feature of swine flu is the risk of exacerbation of chronic diseases.
Initial symptoms
If the patient lives on the street on which the facts of infection have already been recorded or, at least, he has observed: sore throat, cough, runny nose in combination with gastrointestinal tract disorders and fever, then he needs to urgently consult a therapist. If the doctor does not find anything dangerous, then good. However, if it is still swine flu, procrastination can cost a lot. During the period of the disease, it is important to reduce the number of contacts with people, so that you yourself do not become a direct source of the disease.
Signs of swine flu in adults, in which you should immediately contact a doctor:
- bluish skin;
- frequent breathing, its disorders;
- reluctance to drink fluid;
- alternation of improvement and deterioration of well-being;
- cough;
- temperature rise;
- rash;
- fever.
This also applies to children. What else could be the signs of swine flu:
- dyspnea;
- Dizziness
- vomiting
- pain in the abdomen and chest area.
Swine Flu Treatment
The treatment of this disease is extremely difficult, since even today the vaccine has been devised to reduce the risk of infection to zero. Standard medicines also do not guarantee 100% effect. First of all, this can be explained by constant mutations of the virus. So how to defeat swine flu than to treat it? We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the detailed list of funds that are used.
What effects are applied after a person has swine flu? Treatment usually includes the following items:
- An increase in the volume of liquid drunk in the form of fruit drinks, tea, mineral water and dairy products.
- Use of drugs to lower the temperature. Their dosage varies with age. Paracetamol and NSAIDs found in Nurofen and Ibuprofen are commonly used. Aspirin should be used only after 16 years in order to avoid Reye's syndrome.
- To facilitate breathing, vasodilators are used (Nazol, Tizin, Nazivin, Vibrocil).
- To translate a cough into a wet one, you can use herbal medicines (with plantain, licorice root). Alkaline inhalations are also used.
- It is important during influenza to increase the intake of ascorbic acid, and it is also necessary to purchase a multivitamin complex. Vitamin C during the period of the disease accelerates the production of helping to fight the interferon virus, which is especially important.
- Antiallergic drugs are used (for example, Suprastin, Tavegil, or any other antihistamine).
- In the first few days, a course of interferon, laferon is prescribed. These drugs stimulate the production of interferon in the human body.
- As already mentioned above, today there is no universal medicine that could quickly defeat swine flu. Treatment, in addition to the already mentioned drugs, includes medications aimed at destroying the immediate causative agent of influenza. A number of drugs have been developed that affect the virus. This is, first of all, “Rimantadine”, “Oseltamivir”. The media claim that patients in the Russian capital were most effectively treated by taking the Relents drug. But this medication does not belong to the budget list, in addition, it has a wide list of restrictions.
"Arbidol" - a Russian drug, has passed a large number of tests and studies. As a result, its strong antioxidant, antiviral effect was proved. At the same time, Arbidol suppresses both human viruses and its animal species.
You can not engage in self-treatment. All these medicines should only be prescribed by a qualified healthcare professional. It is equally important that the infected person has their own dishes and personal hygiene products. To prevent the virus from spreading, regular ventilation and wet cleaning should be carried out in the room. This will help to avoid infection of people living with the patient, and also will help not to get sick again.
Prevention
How to protect yourself from infection with swine flu? First, you need to adhere to the regimen of the day, sleep for 6-8 hours, try to eat properly, if possible, avoid overloads and stresses that weaken the body's immunity. Secondly, the prevention of swine flu involves the use of vitamins and immune boosters. As well as mandatory personal hygiene. We must not forget about the proper processing of food. So, pork must be thoroughly fried (eating meat with blood is unacceptable).
Over the past decade, the swine flu virus has been actively studied to create the most effective vaccine against H1N1. However, significant shifts in this direction are not observed now. Therefore, the prevention of swine flu is so important.
How to protect children from swine flu
The children's body is practically not familiar with such an infection. This seriously increases the baby's risk of contracting swine flu. In order to prevent the disease, parents should take some preventive measures.
- Wash hands often, always with soap, especially before meals.
- Do not let the child go to school or preschool until full recovery from a respiratory infection.
- If possible, avoid public places where there is a chance of contracting the virus.
- To vaccinate the baby, as vaccination is considered the most effective way of prevention.
What to do if the child has the first symptoms
The baby can take a non-hot bath with the addition of mustard powder, after which the legs are rubbed with warming ointments and put on warm wool socks. Scientists have proven that the H1N1 virus completely ceases to manifest itself and actively multiply at temperatures above 50 degrees. Doctors often prescribe crumbs of inhalation at a temperature of about 70 degrees with the addition of peppermint, lemon and other essential oils that have a beneficial effect on the respiratory system. For example, to prepare eucalyptus inhalation, add 50 drops of tincture to boiled water. Procedures are carried out throughout the week. Crumbs up to 3 years old are not allowed to breathe steam due to the possible development of bronchospasm.
In Russia, this disease is not common. However, prevention should not be neglected anyway. If you notice similar symptoms in yourself or your child, then consult a doctor immediately. Perhaps this is a simple seasonal flu that will pass without a trace during the week. But there may be a more serious disease. In this case, the faster the virus is detected and the correct treatment is started, the faster the person becomes healthy and does not receive any complications. Delay with a visit to a doctor is not worth it.