What to do if you get the flu

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What to do if you have the flu

An influenza epidemic occurs in Russia every year, temporarily rendering a large number of people unable to work. But, despite the prevalence of the pathology, every time faced with a diagnosis, many people are perplexed: what to do if you get the flu?

Table of contents:

Therefore, it will be useful for every person to have a reminder: what to do if you have the flu, and what you should absolutely not do if you have the flu.

Prevention

Many doctors like to joke that the best treatment is prevention, and the validity of this idea is difficult to dispute. It is impossible to completely protect yourself from the risk of disease, but there are effective methods of prevention, just as there are common myths about how to protect yourself from the disease.

What should be done for prevention?

  1. One of the most effective ways to avoid disease is vaccination. Vaccination today is available to every person who wants it; it reduces the risk of disease by 80-90%, which is very important if a person is forced to be among people during an epidemic, for example, due to duty.
Vaccination is contraindicated for people with pathologies of the immune system, so before getting the vaccine, you should visit your doctor.
  • Influenza is an infection that is transmitted by airborne droplets and household contact, that is, you can avoid infection by protecting yourself from contact with carriers of the infection. If there is such an opportunity, during the most acute period of the epidemic it is necessary to leave the house less and not visit places where large numbers of people gather: shops, public transport, concerts. The problem of shopping is easily solved by ordering online or visiting the store at a time when there are few people there: for example, early in the morning. Public transport can be replaced by a taxi service, and entertainment events can be abandoned in favor of spending time at home.
  • While at home or in the office, you can reduce the risk of infection using two prevention tools known since Soviet times: ventilation and quartz treatment. For quartzing, you can purchase a special portable device, and it is important to do ventilation at least once every three hours, leaving the room deserted.
  • As an alternative to vaccination, you can take special medications to prevent infection. There are special medications for this – immunomodulators, which must be taken according to the doctor’s recommendations or instructions for use.

    • What is undesirable during prophylaxis?

    1. During a flu epidemic, many people decide to take a desperate act - hardening the body. And they ignore the fact that you need to start doing this several months before the epidemic, gradually accustoming the body to adapt to low temperatures and other factors.

    If you immediately start hardening by dousing with cold water, you can greatly weaken the immune system, so at the first encounter with a carrier of the virus, infection will most likely occur.

  • It is not recommended to ignore the rule of flu prevention, which consists of avoiding crowds of people, compensating for it with the use of gauze bandages for the face and “Oxolinic ointment.” Both ointment and bandages together reduce the risk of infection by no more than 30%, so they should be used only when you need to visit a crowded place if absolutely necessary. It is very dangerous to completely trust these methods as methods of a 100% guarantee against the flu.
  • Taking ascorbic acid for prevention is a myth debunked by scientists. You can take vitamin C, but it will have nothing to do with flu prevention.

    • Nutrition

    The issue of prevention becomes irrelevant when infection has already occurred. Then an interesting topic: what to do if a person gets the flu.

    The issue of nutrition is always important, because food is the basis of life and the only source of energy. But during illness, appetite can behave unpredictably: a person may not want to eat anything for several days, or, on the contrary, experience a brutal appetite.

    How to eat when you have the flu

    Most patients during the acute course of the disease lose their appetite, but it is impossible to completely refuse food. The body must receive a sufficient amount of carbohydrates, which will give a person energy. Often the disease drags on because the person is simply exhausted from prolonged fasting. Therefore, you need to know what to eat and what to drink against the flu if you are already infected.

    Meals should be divided, in small portions, taken every three hours. Food should be easily digestible, healthy, rich in vitamins:

    • warm chicken broth;
    • rosehip decoction and compotes;
    • honey and lemon cut into pieces, poured with boiling water;
    • a mixture of nuts, dried fruits and lemon, crushed in a blender;
    • fresh vegetable salads seasoned with sour cream;
    • oatmeal, wheat or millet porridge with water or buckwheat.
    • steamed cutlets or pieces of poultry fillet without spices and with a minimum amount of salt;
    • fruits in any quantity, if there are no allergies.

    Poor diet for influenza

    Along with the list of healthy dishes, it is important to know what you should not drink or eat when you have the flu:

    • chocolate, coffee, desserts;
    • fatty, heavy, spicy, salty foods;
    • salads dressed with mayonnaise;
    • fast food, snacks.

    Many patients who are forced to take care of themselves during illness on their own, due to poor health, take food once a day, trying to eat as much as possible so that the issue of cooking can be resolved for the rest of the day, which is absolutely impossible to do with the flu.

    It is better to prepare several servings at once for the whole day, or replace meals with fruits and yoghurts.

    Lifestyle

    The speed of recovery depends not only on the effectiveness of the drugs, but also on the person’s behavior during the illness. Correct behavior not only alleviates the condition and reduces the time of illness, but also prevents complications.

    How to behave during illness?

    When asked what to do if you get the flu, there is only one correct answer: go to bed and try to sleep. During sleep, all the body’s energy will be spent on defeating the pathogen, so after deep sleep a person can immediately feel better.

    Bed rest is necessary to protect yourself from complications. For example, often after the flu, a person’s kidneys begin to suffer, and the most favorable position for them is the horizontal position of the person’s torso. If a person has a history of chronic pyelonephritis (and it is diagnosed in 80% of people in a latent form), the relevance of bed rest is doubly clear.

    While in bed, a person avoids hypothermia, that is, it does not interfere with the body’s immune system to work correctly and efficiently.

    And finally, being at home in his own bed, a person ceases to be a link in the chain of the disease epidemic, that is, he does not contribute to infecting more people.

    Poor behavior when sick

    It is known that most of the complications that are dangerous to health and life arise due to the fact that a person tries to survive the flu “on his feet.” Most often, the reason for this is the financial aspect, reluctance to go to the clinic to receive sick leave, or workaholism.

    It is important to remember what you should not do when you have the flu: lead an active lifestyle, stressing all the body’s systems, and risk infecting others, which may include pregnant women, elderly people with weak immunity, people with immunodeficiency or autoimmune pathologies.

    Therefore, for yourself and those around you, it is more correct to honestly admit “I have the flu,” take a sick leave and follow the doctor’s instructions.

    Drug treatment

    Since the development of pharmacology, the average duration of the disease, the number of complications, and even the mortality factor due to the disease have decreased.

    But medications not only have enormous benefits, they can also cause great harm if used incorrectly.

    How to treat the flu?

    The only way to treat the flu correctly with medications is to follow a simple algorithm:

    • visit a therapist and get orders from him for laboratory tests;
    • based on test results, obtain prescriptions for medications;
    • take all medications as prescribed;
    • get tested again to make sure the disease is cured.

    Sometimes the doctor may adjust prescriptions if some medications do not have the desired effect.

    How can you not be treated for the flu?

    The main thing that is forbidden to do when you have the flu is to prescribe medications yourself. In most cases, a person buys any antibiotic available to him and starts taking it, not caring that the flu is a viral disease, and antibiotics treat bacterial infections.

    The second common mistake is taking antiviral drugs before visiting a doctor. The pills taken can distort the clinical picture of the disease and laboratory test data, which will complicate the diagnosis process for the doctor. Before visiting a doctor, you can only take tablets for symptomatic treatment, for example, to relieve fever, sore throat, and nasal congestion.

    And finally, the third popular mistake is the use of drugs that are not intended for the treatment of influenza, but are recommended by someone as a good and effective remedy. For example, Sofosbuvir tablets cannot be taken if you are sick with the flu, since the active components of this drug are intended to treat hepatitis. Taking medications is correct only when the clinical picture corresponds to the pharmacological action of the drug.

    Traditional medicine for influenza

    Traditional medicine can be both useful and effective, but it can only be safe if it is used correctly. Pharmacological drugs cannot be replaced with herbal infusions or inhalations over boiled potatoes. But as an additional tool for promoting health, they are quite suitable.

    How to use traditional medicine?

    Traditional medicine has hundreds of thousands of different recipes, but only safe and accessible ones can be used.

    1. If you don’t have a fever, going to the bathhouse is a must when you have the flu. It is not necessary to take active steps and steam, just “sweat” for 10 – 15 minutes on the top shelf, inhaling the aroma of a broom or a solution of essential oils. After bath procedures, you need to go to bed, avoiding hypothermia.
    2. Herbal infusions are useful remedies for infectious diseases. But it is important to remember that all herbs have a narcotic component, so you can take infusions only according to the doctor’s recommendations or the information on the package.
    3. What you need to do without fear when you have the flu is to use folk remedies for symptomatic treatment. For example, for a sore throat caused not by a bacterial infection, but by the flu, it is useful to gargle with saline solutions, herbal decoctions, or lemon juice diluted in water. When coughing, it is useful to drink hot milk with a piece of butter at night; in case of intoxication without fever, it is effective to use hot foot baths before bed.

    It is important that all these procedures help reduce the severity of symptoms and do not contradict the direct treatment of the disease itself prescribed by the attending physician.

    How not to use traditional medicine?

    Traditional medicine cannot replace basic pharmacological treatment when it comes to influenza.

    With this approach, you may encounter a protracted course of the disease, which negatively affects the immune system and all organs, or complications in the heart, kidneys, and respiratory organs.

    Thus, a set of rules for what to do if you have the flu is a search for a golden mean between medical rules and a psychologically and physically comfortable treatment regimen.

    Interesting materials on the topic:

    Great article! I agree about warming up and heat treatment in general. This helps a lot)))

    In my opinion, creating conditions for natural recovery is, of course, good, but the body needs help. Therefore, during illness, I always supplement the treatment with an antiviral drug. I take ingavirin, and it seems to me that thanks to it I never get sick for more than 3-4 days.

    Source: http://gripptips.ru/lechenie-grippa/chto-delat-pri-grippe.html

    What to do with the flu if you get sick during an epidemic

    Flu is a dangerous viral disease that requires timely treatment and prevention. What to do if you get sick so as not to infect your loved ones?

    What kind of prevention and treatment should you follow to prevent the development of dangerous consequences?

    To get answers to the questions asked, it is important to familiarize yourself with information regarding this virus, as well as determine its differences from other diseases.

    Influenza is a common illness among acute respiratory viral infections.

    This disease is considered very dangerous and contagious, as it affects the respiratory system, and also poses a significant danger in the form of complications. Most often, the flu is called ARVI, but this group includes many other infections (adenovirus and others), so you need to know what to do if you are diagnosed with the flu.

    Varieties of viruses and vaccine

    If the patient does not know what to do when flu symptoms are detected, it is important to immediately consult a physician. If you do not start timely treatment, you can get serious and sad consequences (pneumonia). Viruses are divided into the following groups: A, B, C.

    The most dangerous is A, since its varieties and subgroups can be transmitted not only from people, but also from animals. For example, bird or swine flu. As for viral types B and C, they are characterized by weaker manifestations and are transmitted among people.

    The peak of the disease epidemic occurs in autumn and winter. This is due to temperature fluctuations, cold, frost and wet weather.

    It is imperative to get vaccinated. Many argue that the virus is constantly transforming, and the vaccine is not able to resist it. However, seasonal vaccination can reduce the risk of flu infection and also protect against popular strains.

    Doctors recommend getting vaccinated one month before the situation worsens, which occurs in November. Before getting vaccinated, it is important to consult with your doctor!

    It is also necessary to carry out preventive measures:

    • vaccination is the most effective and efficient way;
    • wash your hands with soap after going outside and interacting with people;
    • diversify your diet with foods rich in vitamin C, and also think about multivitamin complexes;
    • do not be in places with large crowds of people;
    • use a gauze bandage;
    • if a person is already sick, he must wear a bandage so as not to spread the infection;
    • do saline rinses of the nasal cavity;
    • add garlic and onions to your diet;
    • use oxolinic ointment for the nose;
    • increase immunity (echinacea will help a lot);
    • do not forget about antiviral medications;
    • Immunomodulators play an important role. If you have diabetes, sclerosis or arthritis, you should not take it;
    • follow a daily routine, sleep at least 7-8 hours, and also take care of your own body and strengthen the immune system.

    Effective treatment

    The flu is characterized by a sharp and quite acute onset. Symptoms manifest themselves as follows: body temperature rises, severe weakness and chills, headache and fever appear.

    The main difference between the disease and a common cold is the presence of a cough and runny nose, as well as redness of the throat and severe soreness, intoxication of the whole body and aches.

    The treatment process should be step-by-step and competent:

    1. What to do when you notice the first signs of infection? Urgently call a doctor at home! Especially when children and the elderly are infected. The disease is very difficult to tolerate in old age, as it can be accompanied by serious complications (pneumonia, stroke and heart failure).
    2. Drink plenty and often of warm drinks (tea with lemon or raspberries, warm water, compote, juice, this is what you can drink for colds and flu). Drink at least 2.5-3 liters of fluid per day to neutralize intoxication in the human body. An excellent remedy is raspberry compote, which can reduce high body temperature.
    3. Follow your doctor's recommendations.
    4. Maintain rest and bed rest, which will help prevent complications.
    5. Wet cleaning, regular ventilation.
    6. Don't forget to reduce the heat. Use paracetamol and ibuprofen, but do not use aspirin!;
    7. To strengthen the immune system, immunostimulants of plant origin are suitable - preparations with echinacea, lemongrass, eleutherococcus;
    8. Immunomodulators such as tiloron, kagocel and polyoxidonium will be useful;
    9. An important part of treatment is antiviral agents that can influence the virus and also destroy its ability to reproduce. Such remedies will help get rid of the painful symptoms of the disease and neutralize complications. For example, arbidol, rimantadine and ingavirin will help you;
    10. 10. To reduce intoxication of the body, you will need reliable enterosorbents, for example: Cycloferon and Kipferon.

    If symptoms and signs of the disease are detected, you should urgently seek medical help. The future health and life of the patient depends on this. When the temperature does not go down, you cannot self-medicate; it is better to consult your doctor.

    After suffering an illness, you need to restore your own strength and energy. Rest, a warm bath and the absence of stressful situations can help with this. It is important to adhere to a healthy daily routine and not to disturb proper sleep, as it has a huge impact on a person’s general condition.

    Nutrition should be complete and balanced, fresh fruits, berries and vegetables, juices, and a sufficient amount of protein (fish, meat) should be added to the diet.

    Drinking plenty of fluids, vitamins, herbal tinctures for immunity and walking in the fresh air will restore your strength.

    Complications of the disease

    There are some factors that contribute to the occurrence of complications, namely, pregnancy and lactation, a weakened immune system, frequent stressful situations and depression, dangerous chronic diseases and pathologies, old age or childhood. Complications for this acute viral illness may be as follows:

    • Problems with the cardiovascular system. Pain, tachycardia and shortness of breath may appear, which significantly worsens the clinical picture. The disease virus causes inflammatory processes in the myocardium, which can trigger the development of acute heart failure.
    • Complications with the lungs. Inflammation of the lungs or pneumonia can appear in the process of joining with viral and bacterial flora. The most common symptoms are high fever, heavy breathing, and a dry and painful cough.
    • Development of sinusitis. This complication is considered very popular and relevant, as it affects a huge number of people, developing into a chronic stage. Chronic sinusitis is an inflammatory process in the maxillary or maxillary sinuses of a person. Main symptoms: sinus congestion, discharge, toothache and headache.
    • The occurrence of pyelonephritis, renal failure in humans.
    • Otitis or inflammation of the middle ear. The most common signs and symptoms of the inflammatory process are discharge, high body temperature and severe pain.

    It is important to remember that the viruses of such a disease are very insidious and dangerous, and therefore can spread throughout the central nervous system, provoking the development of dangerous diseases. For example: meningitis, neuritis, and arachnoiditis, which are difficult to treat.

    If you discover any symptoms of the disease, you must urgently seek medical help. The future health, life and fate of a person depends on how quickly help is provided and treatment begins.

    You should not self-medicate at home, as you can significantly worsen the clinical picture and erase the symptoms. And the educational video in this article will tell you exactly how the flu penetrates the human body.

    Source: http://stopgripp.ru/bolezn/flu/chto-delat-pri-grippe.html

    What to do if you have flu symptoms?

    What prevention and drug treatment are used for influenza, what to do to avoid infecting household members, especially children and the elderly, what dangers does this infection pose? To answer these questions, you need to understand what a virus is and how it differs from other respiratory infections. Among acute respiratory viral diseases (ARVI), influenza is particularly common. There are several thousand types of this virus.

    This disease is extremely contagious, affects the respiratory tract and carries danger in the form of complications. Often, any ARVI is called influenza, although this group includes many other viral diseases, for example, rhinovirus, adenovirus, etc. Sometimes “intestinal flu” is called rotavirus infection, which combines damage to the respiratory and digestive systems and has nothing to do with the influenza virus relationship.

    Types of influenza viruses and vaccination

    The disease is caused by viruses types A, B and C. The type A virus is especially dangerous. Its subtypes can be transmitted from person to person, as well as from animals to humans. Like, for example, the sensational outbreak of bird flu - H1N1. The type B virus has a weaker course and spreads only among people, like the type C virus. The infection is transmitted during communication with a sick person, as well as through objects on which the virus is located.

    Epidemics of this disease intensify in autumn and winter. Cold but damp weather especially contributes to this.

    To prevent influenza, infectious disease specialists recommend vaccination. Despite the opinion that the virus is constantly changing and vaccination will not protect against all types, seasonal vaccination significantly reduces the likelihood of getting the flu by protecting against its main strains.

    It is recommended to get vaccinated a month before the peak of incidence, which most often begins in November. Before vaccination, you should consult a general practitioner.

    • the main method of prevention is vaccination;
    • spend less time in crowded places during seasonal outbreaks of the disease;
    • in public places it is recommended to use a gauze bandage, which must be changed regularly;
    • wash your hands thoroughly after going outside and after interacting with sick people;
    • people with the flu also need to use a mask to prevent the spread of infection;
    • consumption of multivitamin complexes and foods rich in vitamin C;
    • eating onions and garlic;
    • applying oxolinic ointment to the nasal mucosa;
    • preparations containing echinacea have an immunostimulating effect and are indicated for the prevention of colds;
    • It is worth noting such a group of drugs as immunomodulators. They are often used independently to prevent and treat influenza. Here it is necessary to be careful not to use drugs that affect the immune system if a person has close relatives with autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and others;
    • antiviral drugs - a broad group used for the prevention of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza, among others;
    • keeping a daily routine, getting enough sleep and taking care of your body during the difficult autumn-winter period support the immune system and help strengthen its protective functions.

    Effective treatment

    Influenza is characterized by an acute onset. Body temperature rises sharply. The main difference from a cold is the mild catarrhal symptoms of influenza. Catarrhal symptoms are a severe runny nose, a wet cough, a sore throat, and everything that is not characteristic of the flu. Here, in the first place are the symptoms of intoxication, chills, “body aches,” headache, muscle pain, dry cough. The occurrence of chest pain.

    1. If symptoms of the disease appear, you must first call a specialist at home. This is especially important for older people and children. Getting the flu is much more dangerous for older people due to frequent serious complications - heart failure, pneumonia, strokes, and bacterial infections.
    2. Strict bed rest will reduce the risk of complications. It is highly not recommended to carry the disease on your feet; this will not only complicate the disease, but can also cause infection of others.
    3. Completely follow the doctor’s instructions, since correct and competent treatment prescribed by a specialist will prevent the development of complications.
    4. Regular ventilation of the room (without cooling) and wet cleaning in the patient’s room.
    5. Drinking plenty of fluids will help cope with intoxication and protect against dehydration. Blackcurrant or raspberry compotes have a mild antipyretic effect and contain vitamin C.
    6. Antipyretics. It is necessary to bring down the temperature after 38.5 degrees. There is a wide range of antipyretic drugs available in pharmacies. For example, paracetamol.
    7. Herbal immunostimulants. Preparations containing echinacea, eleutherococcus, ginseng, lemongrass.
    8. Immunostimulants that temporarily enhance immunity. For example, the drug Cytovir 3.
    9. Antiviral drugs. They affect the virus itself or suppress its ability to reproduce. The drugs are designed to reduce the duration of the disease and prevent possible complications. These drugs include Ingavirin, which is prescribed to people with types A and B influenza and adenovirus infection. Arbidol is used for patients with influenza A and B, for combination therapy of rotavirus infection. Remantadine is used to treat subtypes of influenza A.
    10. Interferon preparations. Used to treat ARVI and other viral infections. The use of these medications should be discussed with your doctor. Interferon drugs include Viferon, Kipferon, Cycloferon.
    11. Immunomodulators. For example, Kagocel, often used in the first days of the disease. Tiloron, Polyoxidonium, Panavir, Isoprinosine.
    12. Enterosorbents will reduce the symptoms of intoxication. Enterosgel, Polysorb.

    Rest and lack of stress will help you regain strength after an illness. Good sleep: As you know, the best time to sleep is from ten o'clock in the evening. Complete nutrition. Include more fresh fruits and vegetables. Eat enough protein through meat and fish. Continue to drink more fluids and fresh juices. Eat foods rich in vitamin C. Use herbal tinctures of echinacea, eleutherococcus, and lemongrass. Light physical activity - brisk walking and light gymnastics.

    Complications of influenza

    A weakened body, old age and childhood, pregnancy, severe concomitant pathologies, and illness on the legs increase the risk of complications.

    The most common include:

    1. Pulmonary complications. Pneumonia occurs when bacterial or viral flora is attached. Symptoms include fever up to 39 degrees or higher, dry cough, difficulty breathing.
    2. The next common complication is sinusitis. This is an inflammation of the maxillary (maxillary) sinuses. Signs include headache, toothache, discharge and nasal congestion.
    3. Cardiac complications. Manifested by pain in the heart, shortness of breath. The influenza virus leads to inflammation of the myocardium, possibly developing heart failure.
    4. Inflammation of the middle ear, or otitis media. Signs of otitis media include pain, discharge from the ear, and fever.
    5. Renal failure, pyelonephritis.

    In addition, the influenza virus can penetrate the central nervous system, causing neuritis, meningitis, and arachnoiditis. The occurrence of all of the above symptoms requires immediate contact with a specialist.

    Source: http://respiratoria.ru/gripp-i-prostuda/pri-grippe-chto-delat.html

    What to do if you get the flu

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    What to do if you get the flu

    How do you know if you have the flu?

    • heat*
    • cough
    • a sore throat
    • runny or stuffy nose
    • body aches
    • headache
    • chills
    • feeling tired
    • sometimes diarrhea and vomiting

    *It is important to note that not everyone who gets the flu will have a fever.

    What should you do if you get the flu?

    If you become ill with flu-like symptoms during the flu season, you should stay home and avoid contact with others while awaiting medical attention. Most people with 2009 H1N1 influenza had mild illness and did not require medical care or antiviral medications, as with seasonal influenza.

    However, people who are more susceptible to complications from the flu should talk to their healthcare provider about getting tested if they have flu symptoms during the season. These categories of people include:

    • Children under 5 years of age, but especially children under 2 years of age
    • People 65 years and older
    • Pregnant women
    • People who have:
      • Cancer
      • Blood diseases (including abnormal red blood cell disease)
      • Chronic lung disease [including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)]
      • Diabetes
      • Heart disease
      • Kidney disorders
      • Liver disorders
      • Neurological disorders (including the nervous system, brain, or spinal cord)
      • Neuromuscular disorders (including muscular dystrophy and complex sclerosis)
      • Weakened immune system (including people with AIDS)

    Severe illness can also occur in healthy people due to the flu, so anyone concerned about their health should consult their doctor.

    Listed here are warning signs for which anyone should get immediate medical attention.

    What are the warning signs?

    • Rapid or difficult breathing
    • Skin gray or with a bluish tint
    • Not drinking enough
    • Severe or persistent vomiting
    • Reluctance to wake up or lack of activity
    • An agitated state in which the baby resists being picked up
    • Some relief of flu symptoms that later return with fever and worsening cough
    • Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
    • Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
    • Sudden dizziness
    • Confusion
    • Severe or persistent vomiting
    • Some relief of flu symptoms that later return with fever and worsening cough

    Is there a cure for the 2009 (H1N1) flu?

    Yes. There are antiviral medications that your doctor may prescribe for both seasonal influenza and 2009 (H1N1) influenza. These drugs can quickly get you back on your feet and can also prevent serious complications. During this flu season, antiviral drugs are used primarily to treat people with severe illness, including those who require hospitalization; and to treat people who are most at risk for serious complications from influenza. Your doctor will decide whether antiviral drugs are needed to treat your condition. So far, most people with 2009 H1N1 influenza have had mild illness and have not required medical care or antiviral medications, as with seasonal influenza.

    How long should you stay home if you are sick?

    It is recommended that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your high fever subsides, unless you seek medical attention.

    Your fever should go away without using a fever reducer. You should stay home and not go to work, school, travel, shopping, social events or public gatherings.

    What should you do when you are sick?

    Stay away from others as much as possible to avoid infecting them. If you need to leave your home, for example to get medical care, wear a face mask if you have one or cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue. Also, wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading the flu to others.

    665835, Irkutsk region, Angarsk, 85 quarter, building 35, post office box 1991

    Source: http://www.gdbangarsk.ru/parents/info/90-gripp1

    Flu treatment: what to do if you get sick?

    In the winter of 2012, mainly three influenza viruses are active: two strains of virus A - California-H1N1 and Perth-H3N2 and one virus B. The influenza A/H1N1 virus, known as “swine flu”, has a number of features. It affects mainly young people (up to 45 years of age), and it has a severe, although not common, complication - quickly, sometimes lightning-fast developing pneumonia. It is very dangerous, especially for pregnant women. Therefore, doctors recommend that expectant mothers be very careful, especially in the early stages of pregnancy.

    And, of course, everyone without exception (and not only pregnant women) needs to strengthen their immunity to prevent influenza. Including including foods that are good for the immune system in your diet. For example, British doctors have found that almonds increase the body's immune response to infections such as flu and colds. Polyphenols contained in the skin of the nut kernel improve the ability of white blood cells to find viruses and increase the activity of the natural mechanism that prevents viruses from dividing and spreading in the body. To prevent the flu, you can eat almonds with chocolate. As scientists from the University of California have established, the smell of chocolate alone accelerates the production of immunoglobulin A, which is responsible for the body’s antiviral defense.

    If, despite all preventive measures, the disease still breaks out, then bed rest and treatment for influenza under the supervision of a doctor are mandatory. Symptoms of influenza: temperature rise up to several degrees; dryness and soreness in the nose and oropharynx; weakness, “ache” throughout the body; headache, dizziness. Possible gastrointestinal disorders (rumbling in the abdomen, diarrhea); dry cough (rare).

    Symptomatic treatment of influenza includes taking antipyretics, expectorants and antitussives, as well as vitamins, especially vitamin C. Bed rest, drinking plenty of fluids are necessary, and smoking is highly undesirable. And most importantly: if you have the flu, you should not take antibiotics.

    Early use of antibiotics for viral diseases is not justified, since you need to fight viruses, not bacteria. Antibiotics are prescribed for bacterial complications of ARVI. By taking them for the flu, you harm your body (antibiotics do not affect the virus, but they burden the person’s already strained immune system) and waste valuable time.

    For viral infections, immunostimulating and antiviral drugs are needed. For example, Tamiflu, Relenza, and Ingavirin have proven effectiveness against influenza. Remember: any antiviral therapy is effective only if it is prescribed by a doctor in the first two days from the onset of the disease.

    What not to do while treating the flu:

    drink very hot water and make warm compresses. It is recommended to drink plenty of warm drinks at room temperature - tea with lemon and honey, cranberry or lingonberry juice, alkaline mineral waters;

    Taking very large doses of vitamin C, up to 1000 mg per day is quite enough. Treatment of influenza with “horse” doses of ascorbic acid is a myth. It is better to add vitamins A and E to ascorbic acid;

    wipe with alcohol, vodka, vinegar. Their antipyretic effect is small, and alcohol is also absorbed through the skin;

    In no case should you cheer yourself up with alcohol, which will only complicate the functioning of the immune system if you have the flu;

    Treat yourself with infusions of medicinal herbs.

    Source: http://www.domashniy.ru/zdorovie/lechenie_grippa_chto_delat__esli_zaboleli/

    Flu. What to do?

    Influenza is an extremely contagious acute infectious disease. The causative agent is a virus, its place of life in humans is the epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. There are 3 types of influenza virus – A, B and C.

    Influenza A virus also causes disease in mammals and birds. A distinctive feature of the influenza A virus is a change in the antigenic properties of surface proteins (hemagglutinin - H and neuraminidase - N). The process of variability of H and N occurs independently of each other; it is possible to change either one or two antigens at once. When different influenza viruses enter an epithelial cell, their particles mix and a completely new version of the virus is formed! Thus, the 2009 pandemic virus contains segments of 4 influenza viruses: North American swine, North American avian, Eurasian swine and human.

    Influenza is characterized by epidemic spread. In the world literature there is information about 126 influenza epidemics. The most devastating pandemics of the twentieth century occurred in “Spanish Flu” (H1N1) - >20 million deaths, in 8 years. “Asian” flu (H2N2) -1-4 million deaths, in 9 years “Hong Kong” flu (H3N2) – 1-4 million deaths.

    When, due to the variability of the virus, a recombinant variant of the pathogen arises, the population of the Earth has no immunity to the new type of virus, and the number of cases begins to rapidly increase. The disease is spreading like a fire in the steppe. This is facilitated by the particular ease of transmission of infection, the short incubation period, and the general susceptibility of people to influenza. A significant role in this process is played by numerous patients with mild and erased forms of the disease. Influenza epidemics are recorded almost every year, mainly in winter. According to WHO, every year 5–15% of the human population, i.e. ≈ 3–5 million people suffer from influenza and influenza-like diseases, of which 250–500 thousand deaths are recorded.

    The source of infection is a person with influenza. It is dangerous for others at the end of the incubation period and the entire febrile period (5-7 days). The virus is released in huge concentrations from the mucous membrane of the patient’s respiratory tract when sneezing, coughing, talking, breathing, and can be suspended in the form of aerosols for several minutes. Infection occurs by inhaling an aerosol containing viral particles, as well as through direct contact (hands).

    After suffering from influenza, stable type- and strain-specific immunity is formed. Repeated illnesses are caused by infection with a new serovariant of the influenza virus.

    Influenza is characterized by a short incubation period - from several hours to 1-4 days (for influenza A - up to 2 days, for influenza B - up to 3-4 days). The disease begins acutely, suddenly, with an increase in body temperature to high numbers - 39-40 ° C, chills, general weakness, muscle and joint pain. At the same time, other symptoms appear: in older children, headache localized in the frontotemporal region, dizziness, feeling of weakness, pain in the eyeballs, in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, sleep disturbance.

    Symptoms of damage to the upper respiratory tract in the first hours are usually not pronounced and are characterized by difficulty in nasal breathing, scanty mucous-serous discharge from the nose, sore throat, rawness or pain behind the sternum, and an infrequent dry cough. From the 2-3rd day of the disease, the development of tracheobronchitis is characteristic, the main symptom of which is a dry, intrusive, often painful, raw cough, accompanied by pain behind the sternum, along the trachea. Laryngitis may develop, including with laryngeal stenosis. Acute bronchitis is observed in 20% of cases.

    In young children, the disease can begin gradually - adynamia or restlessness, loss of appetite, breast refusal, appearance or increased frequency of regurgitation, and loose stools appear. The temperature can be low-grade or even normal, but it can also rise to 39 0 C and higher. Symptoms of intoxication are absent or mild. But, despite the mild clinical manifestations of the initial manifestations of influenza, the course of the disease in children of the first year of life is much more severe due to the frequent addition of a bacterial infection and the occurrence of purulent complications (otitis media, pneumonia, etc.)

    The average duration of fever with influenza is 4-5 days (sometimes it can be of a two-wave nature). Its duration of more than 5 days may indicate the development of complications. Catarrhal symptoms may persist for days.

    In severe cases, the disease occurs with neurological symptoms (“white” hyperthermia, convulsions, meningeal symptoms, delirium, loss of consciousness) and hemorrhagic syndrome (nosebleeds, pinpoint or petechial rash, more often on the skin of the face, neck, chest, upper extremities, nosebleeds , microhematuria). A dangerous manifestation of hemorrhagic syndrome is the development of hemorrhagic pneumonia, which often causes death.

    With hypertoxic forms of influenza, extensive hemorrhages in various organs (lungs, intestines, adrenal glands, brain, etc.) and the development of toxic encephalopathy as a result of the effects of viruses and cell decay products on nervous tissue are possible. Neurological disorders (hypertensive or meningeal syndromes), as a rule, are combined with impaired thermoregulation, insufficiency of peripheral blood flow, signs of toxic damage to the adrenal glands, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, liver, manifestations of respiratory and cardiovascular failure.

    DIAGNOSIS of influenza is usually based on the clinical picture. Laboratory methods for identifying the pathogen are used only for inpatient treatment.

    A patient with influenza must remain in bed during the acute period. Maximum isolation is required, mainly at home. Children with severe and hypertoxic forms of influenza are subject to mandatory hospitalization, as well as in the event of complications that threaten the child’s life.

    The room temperature should be no higher than 20°C and 1-2° lower when the child sleeps. Frequent ventilation is necessary. The food should not differ from the usual; if you refuse to eat, you should not force feed the baby; it is better to offer him his favorite dishes. The child needs to be given plenty of water - fruit drinks, juices, sweet tea, etc.

    Currently, there are specific anti-influenza drugs, the need for which will be determined by the doctor. To treat patients with influenza, rimantadine and amantadine can be used; these substances suppress the reproduction of the influenza A virus. However, they have numerous side effects, and there is a risk of the virus developing resistance to them. It is preferable for treatment to use neuraminidase inhibitors of influenza A and B viruses, which suppress the ability of viruses to penetrate healthy cells. Zanamivir (Glaxo) and oseltamivir (Tamiflu) (LaRoche) are used in children.

    In recent years, interferons and their inducers have been widely used: human leukocyte interferon, influenza, viferon, kipferon, cycloferon, arbidol, anaferon and others.

    Antibacterial drugs are recommended to be included in the treatment plan if there are signs of a bacterial complication. “Prophylactically” prescribing antibiotics is not justified, because they do not prevent microbial proliferation, but rather promote it due to the suppression of normal flora of the respiratory tract.

    Treatment of influenza is symptomatic, i.e. the prescription of drugs is dictated by the symptoms of the disease that the sick child has. According to indications, the doctor prescribes antipyretic, mucoactive, hyposensitizing drugs, etc.

    The most reliable way to avoid getting the flu is to get vaccinated against it. Currently, a wide range of influenza vaccines are available, varying in production method and degree of preparation of the viral material. The vaccines include subtypes A (H1N1), A (H3N2) and type B; this year, all vaccines used must include the 2009 pandemic “swine” strain.

    Live vaccines are made from specially processed strains of the influenza virus that are safe for humans. A feature of live influenza vaccines is their increased ability to produce local immunity when administered through the nose. They use Flumist (USA), approved for children over 2 years of age, influenza allantoic intranasal dry vaccine (Russia), for children over 3 years of age.

    Inactivated whole virion vaccines are purified and concentrated influenza virus grown in chicken embryos and inactivated by formaldehyde or UV irradiation. Due to their significant reactogenicity, these vaccines are intended for adults; Children over 7 years of age and adolescents are administered only through the nose. (Grippovac)

    In childhood, it is preferable to use split and subunit influenza vaccines. First of all, they are indicated for young children (from 6 months), especially those suffering from serious illnesses, the course of which worsens under the influence of influenza.

    Split vaccines (split vaccines) are purified from low-immunogenic virion proteins, which are associated with the main adverse reactions, and contain elements of the influenza virus (surface proteins - hemagglutinin and neuraminidase and other antigens) - Begrivak, Vaxigripp, Fluarix, Fluvaxin. These vaccines can be used from 6 months of age and usually do not cause significant adverse reactions.

    Subunit vaccines consist only of the surface antigens of influenza viruses (hemagglutinin and neuraminidase), they are completely devoid of other virion components. This is Grippol (Russia, contains the immunostimulant polyoxidonium, allowed from 3 years); Agrippal S1, Influvac (used in children from 6 months). Subunit vaccines cause minimal reactions. Subunit and split vaccines can be used to vaccinate people with immune defects, pregnant and lactating women, and they can be administered against the background of immunosuppressive therapy.

    Contraindications for vaccination with all influenza vaccines are:

    -allergy to chicken egg proteins and aminoglycosides (for vaccines containing them),

    - allergic reactions to the administration of any influenza vaccine;

    - acute period or exacerbation of a chronic disease (vaccination is carried out 2-4 weeks after recovery),

    - progressive diseases of the nervous system.

    Vaccination tactics: Vaccination against influenza begins in early autumn (September-October) so that the vaccinated person can develop immunity by the beginning of the influenza season. Immunity is developed 14 days after vaccination, it is short-term (6-12 months) and type-specific, which requires annual vaccinations.

    For adults, a 1st dose of the vaccine is recommended. For children (up to 6-9 years of age for different vaccines) who have not previously been vaccinated and have not had influenza, two pediatric doses are recommended in the first year of vaccination, 4 weeks apart; in subsequent years they are given 1 childhood dose of the vaccine.

    “Emergency” prevention of influenza means limiting contact with patients, refusing to attend public events during an epidemic, maintaining optimal indoor air conditions, lengthening walks, organizing sleep outside, washing hands, and wearing masks in the patient’s family.

    The basis of “long-term” prevention is hardening. Use of medications for preventive purposes - vitamins, “general strengthening”, “stimulating”, “immunomodulating”, etc. means are ineffective and unacceptable.

    Olga Anatolyevna Malyavko, pediatrician, doctor of the first category.

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