Showing posts with label Influenza. Show all posts

Influenza treatment, methods of prevention, and groups most exposed to it

What is influenza?

Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The flu is most common during the winter months.

Prevention:

The best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccine every year. The flu vaccine is safe and effective for people of all ages, including pregnant women and children.

Other ways to prevent the flu include:

Washing your hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.
Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or your elbow when you cough or sneeze.
Not touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Treatment:

Most people with the flu will recover within a few weeks without treatment. However, there are some antiviral medications that can help to shorten the duration of the illness and reduce the severity of symptoms. Antiviral medications are most effective when started within the first 48 hours of getting sick.

At-risk groups:

If you are at high risk of complications from the flu, your doctor may prescribe antiviral medications even if you do not have all of the symptoms of the flu. People at high risk of complications include:

Young children (under 5 years old)
Adults 65 years of age and older
People with certain chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes
Pregnant women

Relieve symptoms:

In addition to antiviral medications, there are some things you can do at home to help relieve your symptoms:

Get plenty of rest.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Take over-the-counter medications to relieve fever and aches and pains.
Use a humidifier to add moisture to the air.

When to see a doctor?

Most people with the flu will recover at home without seeing a doctor. However, you should see a doctor if you:

Have a high fever (103°F or higher) that lasts for more than 3 days.
Have difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
Have a severe cough that produces thick sputum.
Have a sudden dizziness or lightheadedness.
Have seizures.
Have severe vomiting or diarrhea.

If you are concerned about your symptoms or if you are at high risk of complications from the flu, see your doctor.

Methods of prevention of influenza in children:

There are some methods that the mother can follow at home and with the child to prevent influenza, including the following:

Permanent hygiene:

The house must always be kept clean, especially the rooms in which children spend most of the time, and they must be exposed to air continuously, at least three times a week.
If the father or a member of the family is a smoker, he must completely refrain from smoking inside the house. He can go outside or on the balcony to keep the smoke away from the children's breathing as much as possible.
The room should not be heated more than necessary, whether by means of heating devices such as air conditioning or a heater, because when the child's body is very warm and goes out of the room, the body is exposed to temperature changes as well as cold air currents, which makes it easy to catch the flu and the common cold.
The air must be constantly renewed in the house by adopting the habit of opening the windows to a light degree during the day so that the air in the sleeping or living rooms is renewed.
Always take care of the draining of toys and tools that children use constantly so that germs and microbes that stick to them are eliminated and so that they are not transmitted to the child through the nose, eyes, or even the skin.

Proper food to improve immune performance:

The mother should always provide natural foods that are useful for children, especially those that contain a large percentage of various vitamins such as vegetables and fruits. It is recommended to put vegetables in all meals for the child and replace sweets with natural fruits due to the vitamins, compounds and substances they contain that help improve and strengthen immunity. To be able to fight any virus or external infection.
Taking care of drinking water, whether it is in winter or summer, where it is preferable to drink a full glass of lukewarm water before going to school or study in the morning, as water works to balance the heat between the body internally and externally.
In the event that the mother has a child in the lactation stage, where the mother's nutrition is given attention because it works to build and strengthen the child's immune system.
It is preferable to provide natural juice to the child during the day, such as orange juice, kiwi, strawberry or lemon juice, because all these fruits contain vitamin C and vitamin C, which are important in strengthening immunity and combating diseases.
It is worth noting that the doctors emphasized the need to eat two different types of fruits daily and three types of vegetables on a daily basis in the three basic meals during the day.

Children's personal hygiene:

It is preferable to teach children personal hygiene from the very beginning of their nails, such as washing hands before and after eating, so that the hand is not exposed to germs and is transmitted to the body and causes diseases.
Washing hands with soap and water always after playing, especially outside, or after sneezing and coughing to get rid of droplets coming out of the mouth during them.
Not to share his own cutlery, or even his personal items at school such as water bottles and food boxes.
The child should always carry the tissues with the necessity of teaching him that he should put them on the mouth and nose, the coughing ducts, or vice versa.
Do not put toys, pens, tools, money or silver coins into the mouth because they cause diseases, most notably influenza.

Winter shower:

When taking a bath in the winter, it is preferable for the mother to follow some measures to prevent the child from being exposed to changes in air currents, which may cause diseases.
It is preferable to prepare the child's clothes before going to the shower, as in case the temperature is very low, it is recommended to wear the child's clothes in the bathroom and before leaving it.
The child's hair should not be left wet and wet with water. A hair dryer can be used to ensure that the child's hair has dried completely.
The child should be bathed at least twice a week, and should be bathed only an hour after practicing any kind of sport except for swimming.
The mother should always ensure that the child's clothes are always dry of water, because if his clothes get wet in the winter, he is more likely to catch the flu and common cold.

Symptoms of influenza infection in children:

There is a group of similar symptoms that occur to children and adults, which distinguish the infection from influenza from the common cold or other diseases, and if they appear, it is preferable that remedial measures be taken as soon as possible.

A sudden rise in the temperature of the affected child, it could be an internal temperature and it can be known by measuring the temperature with a thermometer or a thermometer.
The child may feel a headache with a sense of fatigue and exhaustion intermittently or continuously for several days.
One of the most important signs of influenza infection in children is the incidence of aches and pains in the muscles of the whole body, as well as in some areas of the bones.
A feeling of congestion and pain in the throat accompanied by difficulty in swallowing.
Cold and runny nose.
Some fluids come out of the stool, which may be thick, sticky, and green in color.
Exiting sputum with coughing.
Loss of desire to eat for a large number of hours during the day.

Causes of influenza infection in children:

Viruses, especially those that cause influenza, have the ability to transmit from body to body through air droplets, and this droplet can be transmitted from the infected person through coughing or vice versa, speaking or breathing, and thus the virus is transmitted through the air to a healthy person.
Germs and viruses that are the main cause of influenza infection can stick to anything that is frequently used by people, such as phones, doors, bathrooms, or computers. It can enter the body through the eyes, mouth, or nose.
The infected person is considered the first cause of transmission from the moment symptoms appear on him, and up to five days he becomes a carrier of the disease, and doctors have warned that children or adults who have influenza and those with general weakness or a defect in the immune system are carriers of infection for a period exceeding four days.
The viruses that cause influenza evolve continuously and very regularly, and they also change constantly, because when a person gets infected with a certain type of influenza and has recovered from it completely, then the body has already made the appropriate antibodies that can eliminate it.
It is worth noting that the antibodies already formed by the body do not have sufficient ability to fight the new strains of the influenza virus, whose severity varies according to the state of immunity.

Cilveducation

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