Acute respiratory viral infections are the most common childhood illnesses. In some babies, they are fixed up to 8-10 times a year. It is precisely because of its prevalence that ARVI has become overgrown with a mass of prejudices and erroneous opinions. Some parents immediately run to the pharmacy for antibiotics, while others believe in the power of homeopathic antiviral drugs. The authoritative pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky talks about respiratory viral infections and how to act correctly if a child is sick.
About the disease
SARS is not one specific disease, but a whole group of similar ailments in terms of common symptoms of ailments in which the airways become inflamed. In all cases, viruses that enter the child's body through the nose, nasopharynx, and less often through the mucous membrane of the eyes are "guilty" of this. Most often, Russian children "catch" adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, parainfluenza, reovirus. In total, there are about 300 agents that cause ARVI.
A viral infection is usually catarrhal in nature, but the most dangerous is not even the infection itself, but its secondary bacterial complications.
Very rarely, ARVI is recorded in children in the first months of their life. For this special "thank you" should be said to the innate maternal immunity, which protects the baby for the first six months from the moment of birth.
Most often, the ailment affects toddlers and kindergarten children and goes into decline by the end of primary school. It is by the age of 8-9 that a child develops a fairly strong immune defense against common viruses.
This does not mean at all that the child stops suffering from ARVI, but viral ailments will occur much less frequently, and their course will become softer and easier. The fact is that the child's immunity is immature, but as it encounters viruses, over time it "learns" to recognize them and develop antibodies to foreign agents.
To date, doctors have reliably established that 99% of all diseases, which are popularly called by one capacious word "cold", are of viral origin. SARS are transmitted by airborne droplets, less often - through saliva, toys, common household items with the sick.
Symptoms
In the early stages of the development of the infection, the virus that entered the body through the nasopharynx causes inflammation of the nasal passages, larynx, dry cough, perspiration, runny nose appears. The temperature does not rise immediately, but only after the virus enters the bloodstream. This stage is characterized by chills, fever, and aches throughout the body, especially in the limbs.
The high temperature helps the immune system to give a "response" and throw specific antibodies to fight the virus. They help cleanse the blood from a foreign agent, the temperature drops.
At the final stage of the ARVI disease, the affected airways are cleared, the cough becomes wet, the cells of the epithelium affected by the viral agent leave with sputum. It is at this stage that a secondary bacterial infection can begin, since the affected mucous membranes against the background of reduced immunity create very favorable conditions for the existence and reproduction of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. It can cause rhinitis, sinusitis, tracheitis, otitis media, tonsillitis, pneumonia, meningitis.
To reduce the risks of possible complications, you need to know exactly which pathogen the disease is associated with, and also be able to distinguish influenza from SARS.
There is a special table of differences that will help parents to at least roughly understand which agent they are dealing with.
It is rather difficult to distinguish a viral infection from a bacterial infection at home, so laboratory diagnostics will come to the aid of parents.
If in doubt, you need to take a blood test. In 90% of cases, children have a viral infection. Bacterial infections are very difficult and usually require treatment in a hospital setting. Fortunately, they are rare.
The traditional treatment that a pediatrician prescribes for a child is based on the use of antiviral drugs. Symptomatic treatment is also provided: for a runny nose - drops in the nose, for a sore throat - gargles and a spray, for a cough - expectorants.
About ARVI
Some children get ARVI more often, others less often. However, all without exception suffer from such diseases, since there is no universal protection against viral infections transmitted and developing by the respiratory type. In winter, children get sick more often, because viruses are most active during this time of year. In the summer, such diagnoses are also made. The frequency of diseases depends on the state of the immune system of each individual child.
It is a mistake to call ARVI a cold, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. A cold is hypothermia of the body. It is possible to "catch" ARVI without hypothermia, although it certainly increases the chances of contracting viruses.
After contact with a sick person and the penetration of the virus, it may take several days before the first symptoms appear. Typically, the incubation period for ARVI is 2-4 days. A sick child is contagious to others for 2-4 days from the moment the first signs of the disease appear.
Treatment according to Komarovsky
To the question of how to treat ARVI, Evgeny Komarovsky answers unequivocally: "Nothing!"
The child's body is able to cope with the virus on its own in 3-5 days, during which time the baby's immunity will be able to "learn" to deal with the causative agent of the disease and develop antibodies to it, which will be useful more than once when the child again encounters this pathogen.
Antiviral drugs, which are abundantly presented on the shelves of pharmacies, are advertised on television and radio, promising to "save and protect from viruses" in the shortest possible time - nothing more than a successful marketing ploy, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. Their effectiveness has not been clinically proven. By and large, there is no cure for viruses.
The same applies to homeopathic medicines (Anaferon, Oscillococcinum and others). These pills are "dummies," the doctor says, and pediatricians prescribe them not so much for treatment as for moral comfort. The doctor prescribed (even a knowingly useless drug), he is calm (after all, homeopathic remedies are absolutely harmless), the parents are happy (they are treating the child), the baby drinks pills consisting of water and glucose, and calmly recovers only with the help of its own immunity.
The most dangerous is the situation in which parents rush to give antibiotics to a child with ARVI. Evgeny Komarovsky emphasizes that this is a real crime against the health of the baby:
- Antibiotics are completely powerless against viruses because they are designed to fight bacteria;
- They do not reduce the risk of developing bacterial complications, as some think, but increase it.
Komarovsky considers folk remedies for ARVI to be completely useless. Onions and garlic, as well as honey and raspberries, are useful on their own, but in no way affect the ability of the virus to replicate.
Treatment of a child with ARVI should be based, according to Evgeny Olegovich, on the creation of "correct" conditions and microclimate. Maximum fresh air, walks, frequent wet cleaning in the house where the child lives.
It is a mistake to wrap up the crumbs and close all the windows in the house. The air temperature in the apartment should not be higher than 18-20 degrees, and the air humidity should be at the level of 50-70%.
This factor is very important in order to prevent the mucous membranes of the respiratory system from drying out in conditions of too dry air (especially if the baby has a runny nose and breathes through his mouth). The creation of such conditions helps the body to cope with the infection faster, and this is what Evgeny Komarovsky considers the most correct approach to therapy.
With a very severe course of a viral infection, it is possible to prescribe the only drug acting on viruses, Tamiflu. It is expensive and not everyone needs it, since such a drug has a lot of side effects. Komarovsky warns parents against self-medication.
It is not necessary to bring down the temperature in most cases, because it fulfills an important mission - it promotes the production of natural interferons that help fight viruses. An exception is infants under one year old. If the baby is 1 year old, and his fever is higher than 38.5, which has not subsided for about 3 days, this is a good reason to give an antipyretic agent. Komarovsky advises using "Paracetamol" or "Ibuprofen" for this.
Strong intoxication is also dangerous. In case of vomiting and diarrhea, which may accompany fever, the child should be given plenty of water, sorbents and electrolytes should be given. They will help restore water-salt balance and prevent dehydration, which is extremely dangerous for children in the first year of life.
Vasoconstrictor nasal drops with a cold should be used as carefully as possible. For more than three days, small children should not drip them, since these drugs cause strong drug dependence... For cough Komarovsky advises not to give antitussives. They suppress the reflex by affecting the cough center in the child's brain. A cough with ARVI is necessary and important, since it is in this way that the body gets rid of accumulated phlegm (bronchial secretions). Stagnation of this secret can become the beginning of a strong inflammatory process.
Without a doctor's prescription, no cough suppressants, including folk recipes for a respiratory viral infection, are needed. If the mother really wants to give the child at least something, let it be mucolytic drugs that help thin and remove phlegm.
Komarovsky does not advise to get involved in medicines for ARVI, since he has long noticed a pattern: the more tablets and syrups a child drinks at the very beginning of a respiratory viral infection, the more drugs will then have to be bought to treat complications.
Moms and dads should not be tormented by their conscience for not treating the baby in any way. Grandmothers and girlfriends can appeal to conscience, reproach parents. They should be adamant. There is only one argument: ARVI should not be treated. Reasonable parents, if a child is sick, do not run to the pharmacy for a bunch of pills, but wash the floors and cook compote from dried fruits for their beloved child.
How to treat ARVI in children, Dr. Komarovsky will tell in the video below.
Do I need to call a doctor?
Evgeny Komarovsky advises to call a doctor for any signs of ARVI. Situations are different, and sometimes there is no such opportunity (or desire). Parents should learn the possible situations in which self-medication is deadly. A child needs medical attention if:
- There is no improvement in the condition on the fourth day after the onset of the disease.
- The temperature is increased on the seventh day after the onset of the disease.
- After the improvement, there was a noticeable deterioration in the baby's condition.
- Pain, purulent discharge (from the nose, ear), pathological pallor of the skin, excessive sweating and shortness of breath appeared.
- If the cough remains unproductive and the attacks become more frequent and stronger.
- Antipyretic drugs have a short-term effect or do not work at all.
Emergency medical care is required if the child has convulsions, convulsions, if he loses consciousness, he has respiratory failure (inhalation is very difficult, wheezing is observed on exhalation), if there is no runny nose, the nose is dry, and against this background, the throat is very sore ( this may be one of the signs of developing sore throat). Call an ambulance if the child has vomiting on the background of fever, a rash or noticeably swollen neck.
Tips
- If it is possible to give your child a flu shot, then it is best to do so. True, parents should remember that she will only protect against the flu virus. For other viruses mentioned above, vaccination is not a hindrance, and therefore the risk of ARVI and ARI remains high.
- According to Komarovsky, the prevention of ARVI and influenza with the help of antiviral drugs is a story invented specifically to increase sales of expensive antiviral drugs. To save a child, you need to remember that the main source of infection is a sick person. During a period of mass morbidity, it is better to limit the child's visit to places where a large number of people gather. You need to walk more, take less public transport. It is much more difficult to get infected on the street (especially during the cold season) than in the cabin of a bus or trolleybus.
- A healthy child does not need a gauze or disposable mask. The patient needs it. This is not to say that it will 100% protect others from infection, but to some extent will reduce the spread of the virus from the patient in the environment.
- The child should not be forced to eat during illness. On an empty stomach, it is easier for the body to mobilize all its forces for the immune response. Drinking plenty of fluids is a must in the treatment of respiratory viral infections. The more the child drinks, the less likely the mucous membranes will dry out, the bronchial secretions will become thick and difficult to separate. The risk of complications will be significantly reduced.
- Flush your nose frequently with a saline solution, which is easy to make at home. You can bury it as often as you like. You can use ready-made saline solution, which is sold in any pharmacy.
- At high temperatures, you can not rub the child with badger fat, make compresses, soar your feet in a basin, bathe the baby in hot water. All this violates thermoregulation. Bathing is best left for later when the fever subsides. Baths and saunas are also categorically not recommended - as, indeed, inhalation, cans, rubbing with alcohol-containing solutions.
- It is categorically impossible to take a child with ARVI to kindergarten or school, so as not to contribute to the formation of the epidemic. It is also better not to go to the clinic, so as not to infect children who sit in line with their parents for an appointment. It is advisable to call the doctor at home.
- If the temperature is high, the child should be put to bed. Bed rest will reduce the stress on the body. During the convalescent stage, when the airways begin to clear of phlegm, it is better to provide more movement. So the bronchial secretion will go away much faster.
Is it worth using antiviral agents with ARVI, see the transfer of Dr. Komarovsky.
