Six years of age is a rather difficult transition period in the life of a little person. Some of the children are already attending school at the age of 6, the parents of others are planning to do this from the age of seven, but at the age of 6 they start taking their child to an early development school. Many children of this age attend sections and circles, institutions of additional education.
The baby's social circle is becoming wider. It is interesting, educational, but at the same time dangerous. Especially in the cold season and periods of seasonal growth of viral diseases. How to protect your baby from influenza and SARS? How to treat it if the disease has already occurred? What antiviral drugs will help with this?
Medicines for viruses: benefits and harms
Antivirus products are widely advertised on TV and on the Internet. Advertisers especially try in autumn and spring. Indeed, the sector of these medicines brings multibillion-dollar profits to pharmaceutical companies, because obtrusive advertising convinces adults not only to buy the miracle pills for influenza and drink them "at the first symptoms of colds and flu", but also give them to your children. What parent does not want to protect their baby from a formidable and dangerous infection?
In fact, such “pressure” on a strong parental instinct is more like manipulation, an excellent marketing ploy, the purpose of which is not to preserve the health of the nation, especially the younger generation, but to earn as much money as possible.
Let's see if children really need antiviral drugs?
No matter how advertisements advertise the tablets and syrups for influenza and SARS, the effectiveness of most antiviral agents, unfortunately, has not been proven to date. Scientific research and testing of these drugs is extremely rare, and if this happens, then the trials are led by strange laboratories owned by the manufacturer itself, and not by third-party organizations that are not interested in the result.
According to most doctors, antiviral drugs can be effective if taken in the first hours after the virus begins to multiply in the body. In the advanced stages of infection, these drugs are already of little use. Most often, these drugs are recommended for prophylactic use.
Among the main disadvantages of these tablets and syrups is usually called negative impact on the child's own immunity. Most drugs for viruses act as immunomodulators and immunostimulants. That is, the active substance makes the body's natural defense mechanisms activate and more quickly respond to the causative agent of the disease. Frequent use of such funds makes the immune system "lazy", and the baby begins to get sick more and more often, and the ailments themselves he endures with each time more and more difficult.
The emergence of specific immune aggression is also possible, when antibodies "switch" their attention in the cells affected by the virus to completely healthy ones.
Some antiviral drugs contain interferon, a protein that is involved in the body's immune response to an invading virus. The immune system of a healthy person produces such protein compounds on its own.
Taking interferon from the outside helps to quickly start the mechanism of resistance to infection, but such drugs often cause rather severe side effects in children.
There are drugs that act on the virus "directly", destroy its DNA and prevent its reproduction. They do not have any effect on immunity, but in general they "hit" quite hard throughout the body. Children are given such drugs with extreme caution.
Widespread use, according to parents, received homeopathic antiviral drugs... They have no side effects, have almost no contraindications, and therefore are loved by moms and dads. However, the effectiveness of homeopathy today is also a controversial and controversial issue. It is not possible to study it in laboratory clinical conditions due to the extremely small doses of active ingredients that are contained in homeopathic preparations.
However, all these nuances are not a reason to refuse taking antiviral medicines when the situation requires it. After all, severe forms of viral infection, influenza, chickenpox and measles cannot be relieved with tea with honey. And although the drugs we are talking about are sold in pharmacies without a prescription, use them for any reason and without it, in no case.
Let's try to understand when it is necessary or not necessary to give antiviral to children aged 6 years and a little older.
Indications
Acute viral disease. If a child rapidly develops flu or ARVI, in some situations with chickenpox, measles, respiratory infections caused by viruses, with "intestinal flu". It will be better if the doctor prescribes the medicine, taking into account the condition of your baby. At high unbreakable temperatures (above 39 degrees for six-year-olds), antiviral drugs can be prescribed as a remedy that somewhat reduces the risk of complications.
Prevention of colds and a general increase in immunity. When choosing a remedy for prophylactic use, you should also ask the opinion of your treating pediatrician. He will not only tell you which medicine to buy, but also prescribe the dose. The prophylactic dosage is usually two, and sometimes three times less than the therapeutic one. Such medication is relevant for a six-year-old child if there are already viral infections in his environment (in the family, in the kindergarten group or in the classroom).
Application features
Children's immunity at age 6 is usually much stronger than at age one or two. He has already encountered various bacteria and viruses several times, and "remembered", and also knows how to "recognize" them and react in time. And therefore in no case should you feed a six-year-old with pharmaceutical medicines every time you have a cough or a runny nose. Let his own immune defenses do their job.
Antiviral drugs should not be used more than twice a year. For prophylaxis, this statement is also true.
Parents should not have any difficulties when choosing the dosage form of the drug: children at this age can already safely take not only "children's" syrups and suspensions, rectal suppositories and drops, but also tablets. But capsules, including those with a dissolving shell, are contraindicated for six-year-olds. You can take them only from the age of 12.
List of drugs for children aged 6+
- "Oxolinic ointment";
- "Ridostin";
- Oscillococinum;
- "Engystol";
- "Immunoflazid";
- "Immunal";
- "Remantadin";
- "Imupret";
- Laferobion;
- "Influcid";
- Orvirem.
Tips
If your 6-year-old is sick with the flu, acute respiratory infections or ARVI, do not limit yourself to taking antiviral drugs, follow some rules that will help your child recover faster.
- The flu is not as bad as its complications. They can indeed be destructive. Angina, sinusitis, otitis media, sensorineural hearing loss, complications of the heart, kidneys and liver. You cannot predict them yourself. Be sure to show your six-year-old doctor. To do this, you do not need to go to the clinic, so as not to contribute to the spread of the virus. Call your doctor at home.
- You need to start taking antivirus products within 36 hours after the first symptoms of the disease appear. Later, the drugs will not give the desired effect.
- Provide the baby with the correct drinking regime. To calculate the amount of water to be given, multiply the child's weight by 30. Drink should be warm, it is better if it is plain water, not carbonated and unsweetened. You can alternate water intake with rosehip decoction, blackcurrant or viburnum juice (these are excellent herbal natural antiviral agents).
- Observe the schedule and frequency of drug intake. Pay attention to the expiration date of medications.
- Do not wrap the baby up and do not "tightly" plug all the vents in the house. Your child with flu or chickenpox needs fresh air, normal, and not too high air temperature in the apartment.
- Provide bed rest for the child.
- The temperature below 39.0-39.5 does not need to be reduced. Rather, it indicates the normal functioning of the baby's immunity.
- If additional symptoms appear, the runny nose gets worse, discharge from the nose acquires a green, gray, gray-green or purulent hue, bad breath appears with a sore throat, signs of intoxication appear, be sure to inform the doctor. This may indicate the development of bacterial complications, for the treatment of which antibiotics effective in this situation may already be needed.
You can find out all about antiviral drugs and in what cases they can be used from the program of the popular pediatrician Komarovsky, see the following video.
