Answer questions! How can the public respond scientifically to the high incidence of swine flu?
Xinhua News Agency, Xi ‘an, March 13 (Reporter Lin Juan) Influenza monitoring by China CDC shows that the level of influenza activity has increased in many places in China recently, and influenza A virus is the absolute advantage among the popular influenza viruses. What is swine flu? What’s the difference between flu and common cold? How should I treat the flu? How to scientifically prevent influenza? The reporter interviewed disease control experts and infectious disease experts to answer your questions.
What is swine flu?
Yu Pengbo, director of the Institute of Viral Disease Prevention and Control of Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that influenza A is the abbreviation of influenza A and an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza A virus infection. Influenza virus can be divided into four types according to its core protein: A, B, C and D. Influenza viruses that are seasonal epidemic in the population are influenza A (subtype A H1N1 and subtype A H3N2) and influenza B (strain Yamagata and strain Victoria).
Compared with influenza B virus, influenza A virus has many hosts in nature, and it is more prone to mutation or recombination, resulting in its rapid spread among people. Many large-scale outbreaks of influenza in history are related to influenza A virus.
Influenza patients and recessive infections are the main sources of seasonal influenza infection. Influenza virus is mainly transmitted through air droplets, and can also be directly or indirectly transmitted through oral cavity, nasal cavity, eyes and other mucous membranes. Contact with items contaminated by viruses may also cause infection. It can also spread in the form of aerosol in a crowded, closed or poorly ventilated room.
During the flu season, children and parents of Xi ‘an Children’s Hospital lined up for tests. Xinhua News Agency reporter Yan Juan photo
What’s the difference between flu and common cold?
Yu Pengbo introduced that, first of all, the pathogens of the two are different. The flu is caused by influenza virus, and the common cold is caused by rhinovirus and adenovirus. Second, the seasonality is different. Influenza has obvious seasonality (from October to March of the following year in northern China), while the common cold has no obvious seasonality. Third, the symptoms are different. The typical symptoms of influenza are fever, with body temperature as high as 39 to 40 degrees Celsius, accompanied by chills, severe systemic symptoms, headache, muscle pain and fatigue. The common cold generally does not have fever or mild or moderate fever, with nasopharyngeal symptoms as the main symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, stuffy nose, sore throat, etc., with mild or no systemic symptoms. Fourth, the harmfulness is different. Generally, the body temperature gradually subsides after 3 to 4 days of influenza onset, and the systemic symptoms improve. However, high-risk groups such as the elderly, children, patients with chronic diseases and pregnant women may be complicated with complications such as pneumonia, otitis media and myocarditis, which may develop into severe illness or even death. Complications of the common cold are rare, and they usually recover in 5 to 7 days.
How should I treat the flu?
Ye Feng, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi ‘an Jiaotong University, said that after symptoms appear, general patients are advised to rest at home and keep the room ventilated. Get enough rest, drink plenty of water, and the diet should be easy to digest and nutritious. Minimize contact with others to avoid infection. The focus of treatment is to relieve flu-like symptoms such as fever and cough, and the patient’s condition changes should be closely observed. Once persistent high fever occurs, accompanied by severe cough, dyspnea, mental change, severe vomiting and diarrhea, you should see a doctor in time.
Children under 5 years old, the elderly, patients with chronic diseases, pregnant women or obese people are more likely to have serious complications. They should seek medical treatment as soon as possible and use antiviral drugs under the guidance of doctors as soon as possible. Antibiotics and hormones are ineffective against influenza virus.
It should be noted that not everyone who has the flu must take antiviral drugs. The vast majority of influenza antiviral drugs are prescription drugs, which need to be evaluated by doctors before use. At present, the available antiviral drugs for influenza in China mainly include oseltamivir, zanamivir, palamivir, Abidor and mabaloxavir.
Children and their parents waiting in Xi ‘an Children’s Hospital. Xinhua News Agency reporter Yan Juan photo
How to prevent influenza?
Ye Feng introduced that in daily life, maintaining good personal hygiene habits is an important means to prevent respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza. Wash your hands frequently and keep the environment clean and ventilated; Minimize activities in crowded places and avoid contact with patients with respiratory infections; Observe the etiquette when coughing; You should pay attention to rest when you have flu symptoms; Wear a mask when going to public places or seeking medical treatment. In addition, vaccination is the most economical and effective means to prevent influenza. It can be vaccinated one to two months before the peak of influenza epidemic, and it can also be vaccinated when the vaccine is available in the epidemic season.