The climate is dry in autumn and freezing in winter, and many people have fevers in the cold. As a result, fever clinics are always overcrowded when the seasons change or the climate changes suddenly.
At the head of the epidemic, if there is a fever, it is important to do nucleic acid to exclude the new crown virus infection; in addition to the special causes of fever relief, it is also very important to distinguish between common cold and flu.
The full name of "flu" is influenza, which is an infectious disease caused by the influenza virus, it is not like the common cold, it is good to stay up for a few days, and it does not require special treatment.
The flu is much worse than the common cold.
Some patients with underlying diseases, or the elderly, young children, and pregnant women with weakened immunity, will be aggravated by complications such as pneumonia. Even, every year, some people with influenza die from acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ failure.
Therefore, when fever is fever, the distinction is between the common cold and the flu, which can basically determine the length of the disease and whether there is a risk of serious complications, providing a basis for correct management of fever.
Today, Dr. Long will talk about the topic of influenza.
What is the difference between the common cold and the flu?
When you feel a little afraid of the cold, or have a fever, take your temperature to know if you have a fever.
If the first symptoms appear at the beginning are fever, and in the season of influenza epidemic, it is mostly influenza; but if there is only a runny nose, sneezing, occasional cough twice, and no fever, the common cold is more likely.
This is only a preliminary identification method, and to distinguish between the two situations in depth, it is also necessary to understand the following aspects of knowledge.
1. Pathogen
Influenza is caused by influenza viruses, while the common cold is caused by pathogens such as rhinovirus, coronavirus, new coronavirus (and new coronavirus from the same family), adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and even bacteria.
2. Incubation period
The incubation period of the common cold is short, about 1 day. So, someone else sneezes, and soon you sneeze, and maybe you're infected. The incubation period of influenza is longer, generally 1 to 7 days, most of which are 2 to 4 days.
When healthy people have been exposed to flu patients, they do not immediately show symptoms, and many people can't even remember which flu patients they have contacted, and one day after that, they may suddenly have a fever.
3, Symptoms
Symptoms of the common cold are mild, mainly sneezing, nasal congestion, runny nose, throat discomfort, mild cough. Some patients may have fever, although most present with a low-grade fever with a body temperature below 38°C. There are generally few systemic symptoms.
The general manifestations of influenza: moderate heat and high fever with a body temperature of more than 38 ° C, and the body temperature of some patients can reach 39 ° C ~ 40 ° C, accompanied by chills, headaches, joint pain, muscle soreness, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite - these are the systemic symptoms we usually say.
4. Complications
Colds rarely have complications, and some patients may develop secondary bacterial infections of the throat, tonsils, or sinuses after a cold. Influenza is different, influenza often appears pneumonia, severe cases cause breathing difficulties, shock and other complications.
Who should pay special attention to the aggravation of influenza?
Influenza is very contagious, and people who have not been vaccinated will almost inevitably become infected if they have close contact with flu patients.
Most of the common people flu do not have major problems, and it will eventually get better after a few days. However, some people should pay special attention to the fact that they may develop severe influenza:
senior citizen
child
People who usually have respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis, liver diseases such as cirrhosis, kidney diseases such as uremia, hematological diseases and other underlying diseases
pregnant woman
Obese people, this is especially to be proposed, body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 28 people, when they get the flu, it is easy to become very heavy, so weight loss is very important.
What to do if you suspect you have the flu
What should I do if I or my family have symptoms of influenza such as fever?
This has a lot to do with personal feelings, when the condition is serious, patients can feel it on their own, such as high fever, extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, chest tightness, dizziness and other manifestations, may be influenza, to go to the hospital as soon as possible.
A special point to pay attention to is that do not have a fever, quickly eat "anti-inflammatory", antibacterial drugs, you can first use physical cooling methods, try to cool down.
How is influenza diagnosed?
Influenza is an infectious disease that belongs to category C infectious diseases.
The diagnosis of influenza, like other infectious diseases, must meet three basic links, that is, the basic conditions of three diagnosis:
1. Epidemiological history
That is, there are things that have been exposed to flu patients, or have been used by flu patients.
2. Clinical manifestations
There are flu symptoms mentioned earlier, while excluding some obvious infectious diseases, such as acute purulent pharyngitis, purulent tonsillitis and so on.
3. Auxiliary inspection
Whether it is the flu or not can currently be diagnosed by means of rapid influenza antigen detection and other methods.
The method of diagnosis can be to take the patient's nose and throat secretions (swabs) for nucleic acid detection of influenza virus, virus isolation or antigen testing, or blood testing.
Blood is drawn for examination mainly to see the specific antibodies of the influenza virus, and the antibody level is more than 4 times higher within a week, which can often be diagnosed.
Examinations like this don't all need to be done, just do one.
What is the significance of a routine blood test for influenza?
Some people say that since the flu can make a pathogenic diagnosis through the above methods, why should the doctor go to the hospital to check the blood routine?
In fact, the choice of blood routine also depends on the situation.
People with clear diagnosis and no complications or complication tendencies do not have to go to the hospital to check the blood routine, especially if the symptoms appear within one or two days, the reference value of the blood routine examination at this time may not be large.
However, when there is a possibility of bacterial infection that cannot be identified or excluded, it is still meaningful to judge whether there is a serious bacterial infection and help make medication choices.
Got the flu, is it useful to drink water and take plate blue root?
When there is a fever, the most common way for people to comfort others is to drink more water. However, it is clear that after many people drink water, the flu symptoms will not be alleviated.
The most important role of drinking water is to replenish water. When people have a fever, they will lose water through various ways such as sweating, so drinking water can alleviate symptoms such as dry mouth and dry throat, which is also a good habit, but generally does not have a "therapeutic" effect.
Banlan root and various cold medicines are also often used in daily life, but in fact, these do not have much effect on the treatment of influenza, at least not rigorous double-blind clinical trials to confirm this.
How is the flu treated?
The most recognized and recommended drug for the treatment of influenza is oseltamivir.
This drug can adhere the influenza virus to the surface of the cell, prevent the virus from entering the cell to complete replication and further release and spread, thereby reducing the viral load in the body, the viral load is less, which will shorten the course of the flu and reduce complications.
How can I prevent the flu?
As mentioned earlier, what plate blue root preparation to eat can not treat the flu, nor can it prevent the flu, vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the flu.
The current influenza vaccine mainly targets the three circulating beads of the influenza virus. H1N1, H3N2 and BV prevent influenza caused by these three influenza viruses.
But vaccination is not 100% non-flu, so it does not mean that you should do nothing if you are vaccinated. Even if you have been vaccinated, you still need to pay attention to prevention, the following methods for reference:
1. Pay attention to personal hand hygiene, wash your hands frequently, and avoid rubbing your mouth, nose, eyes with your hands and cutting your teeth with your hands during the epidemic season.
2, influenza epidemic season, to avoid going to crowded and air circulation places, must go, it is best to wear a mask.
3. Coughing and sneezing etiquette.
When coughing and sneezing, it is best to cover the mouth and nose with a tissue, and when there is no tissue, you can cover it with your elbows. If you have a cold, you should avoid talking, singing, and arguing loudly, which are also more likely to spread the flu virus.
4. The living room environment is kept ventilated and clean, and the temperature and humidity are appropriate.
5, the environment to do regular disinfection, living room and surrounding can use chlorine, ethanol-containing disinfectants, such as 84 disinfectant and alcohol.
brief summary
Fever, first determine whether it is low-grade fever or moderate fever, if more than 38 degrees, there is chills, general aches, fatigue, breathing, appetite and mental state are affected, it is recommended to go to the hospital as soon as possible.
Influenza is more important than prevention, and it is most important to inject the flu vaccine before the epidemic season, even if you miss the vaccination period, you can still fight. The flu vaccine is protected for one year.
Other measures are in line with our current prevention of COVID-19: pay attention to personal hygiene, especially hand hygiene, wear a mask when going out, and avoid staying in crowded places for a long time.
Drink more water, strengthen nutrition, exercise more usually, can enhance immunity, so that when the flu comes, it may make the symptoms lighter, or more able to "carry" the past.
After the discovery of influenza, the most important treatment is the timely use of antiviral drugs, such as oseltamivir, which can shorten the course of the disease and alleviate pain.
For more knowledge of infections and liver diseases, stay tuned to Dr. Dragon!