Text/Picture Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Zhang Hua
Correspondent Lu Yuyi Wu Xiaodan
Recently, the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention released news that various surveillance data show that Guangzhou has entered the spring high incidence period of influenza. "Recently, there are more children in outpatient pediatrics, nearly three times more than usual, and most of these children have influenza A." On March 11, at the scene of the 9th Scientific Parenting Carnival of Pearl River Hospital of Southern Medical University, the reporter interviewed Wu Zhu, deputy director of the Pediatric Center of Pearl River Hospital of Southern Medical University, who said that the daily outpatient volume of the pediatric center has reached 700-800 cases, most of which are children with influenza A, but have not yet received severe children caused by influenza A.
Wu Zhu, deputy director of the Pediatric Center of Pearl River Hospital of Southern Medical University
The number of visits to paediatric centres has increased almost threefold
During the new crown epidemic, citizens have become accustomed to wearing masks, which to some extent has led to a decline in people's resistance to the influenza virus. Wu Zhu said that this makes different people decline to different degrees, and there are more children in this round of A flow. "In terms of the outpatient volume of the pediatric center of Zhujiang Hospital, the number of pediatric internal medicine outpatient visits has increased by 2-3 times in the past two weeks, and it is estimated that 70%-80% of them are children with influenza A." Wu Zhu said.
It is understood that there are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C, and D. Among them, influenza C virus appears in a scattered form, mainly invades infants and young children, and generally does not cause epidemics. Influenza D currently only infects cattle and pigs, not humans. At present, humans are mainly infected by the H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes of influenza A virus and the Yamagata and Victoria lines of influenza B viruses.
The clinical symptoms of influenza in each child are not exactly the same, most of them are acute onset, mainly high fever, chills, cough, sore throat, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, joint pain and other symptoms, some people may have vomiting, diarrhea and other digestive symptoms. Wu Zhu introduced that influenza A is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza A virus, which is transmitted by droplets such as sneezing and coughing, and can also be transmitted by contact with items contaminated by the virus. "Influenza A has an incubation period, 2~4 days is the most common. It may be contagious at the end of the incubation period, before symptoms appear. In the 3~5 days after the appearance of symptoms, it is relatively contagious, so we must isolate people who already have symptoms in time. Especially in families with two or three children, one of them is infected, and isolation measures should be taken to prevent transmission to others. Wu Zhu said.
Influenza patients can be cared for at home, and abnormal conditions need to seek medical attention in time
On March 11, the reporter learned from the National Influenza Center that from February 27 to March 5, the positive rate of influenza virus testing in the southern and northern provinces continued to rise, with A(H1N1)pdm09 (seasonal influenza A(H1N1) (seasonal influenza A(H1N1) and A (H3N2) (seasonal influenza A(H3N2) co-circulating. The percentage of influenza-like cases in the northern and southern provinces continues to rise. A total of 720 influenza-like outbreaks were reported this week.
"Compared to the peak of influenza in June last year, when the daily outpatient volume was as high as 1,400 cases, the current outpatient volume is 700-800 cases." Wu Zhu said that when the child is infected with influenza A, if it is not a high-risk group of severe cases, you can isolate and rest at home, use antipyretic and analgesic drugs and some drugs to relieve cough, nasal congestion and runny nose to improve symptoms, rest more, drink more water appropriately, and generally 5~7 days can improve and enter the recovery period. However, if the child has persistent high fever, convulsions, cold limbs, impaired consciousness, difficulty breathing, etc., it is necessary to go to the hospital quickly. Wu Zhu emphasized: "During the peak of influenza last year, we received children with severe influenza referred to primary hospitals, and severe cases may cause severe conditions such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and myocarditis."
So, can the antiviral drug oseltamivir that is currently being hotly searched be taken by itself? Wu Zhu pointed out that oseltamivir is a drug for the prevention and treatment of influenza A, which has a certain effect of inhibiting influenza, but has a certain drug resistance, and is a prescription drug, which cannot be taken by itself, and should be used under the guidance of a doctor.
Vaccination, antibodies are produced in about 2 weeks
Annual influenza vaccination is the most effective means of preventing influenza and can significantly reduce the risk of influenza and serious complications in vaccinated people. Because influenza viruses are prone to mutation and the global mainstream chicken embryo-based vaccine production cycle is about 4-5 months, the World Health Organization predicts and releases recommended strains of influenza vaccines in the northern and southern hemispheres based on global influenza surveillance data in February and September each year.
Guangzhou belongs to the southern hemisphere, and the World Health Organization announced the recommended strain in September last year, so it is now possible to get a flu vaccine. Wuzhu said that influenza vaccination before the epidemic season, especially children, can produce effective antibodies in about two weeks after vaccination. If it is in the epidemic period of influenza A, timely vaccination can also achieve a certain preventive effect.
However, overall, the proportion of influenza vaccination in the mainland is not high. In the 2020-2021 influenza season, the mainland influenza vaccination rate was reported to be 3.34%. In the 2021-2022 influenza season, the vaccination rate was only 2.46%. Liang Xiaofeng, Institute of Vaccine Industry of Jinan University, said that influenza vaccines have not yet been included in the mainland's national immunization program. The mainland divides vaccines into immunization program vaccines and non-immunization program vaccines, immunization program vaccines are provided by the government to residents free of charge, and the vaccination targets are mainly children, the elderly or students, non-immunization program vaccines need residents to be vaccinated at their own expense, and most areas need to voluntarily and self-pay influenza vaccines.
So who is recommended for the flu vaccine? According to information released by the National Influenza Center, in principle, all people aged 6 months and older who are willing to receive the flu vaccine and have no contraindications can receive the influenza vaccine. Because of the different clinical severity and outcomes of influenza infection in different populations, influenza vaccination should be given more priority in certain populations. Drawing on the documents of the World Health Organization and years of application experience in other countries, combined with the national conditions of the mainland, the following groups are recommended as priority vaccination groups:
1. Infants aged 2-23 months;
2. Children aged 2-5 years;
3. Elderly people aged 60 and above;
4. Patients with specific chronic diseases: patients with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (except simple hypertension), chronic respiratory diseases, liver and kidney insufficiency, blood diseases, nervous system diseases, neuromuscular dysfunction, metabolic diseases (including diabetes), patients with immunosuppressive diseases or immunocompromised;
5. Medical staff;
Family members and caregivers of infants under 7 and 6 months of age;
8. Pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant during influenza season;
In addition, maintaining good personal hygiene is an important means to prevent respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza, including: frequent hand washing; During the flu season, try to avoid crowded places; After flu symptoms, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, towel, etc. for coughing and sneezing, then wash your hands and try to avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. When family members have influenza patients, try to avoid contact with each other, especially if there are elderly people and chronically ill people in the family. When parents of children with influenza symptoms go to the hospital, they should protect the child and themselves (such as wearing masks) to avoid cross-infection. When influenza-like cases occur in collective units such as schools and childcare institutions, patients should rest at home to reduce the spread of the disease.
Editor: He Ning