Stomach flu in children is a rotavirus infection that enters the gastrointestinal tract through food or contaminated water. This disease belongs to the group of “dirty hand diseases”. Therefore, the main precaution is to observe the rules of personal hygiene.
The peak incidence occurs in winter. It is diagnosed mainly in children aged 6 months to 3 years. By the age of 4, more than 90% of children have stable immunity to the rotavirus group. Intestinal flu does not spread among schoolchildren and adolescents and occurs only in children with weakened immune systems.
Rotavirus has a high degree of resistance to adverse environmental factors. IN stool In a sick person or carrier, it can maintain its virulence for 6-7 months. In the air and on household items, pathogenic forms remain viable for 5-8 days. It is reliably known that approximately 40% of the adult population of the Earth are permanent or temporary carriers of rotaviruses of various strains. They have no symptoms of the disease. Therefore, the likelihood of infection in infants and toddlers if hygienic household rules are not followed is very high.
The first signs of intestinal flu
Signs of intestinal flu in children appear a day after infection. Parents should pay attention to the following characteristic symptoms:
- the baby’s body temperature rises to 38-39 °C;
- appears (up to 15 times a day);
- light-colored stools, watery with mucus admixtures;
- diffuse abdominal pain, tenesmus;
- rumbling in the right side of the abdomen along the way small intestine.
Later, symptoms of intoxication and dehydration of the child’s body appear. The incubation period is 24 - 48 hours. If the course is favorable, the disease subsides within 5-7 days, and baby is coming on the mend.
Clinical symptoms of intestinal flu
In diagnosing intestinal influenza, clinical symptoms are important for the doctor to differentiate from other forms of intestinal infection. The determining factor is the isolation of rotavirus in feces during bacterial testing.
The following clinical symptoms of intestinal flu are important for diagnosis:
- compliance with the seasonality of the spread of infection (the period from November to March);
- child's age up to 3 years;
- characteristic consistency and color of feces;
- sudden onset of the disease;
- bacterial research.
For preventive purposes, all family members are examined. To exclude more severe forms of infection, differential diagnosis with shigellosis, cholera.
Treatment of intestinal flu and its complications
Specific treatment for intestinal flu modern medicine not known. Does not exist pharmacological drug, which has a pathogenic effect on rotavirus. Therefore, therapies company viral infection boils down to this:
- preventing the development of dehydration;
- reducing hyperthermia in children;
- increasing the level of resistance of the baby’s body.
In practice, treatment for intestinal flu is as follows:
- the child is prescribed bed rest;
- drinking regime increases;
- Antispasmodics and means to lower body temperature are used for symptomatic purposes;
- an appropriate gentle diet is prescribed;
- vitamin therapy will be provided to replenish the costs that are necessary for the regeneration of the intestinal mucous membranes.
During treatment of intestinal flu, spicy, fried, and irritating foods should be excluded from the child’s diet. You should completely avoid foods that increase gas formation. These are legumes, carbonated drinks, spices, sweets, meat, cabbage. The child can be given mashed boiled vegetables, slimy porridges, jelly, crackers, and unsweetened cookies. Fruit juices and fresh fruits are excluded until diarrhea completely stops. Mineral waters, vegetable decoctions, and bird cherry compotes are used for drinking.
Complications of intestinal flu can include various erosions, intestinal ulcers, hypovolemia, chronic colitis. With the correct approach to the treatment of intestinal flu in children, complications develop extremely rarely.
Prevention of intestinal flu in children
Specific methods for preventing intestinal flu have not been developed. There is no vaccine against this disease. Therefore, the main prevention of intestinal flu comes down to observing the rules of personal hygiene. When caring for your baby, you need to keep your hands clean. When preparing food for a child, it is not recommended to use common household items. All diapers and baby clothes must be thoroughly ironed on both sides. For bathing, only boiled water should be used.
One of the diseases that children often suffer from is intestinal (stomach) flu, or, as it is correctly called, rotavirus infection or gastroenteritis.
By the age of three years, up to 80% of children manage to get sick from it. The often used name, intestinal flu, was given to this disease due to the similarity of the onset of the disease: the sharp and rapid onset of symptoms and the viral nature of the disease.
Rotavirus infection– the most frequent illness intestines in the world. To understand all the features of the course of this disease and knowing how to help a sick child is worth considering in detail.
Every parent tries to protect their child from all the dangers and difficulties that come their way. Unfortunately, this does not always work out, and children are one of the most frequently ill categories of people. This is due to the immaturity of the child’s body, which does not yet have strong immunity to resist diseases surrounding the child.
Symptoms of intestinal flu
Intestinal influenza refers to infectious diseases that are caused by viruses from the family of rotaviruses, astroviruses, caliciviruses, and adenoviruses. Their action causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Children are the most susceptible to the effects of this virus; the disease itself is more severe and longer in them than in adults. This is easily explained - babies quite often put various objects in their mouths, not always clean, and the acidity of their gastric juice is low, to influence the virus bacteria. Cases of stomach flu are higher in autumn and winter, although they occur at any time of the year.
The most common methods of infection are eating unwashed fruit, unprocessed dairy products, or dirty hands. Bacteria can also be present in raw drinking water, and even water in open reservoirs or pools poses a danger - when swimming, it gets on the mucous membranes. There are both airborne and household methods of transmission. Pathogenic microbes are transmitted by sneezing, talking, and are contained in droplets of saliva. They penetrate the gastrointestinal tract through the mucous membranes.
Incubation period of intestinal flu
Rotaviruses are highly viable and are not destroyed by standard detergents or wet cleaning. Low and high temperatures have no effect on it. These microorganisms can only be killed with disinfectants containing chlorine.
Duration incubation period ranges from five hours to five days. The speed at which signs of infection appear and how the disease will progress directly depends on immune system infected person and the concentration of the virus. Acute symptoms are observed for the first week, after which the patient recovers, but is still a carrier of the infection and is dangerous to others.
Microorganisms, after entering the body, concentrate in the cells of the small intestine, disrupting the structure of the mucous membrane. This alters the production of digestive enzymes that help digest complex carbohydrates. Undigested carbohydrate products accumulate in small intestine intestines and cause diarrhea. Patients also suddenly develop a runny nose, sore throat, and cough, which disappear on their own after a short time. A feature of rotavirus infection is the presence of these signs of the disease at the onset of the disease.
A sick child complains of pain and rumbling in the abdomen, nausea, even vomiting, and weakness. The temperature can rise either slightly or strongly. A few hours later, diarrhea begins (up to 10 times a day).
An exacerbation usually lasts from three days to a week, during which time the body, especially of a small child, becomes exhausted. May decrease arterial pressure, hemoglobin levels drop, pallor and dizziness appear. This disease is not fatal, but it is worth paying attention to it and seeking treatment at the first sign. medical assistance. Organism little man I am not yet strong enough to cope with rotavirus infection and its consequences. Severe cases will require hospitalization, but more often treatment is carried out at home.
Treatment of intestinal flu in children
For treatment, you should consult a pediatrician who will visit the child at home. In the case of a severe course of the disease or an unusual course, the assistance of an infectious disease specialist may be required in a clinic or in an inpatient department of a hospital. The symptoms are in many ways similar to other more serious illnesses, for example, salmonellosis, so consulting a doctor and conducting special tests is mandatory.
To date, no drugs have been used to treat rotavirus infection. special drugs. Microorganisms of this family are little susceptible to the effects of antiviral drugs and do not respond to antibiotics.
Mainly, you should pay attention to reducing intoxication in the child’s body and avoiding dehydration, which may be due to diarrhea and vomiting. For this purpose, means are used to restore the water-salt balance, i.e. rehydration therapy is carried out. The options for the means used are quite wide; they can be used either individually or in combination.
You can use both home and pharmacy remedies. For example, a solution of the drug works well. A decoction of chamomile with the addition of dried apricots, raisins, salt and sugar will also provide benefits. Mineral water still, green, non-sweet tea - this can and should be offered to your child as often as possible. It is worth drinking liquids in small sips, and often - this will replenish the loss of fluid in the body.
Other symptoms of the disease can be managed with antipyretics, sleep and a gentle diet. Depending on the child’s desire to eat, it is worth offering him light and steamed/boiled foods. Of course, you need to exclude all canned, fatty and sweet foods from your diet - they will only add stress to the body and slow down recovery. You should not consume dairy products that have not undergone heat treatment.
To cope with toxins formed in the intestines, it is recommended to use: Activated carbon, smecta, enterosgel and others. Preparations with enzymes – Creon, Mezim and others – will also help in the digestion of carbohydrates. After the recession acute symptoms diseases, you should begin to restore the intestinal microflora. For this purpose, the drugs Linex, Bifidumbacterin, Hilak and other probiotics, widely available in pharmacies, are used. The integrated use of sorbents, enzymes and probiotics helps to cope with bloating and abdominal pain.
Prevention of intestinal flu
After past illness It is worth restoring potassium reserves in the body. Products with it will be good helpers in this high content– bananas, rice porridge, pumpkin, meat, grapes, dried fruits, melon and others. For some time, you should exclude fatty, fried and preservative-containing foods, store-bought juices and soda from your diet. Water-based porridges, light soups with vegetables, and jelly will be gentle on a child’s regenerating body. It is advisable to feed the baby often, but little by little.
To avoid illness, pay attention to simple recommendations:
- It is necessary to wash your hands well with disinfectants before eating and after visiting crowded places.
- Use boiled, purified water and individual containers for drinking.
- Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating.
- Do not swim in bodies of water that are not intended for this purpose and have not been inspected by sanitary and epidemiological services. When swimming, be careful not to let water get inside.
Often, a patient has to hear from a doctor a diagnosis such as intestinal flu. Many are skeptical about the verdict, because the flu is essentially an infectious disease respiratory tract. If you are faced with this pathology, then you need to start treating it as soon as possible. Intestinal flu is especially severe in children. You should not self-medicate. Take your child to the doctor and find out what the symptoms and treatment of intestinal flu in children are.
Intestinal flu is severe in children
Acute infection, striking digestive tract, called stomach flu. But not all gastrointestinal infections can be called this term. It can be quite difficult to figure out on your own what exactly you are faced with. In medicine, this pathology may be called gastroenteritis or rotavirus infection. This doesn't change the essence.
The disease most often occurs in children of school and kindergarten age. It can also appear in infants, which can be very dangerous. Old people and people with weakened immune systems are at risk of infection. In a healthy adult, the symptoms of the disease may be so small that the patient does not notice the deterioration of the condition. After suffering a pathology, immunity is developed.
Infection and incubation period
Stomach flu in children can be transmitted in several ways. This pathology is also called the disease of dirty hands, which speaks for itself. You can pick up an infection through poor-quality food or by getting pathogens from your palms into your mouth. Viruses infect humans through the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract. Infection can also occur through the airborne droplet method, which is standard for ARVI. The viral infection is transmitted through household items: dishes, towels.
The infection can be transmitted through towels and household items
The incubation period varies widely. Signs of intestinal flu in children may appear as early as 16 hours after the viral infection enters the body. If the patient’s immunity is stronger, then the pathology appears after a few days (up to 5 days).
Symptoms of the disease
For what reasons is the disease called “intestinal flu”?? The first symptoms to appear in children will be: cough, pain, sore throat, runny nose. All this is very similar to the classic course of infection. That is why the pathology was called the flu. Later, additional signs of illness appear that indicate an intestinal infection.
Secondary manifestations
If the stomach flu progresses, the following symptoms appear in children:
- Catarrhal phenomena(runny nose, cough, sore throat). As you already know, they disappear literally the next day without any treatment.
- Increased body temperature. In young children who have not previously experienced infectious diseases digestive tract fever is quite pronounced. Body temperature reaches 39 degrees. For stronger children, the thermometer readings stop at 37.5-38 degrees.
- Loose stool. The urge to defecate is present during the day as well as at night, which is especially exhausting for a depleted body. Stool from 5 times a day with pieces of undigested food.
- Abdominal pain. The children complain of boiling, bloating, and discomfort. There is a tendency to flatulence.
- Nausea, vomiting. These signs may be absent. Vomiting occurs more often when consuming large amounts of food or drink, and can occur from one to several times a day.
- Weakness, tearfulness. If intestinal flu occurs in an infant, the child becomes very restless and cries all the time. The baby still cannot talk about what hurts him.
A child with stomach flu may have a stomach ache
If you notice the described manifestations in a child (single or all at once), then you should see a pediatrician or infectious disease specialist as soon as possible. Remember: the younger the patient, the more dangerous this disease is for him.
Danger for small children
Intestinal flu in children under one year of age occurs especially acute form . Frequent vomiting With severe diarrhea can lead to dehydration within a few hours. Needed here correct tactics, fast treatment. Dehydration in children is manifested by the following symptoms:
- crying without tears;
- dry lips or mucous membranes, dry palms;
- apathy, drowsiness;
- no urination or very concentrated urine;
- bruises under the eyes;
- weight loss.
If you see such manifestations, then throw away all principles and urgently call an ambulance. Inaction can have disastrous consequences, including fatal outcome. If vomiting occurs more than 5 times a day, and stool more than 10 times, then the little patient is urgently hospitalized.
This infection is very dangerous for young children.
To treat or not to treat?
If intestinal flu appears in children, the symptoms and treatment should be determined and, accordingly, prescribed by a doctor. Many parents believe that there is nothing wrong with what is happening. They prefer to hope for a lucky break and trust that everything will go away on its own. This opinion is a big misconception. It is imperative to treat intestinal flu that appears in children. For this purpose, the most modern and safe medicines are selected.
How to treat stomach flu in children? There is no specific therapy for this disease. In most cases, symptomatic medications are prescribed that restore salt and water balance, prevent further dehydration, reduce body temperature, and also normalize well-being. When prescribing such medications, the doctor must take into account the patient’s age and pay attention to the clinical picture.
What can you do yourself?
If stomach flu starts in children, treatment involves a certain diet. All dairy products should be excluded from the patient’s diet. dairy products. Such food creates favorable conditions for the proliferation of pathogens. Don't give it to your child bakery products, sweets or chocolate. Carbonated drinks are strictly prohibited.
If the baby doesn’t want to eat, don’t force it. You can abstain from food for several days. During this period, all the body’s forces are aimed at fighting the infection. And here drinking plenty of fluids shown to the child. Let's clean water, herbal infusions or strong unsweetened tea.
A sick child can eat rice porridge cooked in water.
If your baby asks to eat, then prefer to feed him rice porridge cooked in water. It is acceptable to eat a boiled egg or banana. Crackers and a slice of low-fat cheese are allowed. Jelly-like soups and low-fat broths will help improve your well-being.
Use of medications in outpatient settings
Intestinal flu in children is most often treated on an outpatient basis. Children in severe and moderate condition are hospitalized. If the little patient feels well, then get a doctor’s prescription, and then go home to bed rest.
Any medications should be given strictly according to the instructions or following the doctor’s individual recommendations.
Antiviral agents
Treatment and prevention of intestinal flu in children may include taking safe antiviral drugs. Most often, children are prescribed medications based on interferon or interferon inducers.
- "Ergoferon" are lozenges that can fight infection and enhance innate immunity. The drug copes with viruses that affect the upper and lower respiratory tract and digestive tract. Can be used in children from six months.
- "Kipferon" is an effective immunomodulatory and antiviral drug in the form of suppositories. Just one candle a day will help you recover from illness faster. The drug is used from the first days of life. It contains a complex immunomodulatory component and recombinant interferon.
Kipferon is an effective immunomodulatory and antiviral drug
Antiemetic compounds and antidiarrheals
If your child has reached the age of six, he can be given a loperamide-based antidiarrheal drug: Loperamide or Imodium. Please note the contraindications: the drugs are not used for acute colitis and intestinal obstruction.
At severe vomiting products such as Cerucal or Motilium are suitable. The latter in the form of a suspension can be used in children from the first days of life. If you see blood in the vomit, then do not give the little patient anything, but immediately call an ambulance.
Enterosorbents
How to treat stomach flu in a child? Detoxification agents and cleansing preparations will help you alleviate your baby’s condition in a short time. Enterosorbents are presented on the pharmacological market in a wide range. You can choose whatever you like. Such drugs cannot harm the body unless the pathology is complicated by intra-abdominal bleeding. The most popular and potent medicine is Polysorb. Some kids refuse to take it because of the unpleasant taste. You can alternatively choose sweet Enterosgel or Smecta. Please note that enterosorbents must be taken separately from other medications. The break between compositions should be at least 1-3 hours.
Antibiotics: pros and cons
Many parents mistakenly believe that using antibiotics will alleviate the child's condition. In fact, this is a misconception. Antibacterial agents prescribed only for complications. But you can use intestinal antiseptics, which have an antimicrobial effect and only work in the digestive tract. Trade names such drugs: “Stopdiar”, “Ersefuril”, “Enterofuril”. Furazolidone is prescribed less frequently. It is advisable to give the drug in the form of a suspension to children under three years of age.
Antibiotics don't always help
If intestinal flu is complicated by bacterial diseases, antibiotics are prescribed wide range actions, for example, penicillins or macrolides. Be prepared for the fact that their use may provoke another diarrhea.
Additional funds
Depending on the symptoms of stomach flu, treatment in children should be appropriate. High body temperature allows the body to eliminate the viral infection on its own, so it is not advisable to take antipyretics before the thermometer reaches 38.5 degrees. The exception is children with congenital pathologies nervous system, as well as babies prone to seizures. The most popular, safe medications for reducing fever are Ibuprofen, Nurofen, Paracetamol, and Panadol. For intractable vomiting, rectal suppositories or injection solutions can be used.
During an intestinal infection, rehydration therapy should be carried out. For this you can use the drug "Regidron". Dilute one sachet per liter warm water, give your child one sip every 5 minutes. Please note that the closer the solution temperature is to body temperature, the faster the saline solution will be absorbed.
Summarize
Intestinal flu in children usually occurs in outbreaks. All the children around one infected person get sick. An adult with strong immunity can be a carrier of infection, but not get sick himself. Intestinal influenza viruses die at temperatures above 60 degrees. To prevent infection, treat dishes hot water, disinfect with chlorine-containing solutions.
To prevent infection, treat dishes with hot water and disinfect with chlorine-containing solutions.
The disease in mild and moderate form lasts from 5 to 12 days and ends with complete recovery. Proper therapy and timely treatment will help shorten this gap. A child becomes contagious from the first hours of penetration of the pathogen into the body. For the entire period of illness, the little patient must be isolated from contact with other children: he should not attend school or kindergarten. At the end of the illness, doctors prescribe the child a course of probiotics and prebiotics.
Intestinal flu in children is a common disease, often occurring in the autumn-winter period. The severity may depend on the age of the child. The younger you are, the more severe the disease. The child’s body is not formed and does not resist the invasion of a viral infection. Viruses cause stomach flu symptoms in children. The article discusses in detail the intestinal flu and its symptoms.
Stomach or intestinal flu is an acute viral pathology that affects the gastrointestinal tract. The disease has become widespread. The frequency increases during the cold seasons of the year. Children are often susceptible younger age in the first years of life. Intestinal flu is rare in adolescents and young adults.
Symptoms and causes of intestinal flu are often caused by an invading viral infection. Described by professors a large number of strains of viruses. The causative agents of intestinal flu are known, often the causes are:
- Rotaviruses.
- Astroviruses.
- Noroviruses.
- Caliciviruses.
- Adenoviruses.
Viral strains cause an acute inflammatory process in the digestive tract. There are clinical symptoms of intestinal infection, symptoms of acute respiratory infection, similar in symptoms to influenza.
Similar symptoms of E. coli in children.
Routes of infection
Infection occurs when the microorganism penetrates the epithelial cells of the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract. The severity of clinical symptoms depends on the number of pathogens in the body and the state of the child’s immune system. Symptoms and treatment vary depending on the nature of the pathogen.
Routes of infection are determined based on the nature of the disease:
- Infection through nutritional routes. Pathogens penetrate into children's body with unwashed fruits and vegetables. You can become infected with low-quality, expired dairy and meat products.
- can be transmitted through unwashed hands.
- Stomach flu in children can be transmitted through water contaminated with the corresponding strain of virus or bacteria.
- Viral stomach flu can be infected by airborne droplets. The pathogen is transmitted from a person by talking or sneezing.
- Signs of intestinal flu are observed through contact and household infection of a child. It is enough for the baby to hold in his hands the toy with which the sick child played the day before, hold on to the door handle in kindergarten, school.
Virus persistence in the environment
Rotavirus influenza is resistant and viable. This type of infectious pathogen can withstand heating up to 60 degrees and freezing.
Not all detergents destroy the virus in environment. Prevention of spread in the environment is carried out with chlorine-containing antiseptic solutions high concentration.
Clinical manifestations of the disease
Parents should understand what the symptoms of intestinal flu mean in a child and how to treat intestinal flu. First clinical manifestations intestinal flu - symptoms similar to respiratory infections. The child has a sore throat and cough. There is mucous discharge from the nasal passages.
Clinical signs resolve on their own. Symptoms of intestinal distress appear. The sequence distinguishes intestinal flu from other infections that affect the child’s digestive tract. The latter begin with manifestations of dyspepsia.
Typical clinical symptoms
Rotavirus infection and stomach flu proceed according to a characteristic pattern:
- The appearance of pain, congestion in the throat and nose. When examined, the throat in young children may be hyperemic.
- Catarrhal symptoms of the upper respiratory tract - cough and runny nose, sneezing, hoarseness.
- Diarrhea develops on days 2-3. In mild stages of the disease, diarrhea occurs up to 10 times a day. The stool is grayish in color and has a pungent odor. At severe forms illness, the number of urges to defecate reaches 50 times a day.
- The child complains of pain in the abdomen. From time to time, the baby feels turbulence in the tummy and bloating. The child is in excruciating pain. He screams and knocks his legs.
- The temperature in newborns is subfebrile, reaching febrile levels.
- Nausea and vomiting, frequent diarrhea lead to the development of dehydration in the child.
- Signs of intoxication - the child is lethargic, sleeps poorly or is excessively sleepy. Skin color is pale. Facial features are pointed.
Clinical forms of intestinal influenza
To understand the intestinal flu symptoms, you need to know the different forms of severity of the disease.
Classification of the disease according to characteristics:
- According to the severity of the condition, the disease is mild, moderate, severe.
- Clinical manifestations are divided into typical and atypical forms of the disease. The first form proceeds according to the scheme described above. The second form may not have clinical symptoms, leak erased. A typical form also occurs in menstruation, one year old child. Atypical form typical for teenagers. In adults, the disease may not have clinical symptoms.
Treatment of intestinal flu in children at home is allowed if the disease is light form. Other forms of the disease require hospital treatment.
Possible complications
Rotavirus is an infection that is rarely accompanied by serious complications. This happens if timely treatment is started.
Lack of adequate care for children under one year old leads to the development of unpleasant complications from intestinal flu. It happens if a child has a significant decrease in the body’s immune defense.
A complication is severe dehydration, which can lead to the development of hemodynamic disorders. Intoxication at a severe stage can lead to the development of acute renal failure.
A secondary bacterial infection may occur. These are Escherichia or other types of pathogenic rods. Antibiotics with a wide therapeutic spectrum are prescribed for the treatment of children.
With careful supervision of the child and adequate treatment, you will avoid the development of the listed conditions. The attending physician will examine the child and determine what to do and whether antibacterial drugs can be taken.
Diagnosis of intestinal flu
An experienced pediatrician or infectious disease specialist can determine the diagnosis based on the first clinical manifestations. Often, viral and bacterial infections exhibit significant external similarities. Salmonellosis and dysentery can be hidden under the guise of the flu. Possible development food poisoning. To differentiate between intestinal infections, bacteriological studies are prescribed.
Viral particles are too small to be visible under a microscope. Bacterial infections are detected. The pathogen is distinguished by the characteristic color of the cell nucleus.
Useful and reliable diagnostic information is obtained from studies:
- Polymerase chain reactions.
- Methods of immunofluorescence analysis.
- Enzyme immunosorbent studies.
These tests will detect rotavirus. Research is expensive and rarely used.
For intestinal flu, a standard list of diagnostic procedures is prescribed:
- General blood analysis.
- General urine analysis.
- Stool analysis for coprogram, bacteriological culture.
Tests reveal signs in the body inflammatory process, check for possible bacterial infection.
Principles of treatment
No specific medicine has been developed to treat the cause of the disease. Therapeutic measures differ in the following areas:
- Detoxification therapy.
- Measures to eliminate signs of dehydration.
- Restoring the functions of the urinary system.
- Restoration of the cardiovascular system.
- Symptomatic therapy.
- Preventive measures aimed at preventing secondary bacterial infection.
Drink medications possible with the permission of the attending physician. You should not put your baby’s life and health in danger by engaging in self-medication. If you find signs of an intestinal disease in a child under one year old, call a pediatrician at home. The doctor will give a referral to the hospital if necessary. In case of a mild form of the disease, children are kept on sick leave on an outpatient basis. The moderate or severe form requires treating patients with intestinal pathology in an infectious diseases hospital.
Before the doctor arrives, give the child first aid.
First aid at home
If you find signs of a respiratory infection in your child combined with symptoms of an intestinal disorder, let’s drink more.
If vomiting does not stop, drinks are given one teaspoon at regular intervals. A large amount of water is not retained in the baby’s stomach and provokes a new attack of vomiting. Pour boiled water, tea. Have an effect saline solutions Regidron type. Brew medicinal herbs from folk recipes. You should drink a lot, but in small doses.
Monitor your child's position in bed so that he does not choke on vomit. Turn the baby's head to the side and do not leave it unattended. Choose the right pose! Lying on your back is harmful for infants.
Check your child's body temperature. If it rises from 38 degrees, do not tolerate it, take antipyretic drugs based on Paracetamol. Such medications are given to a child who is one month old.
A healing condition is a gentle lactose-free diet. Do not force your child to eat if he has no appetite. Offer to drink regularly. Dishes should be prepared steamed or boiled. Nutrition for patients with intestinal infection– gentle, fractional.
Drug treatment
The full course of drug therapy is carried out over 10 days. Anti-epidemiological drugs help raise the body's immune defense and prevent the spread of the disease. Pathogenetic treatment is selected individually for the child based on his condition.
To eliminate signs of dehydration, saline solutions are used orally, parenterally. If, after treatment with drinking solutions, vomiting does not stop and dehydration increases, switch to intravenous infusions. They are carried out in conditions infectious diseases department hospitals for acute life-threatening states. Use Enterodes, Regidron internally. You can make your own drinking mixture at home.
To remove pathogenic particles from the body, drugs from the group of sorbents are used. Medicines– Polyphepan, Laktofiltrum or Enterosgel. The purpose helps to quickly cleanse the body of viral particles and bacterial toxins.
To speed up the restoration of non-pathogenic intestinal flora, give your child probiotics. They will help to quickly restore epithelial cells affected by intestinal infection and normalize intestinal activity. Acipol and Linex are effective. The preparations contain lyophilized live cultures of beneficial intestinal bacteria and quickly restore normal microflora in the intestines.
If the child has a fever, fever, or chills, give medications with an antipyretic effect. Paracetamol, Efferalgan, Nurofen - medications for children are available in the form rectal suppositories, mixtures, syrups for oral administration.
Enzymes are prescribed to the child to normalize digestive processes. With rotavirus infection, there is a decrease in the normal enzymatic function of the intestine - it must be maintained so that the child’s body can sufficiently absorb the incoming nutrients. Enzymatic preparations Creon, Mezim, Pancreatin have proven their effectiveness.
Diet food
The diet for stomach flu is considered gentle. The child is fed slimy, boiled soups, semi-liquid porridges with water. Serve meat dishes pureed, boiled, and steamed.
Strong meat broths in acute period diseases are strictly contraindicated. Cook the soup in vegetable broth. It is recommended to give your child boiled fish and fish dishes. Prepare fish soufflé and steamed cutlets from low-fat fish.
It is better to give yesterday's bread, slightly stale. Cookies or crackers are low-fat and not rich. Give your baby biscuits for tea or compote. During the illness, it is strictly forbidden to give the child whole fresh milk and dairy products. Fresh vegetables, fruits, pickles, and marinades are excluded from the diet. Smoked, fatty foods prohibited. Serve vegetables and fruits baked or boiled. Prepare the puree with a pinch of salt and sugar.
You need to return to your usual diet gradually. The whole process takes a month.
Disease prevention
Intestinal flu caused by rotavirus infection is characterized by specific prevention through vaccination. No specific prophylaxis has been identified for other viruses. It remains to comply general rules, preventing infectious diseases of the digestive tract.
To avoid contracting intestinal flu, follow general hygiene rules:
- Avoid contact with people with intestinal infections. During the epidemiological peak, it is better to limit contacts. You can get infected both from a sick child and from a healthy carrier.
- If there is a patient with an intestinal infection in the house, he uses separate dishes and household items. The premises and household utensils are disinfected.
- Wash your hands when coming from the street or from public places, as well as after contact with a sick person or carrier of viral intestinal flu. In addition, carry out this procedure after visiting the toilet and before eating.
Treatment of any viral disease complicated by the fact that its pathogens mutate very quickly. Immunity to them is either not developed or has a short period. Intestinal flu, symptoms and treatment in children and adults, is also of a difficult-to-eliminate viral nature.
Stomach flu symptoms in children
Pathogen so-called stomach flu rotaviruses in children. The disease is popularly called intestinal flu. Despite the fact that the pathogens are different, both influenza and intestinal flu, the symptoms in children are very similar.
Typically these diseases begin acutely. Against the backdrop of complete health the child suddenly becomes lethargic. In the first hours the disease manifests itself not only intestinal disorders, but also respiratory symptoms.
Like the influenza virus, the causative agent of intestinal flu has several strains. Rotavirus strain A is the most common throughout the Earth. It is very dangerous for children, especially the first year of life. The main symptom is very severe diarrhea that cannot be controlled by conventional means.. In addition, there may be other symptoms:
- A sharp rise in temperature.
- Chills and fever.
- Pain in the abdominal area may be paroxysmal.
- Runny nose, sore throat.
- Weakness, lack of appetite and weight loss, anemia.
- Indigestion, nausea, vomiting and repeated diarrhea. Diarrhea may have a characteristic clay-like texture and yellow-gray color.
All these symptoms appear within 1-2 days. Since the disease is quite dangerous for children, we will try to find out how to cope with it.
Rotavirus infection or intestinal flu in children, symptoms and treatment require immediate action. They should be taken after the first signs of the disease and diagnosis. It is placed on the basis clinical picture and after special research stool of a sick child. Now there are test systems that allow you to determine any type of rotavirus. As with any pathology caused by viruses, treatment of intestinal flu is mainly symptomatic.
First of all helping a child is as follows:
- Drink plenty of warm drinks. It is advisable to give berry and fruit compotes, tea with lemon. If a child has a tendency to be allergic to the listed products, boiled water will save the situation.
- Properly selected diet. You need to feed your baby in small portions. It is best to prepare thin porridges, pureed soups, and vegetable purees for him.
- In the first days of the disease, it is necessary to organize bed or semi-bed rest.
- In order to prevent asphyxia by vomit, Monitor a child who is awake and asleep.
Basics treatment consists of normalizing salt and water balance and removing toxins. The child is given medications with a rehydration effect. Helps reduce intoxication smecta or Activated carbon. At all Young children with severe diarrhea can be given probiotics from the group of lactobacilli. Effective drugs to combat rotavirus infection does not yet exist. Stomach flu symptoms and treatment may differ slightly in children and adults.
Intestinal flu, symptoms in adults
Development of rotavirus infection It's a little different for adults than in children. This is due to differences in digestive system. Usually, gastric juice An adult’s body is more saturated with acid than a baby’s and copes better with viral infections. If the patient has intestinal flu, symptoms in adults appear as follows:
- rise in temperature;
- chills;
- signs of intoxication, nausea;
- abdominal pain caused by inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines;
- loose stools up to 5-8 times a day;
Signs of sore throat, cough and runny nose may appear. In adult patients with good immune protection, the disease occurs in a milder form. Such people improvement occurs within 7-8 days without special treatment. However, in severe cases, as well as to reduce the risk of infecting others, carry out symptomatic treatment necessary.
You should not carry intestinal flu on your feet; in adults, the symptoms and treatment of the disease are interrelated. To avoid disruption of water and salt balance the patient must take one of the following medications:
- rehydron solution;
- hydrovit forte;
- trisol;
- trihydrone.
To relieve intoxication, adult patients are advised to take the drug Polysorb. It refers to modern means, adsorbing unwanted substances and toxins in the gastrointestinal tract. Within two to three minutes after administration, the drug begins to actively work.
If in adult patients there is frequent stool , then in this case it is necessary to take medicine furozolidone. In some cases, the patient cannot do without taking digestive enzymes, for example, pancreatin. After recovery, to normalize digestion, adult patients need to “populate” the gastrointestinal tract with beneficial microorganisms. It is recommended here to take Linux, Hilak forte. During the period of illness, if the patient is in satisfactory health, he should remain in semi-bed rest.
How to treat stomach flu
If the diagnosis of intestinal flu is confirmed, symptoms and treatment in children and adults should be adequate to each other. Same as with regular flu the use of antibiotics for rotavirus infection is useless. Viruses, due to their structure, are insensitive to the effects of antibiotics.
All clinical manifestations stomach flu can be divided into three groups:
- symptoms of gastritis and colitis;
- signs of intoxication;
- respiratory phenomena.
How to treat intestinal flu depends on the symptoms that most worsen the patient's condition. Sometimes not only medications, but also additional measures help cope with them.
In the absence of special medications, restore the water-salt balance Drinking plenty of fluids will help. At home, it is enough to dissolve 20 g table salt, 7 g of soda and 40 g of sugar in a liter of boiled water or chamomile decoction. Take directly after each loose stool. An adult should drink 180 - 200 ml at a time. Depending on age, a child should drink from a few teaspoons to 100 ml.
You can get rid of diarrhea and strengthen your stool using a decoction of burnet roots or oak bark. The role of the sorbent, in the absence of pharmaceuticals, will be performed by a mucous decoction of rice. Rice water alone will not stop diarrhea, but it will absorb all unwanted substances and toxins. Proper nutrition during illness will help the patient quickly cope with the consequences of rotavirus infection. The diet should include enough liquid, compotes, jelly, fruit drinks. Pureed soups, liquid porridges and steam dishes are shown. It is difficult to protect yourself from intestinal flu, but it is possible.
Prevention of intestinal flu
There are two main ways of transmitting rotavirus infection:
- fecal-oral;
- through the air during close contact.
Intestinal flu pathogens remain active on various surfaces for several hours. Therefore, during the period of stay in institutions and in public places the best Prevention of intestinal flu is thorough hand washing. If there are sick people in the team, it is advisable to send them home at the first signs of illness. The rest of the team members need to immediately take measures to strengthen their immunity. This may not protect you from the disease, but its course will be easier.
The main type of prevention is timely vaccination. Currently, many parents have a negative attitude towards vaccinations. However, they must reflect that in almost 80% of cases severe diarrhea in children under 5 years of age is caused by intestinal influenza viruses. They are especially dangerous for weakened children. Before refusing vaccination, you need to weigh the pros and cons.
IN winter time It is difficult to stop intestinal flu, symptoms and treatment in children and adults require timely assessment and adequate measures. In mild cases, it is enough to simply stay at home for a few days and not go to school or work, and adhere to a gentle regime. In severe cases, hospitalization is indicated.
