The doctor will help to correctly assess the child’s condition in case of illness.
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Komsomolskaya Pravda answered questions about SARS Nataliya Anatolievna Gepe – doctor of medical sciences, professor, head of the Department of Children’s Diseases of the Clinical Institute of Child Health named after. N.F. Filatov First Moscow State Medical University. I. M. Sechenova.
THE BABY IS SICK: WHAT TO DO?
– Natalia Anatolievna, now there is an increase in SARS among children. If a child gets sick with SARS – what is the procedure now? I would like to go straight to the points if possible.
– In the current epidemic situation, the procedure for parents’ action in case of ARVI (acute respiratory viral infections) in a child should include several mandatory points.
First, appeal to a doctor for a qualified assessment of the condition and appointment of adequate treatment. In ARVI, the pediatrician must solve two main problems. The first is the symptomatic treatment of a temperature above 38.5 °C. An increase in temperature is a protective reaction of the body to the virus and should not be suppressed prematurely if there are no additional deviations in the condition or history (for example, convulsions with fever).
The second question is how to influence the virus in order to deal with it quickly and avoid a severe course and complications. It is worth noting that, with the exception of influenza and the new coronavirus, it is quite difficult to determine which virus caused ARVI in routine practice, since there are many of them and a combined infection is often possible.
In the arsenal of a pediatrician, there are antiviral drugs with a combined effect, which not only fight against various viruses, but are able to maintain immunity and thus quickly cope with the symptoms of the disease. For more than 10 years, pediatricians have been using the local drug Ergoferon, which has proven itself in the treatment of acute respiratory viral infections in children starting from 6 months. In addition, its use is possible without specifying the pathogen, since the drug has a wide spectrum of antiviral action and helps to cope with fever and other symptoms of the disease, including runny nose, sneezing, cough and sore throat.
An important point for rapid recovery in the treatment of acute respiratory viral infections in a child is also ensuring full nasal breathing. For this, it is possible to use vasoconstrictor drops from time to time, especially before going to bed, as well as irrigation of the nose with saline solutions.
It is necessary to provide the child with a home regime, isolating him as much as possible from other family members, observing the ventilation regime and hand hygiene, especially do not forget about this after blowing the nose. Therefore, for the best result, it is important to strictly follow the doctor’s recommendations and to be in contact with him.
– What are the symptoms of SARS and flu, must a doctor be called?
– It is better to call the doctor every time the child is sick, with the frequency recommended by the attending physician, depending on the specific situation. If we are talking about an emergency call with the need to provide an ambulance, then the reason for calling a doctor is usually a sharp and sudden deterioration of the child’s condition with the appearance of new symptoms.
IF IT’S CORONAVIRUS
– Does the treatment of the coronavirus differ from other SARS in a child?
– The coronavirus is also the cause of SARS. It has only four well-known and long-standing seasonal strains and three more dangerous, highly pathogenic strains, the last of which caused the current pandemic. The principles of treatment of non-severe variants of ARVI do not depend on the pathogen and include the guidelines listed above. Moderate and severe forms have their own characteristics and, as a rule, their treatment in children is carried out in a hospital.
– Now children are sick with coronavirus several times. Is it worth spending money on tests to find out exactly what is infected?
– The types or strains of the novel coronavirus circulating in the population today can often evade detection by existing testing systems and, as a result, test negative. That is why one of them is called so – stealth omicron, or the invisible omicron. But there are also seasonal coronaviruses that cause banal symptoms of an acute respiratory infection, and treatment tactics practically do not depend on the strain of the coronavirus. To a greater extent, this is due to the severity of the course of the disease and the characteristics of the organism of a particular child.
Focus on the breath
– How else can you strengthen your child’s immunity in autumn?
– No matter how banal it sounds, simple things are important for the child’s health and the good functioning of his immune defense: eat properly and in a balanced way with sufficient intake of vitamins, minerals and proteins, observe the daily routine with a mandatory stay in the fresh air for at least two hours per day, exercise and hardening, and in the absence of contraindications, use drugs that support immunity, in particular, Anaferon for children. And don’t forget, of course, about the friendly atmosphere in the family. When doing morning exercises with your child, pay attention to breathing exercises. I want to say a few good words about breathing through the nose. From the first days of life, a healthy child breathes shallowly through the nose, we practically do not hear it. If there is noisy, snoring breathing, it is necessary to understand the reasons. Despite the young age, it may be allergic edema or anatomical features. It is necessary to consult an ENT doctor and strive to restore normal breathing and control it at a later age.
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