Chinanews.com, Beijing, September 24th, report title: The weather is getting colder and be alert to rotavirus attacks on young children in autumn
Chinanews reporter Yu Zhanyi
At present, all parts of China have gradually entered autumn, and the weather has turned cold, and young children are prone to suffering from rotavirus enteritis.
Experts suggest that rotavirus enteritis, commonly known as "autumn diarrhea", is mainly transmitted by contact and is highly contagious.
How harmful is rotavirus?
"Take the high incidence of rotavirus infection in autumn and winter as an example. Rotavirus diarrhea is a category C infectious disease in my country and is highly contagious. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, in 2013, about 220,000 children under 5 died of Rotavirus infection." Zhang Lingli, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and president of the Health Times, said that children’s health is related to the happiness of every family and the future of the nation and must be highly valued.
The reason why the main patients with rotavirus worldwide are children under 5 years old, Liu Cuiying, deputy director of the Department of Infectious Medicine, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, believes that the main reason is that young children are more likely to “intake the disease from the mouth”. Because holding toys, chewing toys and eating hands.
"We have seen clinically that rotavirus causes respiratory symptoms, increased myocardial enzymes, elevated transaminases, and red blood cells in the urine. These are all rotaviruses that invade the lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys." Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Li Dandi, a researcher at the Institute for Viral Disease Prevention and Control, pointed out that rotavirus not only causes symptoms in the gastrointestinal tract, but can also cause damage to other human organs.
How to judge whether a child is "successful"?
The peak age of onset of rotavirus is 6-24 months of age, and the seasonal peak of rotavirus is from October to March of the following year.
How to distinguish young children suffering from rotavirus diarrhea and ordinary diarrhea?
Li Dandi said that the on-site manifestations of rotavirus are mainly diarrhea and vomiting. In severe cases, fever and dehydration will occur.
"An important feature of rotavirus is that the symptoms of the first infection are the most severe. If children under 2 years old have severe diarrhea, most of them are caused by rotavirus." Li Dandi also reminded that children with malnutrition The mortality rate of rotavirus diarrhea is four times that of normal children.
Some people mistakenly believe that viral diarrhea is not just diarrhea, who has not had diarrhea?
Liu Cuiying said, first of all, the seasonal characteristics of rotavirus diarrhea are obvious, and it basically breaks out in autumn.
Secondly, diarrhea is more serious than vomiting, and the diarrhea is watery stool, like egg drop soup or rice soup, and the frequency of diarrhea can be as high as 10 or even 20 times in a short time.
If the above symptoms occur, it can be judged as rotavirus diarrhea.
How to prevent rotavirus diarrhea?
As we all know, vaccination is the most effective, simplest, and most economical means to control infectious diseases, and it is also a protective umbrella for human health.
"Vaccine is the only effective means to prevent severe diarrhea from rotavirus." Li Dan said that at present, the first vaccine on the market in China is a domestic oral rotavirus live vaccine.
The second is the imported oral five-valent reassortant rotavirus vaccine, both of which have relatively good immune effects.
When is the best time to vaccinate young children with rotavirus vaccine?
Li Dandi suggested that maternally transmitted antibodies in breast milk can protect infants and young children from rotavirus and other viruses.
However, after 6 months of age, maternally transmitted antibodies gradually decrease until they disappear, so infants and young children should be vaccinated against rotavirus as soon as possible after 6 weeks of age to ensure immune protection before naturally infected rotavirus.
As there is no effective medicine for rotavirus infection, the prevention of rotavirus is particularly urgent and important.
Experts suggest that children should develop the hygienic habit of washing their hands before and after meals, not drinking raw water, and not eating unclean or overnight food.
Bottles and spoons for breastfeeding babies should be boiled and disinfected before and after feeding.
How to treat rotavirus diarrhea?
How to deal with the symptomatic treatment of rotavirus disease when young children at home are "successful"?
Zeng Mei, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University, said that the first is oral rehydration salts.
Oral rehydration salt is a priority recommended by the World Health Organization. It has saved many children who died from diarrhea, and played a very important role in developing countries with limited resources.
"Clinically, patients with rotavirus enteritis will cause frequent diarrhea, resulting in a drastic reduction in the effective blood circulation. Clinically hypothesis is a shock." said Xu Feng, director of the Critical Care Center of Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, oral rehydration salt They are sold in community service centers and pharmacies. They can first give the sick child oral supplements and then send them to the hospital for treatment.
In addition, some experts have suggested that some parents are anxious to give their children antibiotics when they see their children's diarrhea. This is incorrect.
For autumn diarrhea caused by rotavirus, antibiotics are not only ineffective, but may also cause disorder of the normal intestinal flora of young children and aggravate the disease.
It is important to add water and electrolytes in time.
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