? February 2, 2024

Cold winters, environmental temperatures and low air humidity are favorable conditions for influenza viruses to develop and cause “seasonal flu” in humans. Children are vulnerable to flu due to their weak resistance…

According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), every year about 1/3 of children worldwide are infected with influenza, and children in particular are also classified as having a high mortality rate from influenza. .

The “favorable weather” factor causes the spread of influenza virus infection

Weather and climate: in an environment with low humidity and not high temperature (cold, humid climate) it is easy to spread the flu.

Living environment: unventilated, densely populated, polluted or damp environment easily transmits influenza virus.

Crowded public transportation: especially the distance between sick people  and healthy people is no longer safe (<1m), making it easy for people to inhale droplets emitted from sick people, especially children.

The flu is easily confused with the common cold

Colds and flu are two completely different illnesses, even though they have similar symptoms. The difference is shown through the following 3 characteristics:

Different pathogens: colds are often caused by some common respiratory viruses such as Adenovirus, Rhinovirus, Coronavirus… Caused by influenza, the flu is caused by an influenza virus with the scientific name Influenzae.

Differences in disease and clinical symptoms: colds often cause mild or moderate respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, or stuffy nose, some patients may have a dry cough. or transient body fatigue. On the contrary, when infected with influenza, the disease’s symptoms are often manifested through the following 3 syndromes:

Infection syndrome: children often have a continuous high fever of 39 – 400C when infected with flu, red face, rapid pulse, anorexia, little urination, dark yellow urine. Children often feel tired and weak due to fever.

Pain syndrome: severe and continuous headache that increases with high fever or when coughing with exertion, often with severe pain in the forehead and eyeball area. The patient also has pain in the muscles of the body. The patient has a feeling of heat and pain in the area above the sternum.

Respiratory tract inflammation syndrome: appears in the first days with varying degrees of severity such as sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, red eyes, watery eyes, photophobia, dry feeling and sore throat. Children often have signs of nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain.

Different levels of danger and complications: colds usually go away on their own and do not cause any dangerous complications for humans, whereas flu, if not properly monitored and cared for, can cause serious health problems. serious complications for humans.

Properly care for children with flu at home

Care should pay attention to the following principles:

– Reduce fever in children when body temperature is measured from 380C with single paracetamol at a dose of 10mg – 15mg/kg body weight every 4 – 6 hours combined with cooling with warm water when necessary. Absolutely do not use aspirin to reduce fever in children.

Let children drink more water, especially drinks rich in vitamin C such as fresh orange juice, lemon juice, apple juice… to help children increase their resistance to recover quickly from illness. Feed children liquid, warm, easily digestible and nutritious foods such as porridge, nutritious soup, hot milk…

Take your child to the hospital immediately if the illness becomes more serious, the child refuses to eat or drink, cries a lot, especially if the high fever continuously does not go down after taking fever-reducing medicine and vigorous cooling.

Actively prevent disease

– Remind children to regularly wash their hands with soap and clean water.

– Avoid contact with people suspected of acute respiratory infection, keep a safe distance (>1m).

– Wear a medical mask when going to crowded places: hospitals, supermarkets, parks, cinemas…

– Remind children to have the habit of covering their mouth when coughing.

– Maintain good hygiene of body and living environment.

– The best and most effective proactive prevention is to get your children vaccinated against influenza.

According to Suckhoedoisong