Oral flu. What measures cannot be taken for this disease. Video: intestinal flu, rotavirus - Dr. Komarovsky

Rotavirus, or stomach flu is an infectious disease that affects the intestinal mucosa (diarrhea occurs), both children and adults are susceptible to it (more often it occurs in mild form). In children, the main and insidious symptom of influenza is frequent and watery stool. The disease is contagious. Find out about the causes of its appearance, how to treat and prevent it.

What is stomach flu

Intestinal or stomach flu is an infectious disease caused by rotaviruses. The disease manifests itself as intestinal, respiratory syndromes. Intestinal pathogens are viruses of the Reoviridae family, which antigenic structure similar. When viewed under a microscope, they resemble wheels, with a clear rim and short spokes. This viral pathology began to be studied in the early 70s of the last century, when they were discovered in the mucous membrane small intestine sick children.

The source of infection is a sick person or carrier. IN younger age the source of a child is the mother, and in an older child - the surrounding children, an epidemic in kindergartens, outbreaks of an intestinal virus in schools, clubs, etc. In the first days, symptoms of intestinal flu appear, and the patient is dangerous to others, because during this period the content of virus colonies in feces reaches colossal numbers. Animals do not transmit this virus.

How is it transmitted?

The main mechanism of transmission of rotavirus infections is the fecal-oral route (the virus enters through the mouth). It is popularly called “the disease of dirty hands” (like any poisoning). The virus lives in food and any water, so it can be massively transmitted through it. The contact and household route of transmission occurred only sporadically. Rota infection viral infection occurs through dairy products: this is due to life cycle virus and the processing features of milk products. The pathogen feels great in the cold and can survive like this for a long time.

Once in the body, the virus, as a rule, penetrates the intestinal mucosa (usually affecting the small intestine) and starts the process of destruction of intestinal villi. The digestive tract synthesizes enzymes that help break down food. As a result, incoming food cannot be digested normally, and disaccharides accumulate in the intestinal lumen, which attract water and salts. This entire mixture is excreted by the body through severe diarrhea, the body gradually becomes dehydrated and weakens.

Incubation period

The so-called incubation period is the time interval from the moment the virus enters a biological object until the first symptoms of inflammation appear. Sometimes it is called latent. Influenza has a short incubation period: the disease lasts from 15 hours to three days, followed by an acute period of 3-7 days, and a recovery period of 4 to 5 days.

Symptoms

Symptoms of intestinal infection are varied. In many children, the infection is severe and is accompanied by an increase in body temperature to 39°C or higher. If the disease is in adults, children with strong immunity It is mild, no significant fever is observed. Nuances:

1. Patients complain about painful sensations in the stomach frequent nausea and severe vomiting. Sometimes upon examination a slight redness of the throat and an increase in lymph nodes on the neck.
2. Characterized by the appearance of copious loose stools with a pronounced sharp sour smell, without blood and mucus. If blood or mucus is added, this indicates the presence concomitant disease. Inflammation of the stomach and small intestine due to foodborne infections is called gastroenteritis.
3. Children have frequent vomiting. In adults, frequent vomiting may not occur or may occur only once.
4. There are signs of damage to the upper respiratory tract(nasal congestion, difficulty swallowing).
5. Possible manifestations of ARVI with intestinal syndrome in adults.

Diarrhea

The stools are frequent, have a watery texture, a strong foul odor, and are green or cloudy white. Intestinal form flu is accompanied by loud rumbling in the stomach, the urge to defecate is frequent and productive. If there are bloody streaks in the stool or loss of mucous lumps, you should think about adding other respiratory infections, serious diseases, bacterial infections such as shigellosis, escherichiosis. On the background frequent diarrhea Dehydration of varying degrees develops. In adults, intestinal infection without diarrhea is not uncommon.

Vomit

Another dangerous one characteristic symptom which causes intestinal virus, quickly leads to dehydration. Manifestation clinical symptom in adults, as a rule, it occurs once, and in children it is combined with diarrhea. What's interesting is the manifestation acute diarrhea occurs immediately after vomiting or simultaneously. Vomiting due to rotavirus can persist for up to 3-5 days, which leads to loss of vitality in the child’s body.

Symptoms in children

In children, due to weak childhood immunity, the disease is more complex and more severe. The intoxication of the body is severe, vomiting is frequent and watery, diarrhea appears, which can reach 10 times a day, sometimes more. Flu with diarrhea and fever leads to dehydration, which develops in 75-85% of examined children, and often provokes the development renal failure and hemodynamic disorders.

The amount of urine excreted by the child is significantly reduced, and albuminuria (albumin in the excreted urine) may be observed. Often the appearance of leukocytes, red blood cells in the urine increases residual nitrogen in blood serum. The onset of the disease is accompanied by leukocytosis (an increase in white blood cells), after a period of height - leukopenia (a decrease in the number of blood white blood cells).

Causes

Often the disease occurs when eating unwashed fruits; they become infected with an intestinal virus due to insufficient processing of meat and dairy products, through dirty hands and water. Bacterial causes infections:

• coli;
• Shigella;
• salmonella.

Viral causes:

• caliciviruses;
• noroviruses;
• adenoviruses;
• astroviruses.

Stomach flu during pregnancy

During pregnancy, it is difficult to detect influenza in time. Symptoms can be confused with toxicosis of pregnant women early stages, with gestosis - in the later stages. The virus does not pose a serious threat to the fetus, but for a woman the condition is dangerous due to dehydration and weakening of the body. The main prevention during pregnancy is careful attention to food and lifestyle.

Diagnostics

Symptoms are similar to other diseases gastrointestinal tract(common flu, gastritis, viral gastroenteritis, enterocolitis, dysbacteriosis, etc.). Diagnosis is not easy. Final diagnosis can be installed after detecting a virus using laboratory methods– polymerase chain reaction(PCR), passive hemagglutination reaction, complement fixation reaction (CFR), ELISA methods, etc. All changes in blood and urine are normalized after the patient recovers.

Available Methods diagnostics:

• general analysis blood (increased white blood cell count, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate);
• general urinalysis (appearance of protein, leukocytes, erythrocytes, and sometimes hyaline casts).

Treatment of intestinal flu

All treatment comes down to symptomatic therapy(elimination of symptoms), prevention of dehydration. Apply:

• antipyretics;
• enzymatic preparations;
• detoxification therapy.

It is recommended to take adsorbent or astringent medications (for intestinal disorders) if your stomach hurts badly - painkillers and antispasmodics help. For mild or single vomiting, diarrhea does not require treatment. It is recommended to take antibiotics in case of respiratory infections (cough), infectious diseases to avoid the spread of infection, dangerous complications, the main one is intoxication, which is difficult to treat.

Drugs

For desoldering use effective solution rehydron (capable of normalizing water-salt metabolism). Additional funds:

1. The drug paracetamol can be prescribed as an antipyretic.
2. Enzyme preparations: mezim, festal.
3. Adsorbents and astringents: activated carbon, polysorb, smecta.
4. Lactic-containing bacterial preparations: acylact, lactobacterin, linex (to restore intestinal microflora).
5. Antispasmodics or painkillers: spasmolgon, no-shpa, citramon, analgin.

Diet

It is necessary to follow a diet: give up any dairy or fermented milk products. If a person feels hungry, you can give a large number of liquid chicken broth or rice porridge in water without oil. They take food in small portions with frequent breaks. At first, it is necessary to limit or eliminate foods rich in carbohydrates.

Treatment in children

It is necessary to isolate the child from other children. Special saline solutions must be used to prevent dehydration of the body. Approved adsorbents for children and lactose-containing preparations are used to restore microflora. With prolonged diarrhea and persistent vomiting, signs of underlying complications may develop. It is recommended to call a doctor; hospitalization is possible.

• physical methods: wiping with water;
• chemical: taking drugs by mouth or as rectal antipyretic suppositories (which is more acceptable in childhood).

Prevention of intestinal flu

In Europe and the USA they conduct specific prevention with the help of vaccines. We do not have such vaccines. There is a standard set of preventive procedures that are aimed at preventing viruses from entering the body:

• isolation of patients;
• hand hygiene, washing vegetables, fruits;
• eating only fresh dairy products and fermented milk products;
• sanitary control of places Catering, food products, markets and shops with dairy products.

Video

Stomach flu, intestinal flu is a simplified name for the disease, which in medicine is called gastroenteritis or, since this disease is not essentially the flu. The causative agent of gastroenteritis is various viruses, most often a virus of the Rotavirus order, as well as astroviruses, caliciviruses, noroviruses and adenoviruses, which, when multiplied, lead to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.

Children are mainly susceptible to this disease; intestinal flu in children lasts longer and is more severe, as well as older people. The symptoms of stomach flu are pronounced, but at the same time, in adults with a strong immune system, rotavirus infection can occur in a latent form, asymptomatic, while an apparently healthy person can be a carrier of the pathogen. Usually within a week the acute period of the disease ends and after 5-7 days complete recovery occurs; during this period the patient is still contagious.

How can you get the stomach flu?

The virus enters the human body through the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract. Incubation period of this disease from 16 hours to five days. The rate of development and severity of stomach flu depends on the concentration of the pathogen that has entered the body and the condition immune system person.

• One type of transmission of infection is foodborne. That is, the infection enters the body through unwashed fruits, vegetables, and low-quality dairy products. Gastrointestinal flu can rightfully be called the “disease of dirty hands.” It is also possible to become infected through unboiled tap water, even during simple bathing.
• The second route of infection is airborne. When speaking loudly, sneezing, or coughing, germs from a sick person spread into the air.
• Contact and household transmission of the pathogen cannot be ruled out, especially in crowded places: in offices, kindergartens, schools, shops.

The causative agent of stomach flu is very viable, common detergents are unable to destroy it. It is quite resistant to freezing and high temperatures, can withstand heating up to 60 C. The intestinal virus is destroyed only with concentrated chlorine-containing disinfectants.

What happens in the body during infection?

When rotavirus enters the body, within half an hour the pathogen can be detected in the cells of the small intestine. Due to the attack of the virus, the structure of the intestinal mucosa is disrupted. This in turn leads to disruption of the production of digestive enzymes responsible for the breakdown of complex sugars. Thus, in small intestine Unbroken carbohydrates accumulate and attract excess fluid, causing diarrhea or watery diarrhea.

Symptoms of gastrointestinal flu

If a child falls ill, a pediatrician must be called to determine the possibility of treatment at home or hospitalization. As a rule, if vomiting occurs no more than 5 times, and stool no more than 10 times a day, then outpatient treatment is acceptable. The incubation period for stomach flu lasts about 5 days. Its symptoms appear quite acutely and violently.

The easiest way to avoid getting the stomach flu is to wash your hands thoroughly.

Literally a few hours before the onset of dyspepsia (gastrointestinal disorder), a slight cough, runny nose, and sore throat first appear, which quickly disappear. This is what distinguishes intestinal flu from other infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the symptoms of which begin not with indigestion, but with quickly passing catarrhal symptoms.
Main signs of stomach flu:

• Sore throat when swallowing, redness in the throat
• Catarrhal phenomena - slight runny nose, cough, sneezing, which quickly pass
• Loose stools up to 5-10 times a day, profuse stools, gray-yellow, clay-like, with pungent odor, but without mucus and blood
• Abdominal pain, rumbling
• Nausea, vomiting
• High fever or low-grade fever
• Growing weakness
• With severe development of stomach flu, it is possible).

Treatment of gastrointestinal flu

There is no specific treatment for rotavirus yet. The main treatment is aimed at reducing intoxication and normalizing water-salt metabolism, which is disrupted by diarrhea and vomiting. That is, treatment is mainly symptomatic, aimed at reducing the negative impact of the virus on the body: preventing dehydration, reducing toxicity, restoring the functioning of the urinary and cardiovascular systems, prevent the development of secondary bacterial infection.

• First of all, rehydration therapy is necessary, for which 1 sachet of Regidron is dissolved in a liter boiled water and is drunk every half hour throughout the day. If desired, you can make such a rehydration solution yourself - 700 ml boiled water (or weak chamomile infusion) + 300 ml decoction of dried apricots (carrots or raisins) + 4-8 teaspoons of sugar + 1 teaspoon table salt+ 1/2 teaspoon of soda. Indicated for repeated vomiting and diarrhea, drink in small sips. Adults, regardless of the severity of the condition, drink 200 ml after vomiting or stool. solution, since fluid losses must be replenished in the first 6 hours. Children with frequent vomiting and diarrhea requires hospitalization.
• When you can eat food, you must strictly follow a gentle diet and exclude all dairy and dairy products as they promote rapid reproduction pathogenic bacteria in the intestines.
• The patient should also take sorbents, such as Activated carbon, Enterosgel, .
• At severe diarrhea with fever, doctors usually prescribe (70 rubles) (300 caps. 500 suspension) or, their use helps to stop protracted course diarrhea.
• You should also take medications with digestive enzymes - Creon, Pancreatin, Mezim forte. IN in rare cases Fthalazol may be prescribed, but it can be used for no more than 3 days.
• When the acute phase of the disease passes, it is necessary to restore the intestinal microflora. For this there are many medicines, such as Linex, RioFlora-Balance, Bifidumbacterin Forte, etc. (see full).

A few facts about stomach flu

Does the flu shot help with stomach flu?

Don't confuse the two completely various diseases, two different pathogens. Of course, some symptoms of the common flu resemble those of the gastrointestinal flu - headache, manifestations general intoxication, aching joints, fever. However regular flu does not cause strong intestinal disorder and vaccination against it cannot in any way protect against infection with rotavirus infections.

Stomach flu is highly contagious

In the warm season, when there is a maximum spread of viral gastroenteritis, you should carefully observe the hygiene regime. Stomach flu enters the body fecal-oral route, that is, from a sick person through contaminated vomit or feces when touching occurs healthy person with a contaminated surface. Moreover, often wastewater, bodies of water where vacationers swim, contaminated food and dishes prepared by an infected person contribute to the transmission of the intestinal flu pathogen. Only thorough hand washing before any food intake can protect against the development of gastroenteritis.

The gastrointestinal flu virus is quite resilient in the external environment

The causative agent of intestinal flu (norovirus) can remain alive for several hours on any surfaces in everyday life, even after cleaning, and even a very small amount of it is enough to infect a child. It is better to wash your hands with soap and running water; this is more effective than using other hand products (wipes, spray).

Symptoms of GI flu do not appear immediately

Intestinal symptoms such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea and vomiting occur only 1-2 days after the infection enters the body, since the virus must reach the gastrointestinal tract and multiply in it. However, pathogens such as salmonellosis, etc. can cause symptoms food poisoning just a few hours later.

The most serious danger in children and adults is dehydration.

This is especially dangerous for children, since vomiting and diarrhea cause fluid loss that must be replenished. Moreover, with liquid the body is deprived of potassium, sodium and other minerals. Therefore, rehydration therapy (rehydron) is indicated. Best to drink mineral water without gases, green tea, chamomile decoction. Not worth it acute period consume milk, dairy products, bread and sweets. During the recovery period, you should replenish potassium reserves by adding foods such as bananas and rice porridge to your diet.

Stomach flu is not treated with antibiotics

Since this intestinal disorder is caused by a virus, antibiotics cannot help, contrary to the beliefs of many. Intestinal flu is treated symptomatically and antibacterial drugs not shown.

Diseases caused by a viral infection and having a number of characteristic features, popularly called intestinal or stomach flu. Actually similar acute pathology, associated with damage to the intestinal mucosa, is not, in fact, the flu. Diseases are provoked by ARVI viruses of the order Rotavirus or Reoviridae, which penetrate into human body together with water and food, as well as through household and airborne droplets.

In medicine, intestinal flu is called gastroenteritis or, in other words, rotavirus infection. So, why is it dangerous? similar pathology for the patient? How is the disease transmitted and how to treat it? And is it possible to avoid infection?

Mechanism of disease development

Like regular flu, gastroenteritis is transmitted from an infected person to healthy children and adults. At the same time, become infected with such stomach infection can be done in many ways:

• contacting a carrier of the virus;
• swimming in pools and ponds or drinking unboiled water;
• V kindergarten through toys;
• if you don't wash your hands;
• when ingesting contaminated products.

Having penetrated the human body, the intestinal influenza virus is activated and begins to multiply intensively, affecting intestinal epithelial cells. After 16–18 hours after infection, the cells affected by the virus are completely destroyed. Their remains fall off or are exfoliated into the intestinal lumen and accumulate in lower section gastrointestinal tract and are excreted along with feces. At the same time, exposed villi upper section fine or 12 duodenum they begin to swell and change shape, and in the upper balls of the intestinal mucosa the depth of the crypts quickly increases.

Important! The intestinal form of influenza is serious danger for children whose immune system is not fully formed. And also for older people whose immunity is already quite weakened.

Symptoms and external manifestations

The first signs of the stomach flu are absolutely similar to the symptoms of a cold. In the first hours after infection, patients may experience a slight runny nose, sneezing and coughing, pain when swallowing, sore throat, and slight chills.
However, these signs quickly disappear, and their place is taken by completely different symptoms:

• frequent loose stool up to 10 times a day. In this case, abundant bowel movements of a yellowish-gray color and clay-like consistency are observed, but without inclusions of blood and mucus. At first they have a strong unpleasant odor;
• sharp pain in the abdominal area, accompanied by rumbling and spasms;
• increasing nausea and periodic vomiting, leading to rapid dehydration;
• increasing weakness, drowsiness and apathy;
• increase in body temperature to subfebrile (sometimes high) levels.

At the same time, the manifestation similar symptoms in children and adults it can be a sign of other intestinal infections - cholera, salmonellosis, food poisoning. Therefore, at the first manifestations of the disease, you should contact medical institution for help. Timely diagnosis intestinal flu will help preserve not only the patient’s health, but in some cases his life.

Important! Intestinal flu in a child quite often requires immediate hospitalization and inpatient treatment. This means that parents need to urgently call a pediatrician or an ambulance if they detect even 1-2 symptoms of the disease (especially if it is diarrhea or vomiting). Lately provided health care may cause the baby's death.

Diagnosis and treatment

As such special drug treatment rotavirus infection does not exist. Which means the whole complex therapeutic measures aimed at eliminating the symptoms of intestinal flu and strengthening protective forces body in the fight against viral infection.

To clarify the diagnosis, the attending physician may prescribe additional examinations, among which:

• general blood test, the result of which may show a decrease total number leukocytes and the predominance of lymphocytes and monocytes (this speaks in favor of a viral infection);
• A general urine test in the presence of gastroenteritis will show an increase in its density;
• A biochemical blood test makes it possible to determine the increase in the concentration in the blood of the indirect fraction of bilirubin, as well as ALT and AST.

Intestinal flu should be treated only under the supervision of a doctor, following all his recommendations and wishes. Treatment consists of taking medicines, normalizing the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and special diet. To restore the body you should take:

• enterosorbents – Smecta or Polysorb;
• as part of rehydration therapy - the drug Regidron. It must be taken every 20–30 minutes to restore the water-salt balance in the body;
• enzymes that improve digestion - Creon or Pancreatin;
• drugs against diarrhea - Furazolidone or Enterofuril.

After intensive care and eliminating the symptoms of the disease, probiotics are prescribed to restore the beneficial intestinal microflora - Linex, Bifiform, Hilak Forte. It is not recommended to take antibiotics to fight the virus, since these drugs completely destroy both aggressive and beneficial intestinal microflora. By killing intestinal flu with the help of such drugs, you can get in return dangerous complication– dysbacteriosis.

Important! Gastroenteritis – serious illness, sometimes requiring treatment inpatient conditions. Therefore, engage self-treatment and uncontrolled use of funds traditional medicine is strictly prohibited. Self-medication can even lead to death.

Diet for illness and prevention

A special diet is an effective adjunct in the treatment of intestinal flu and an excellent remedy will recover quickly after past illness. Primarily useful are:

• herbal decoctions with chamomile, rose hips, strong green and black tea;
• liquid porridges prepared in water: semolina, rice or oatmeal;
• vegetable soups from potatoes, carrots, onions, zucchini, beets;
• mild broths made from skinless chicken, turkey, rabbit, lean beef.

Food should be taken in small portions, warm, every 3-4 hours.

In this case, the following should be excluded from the diet for a while:

• raw vegetables and fruits;
• natural juices;
• grain bread;
• whole milk, butter, cheeses;
• cereals;
• smoked meats;
• legumes;
• canned foods;
• chocolate and coffee.

It is also prohibited to smoke, eat fatty, spicy and fried foods, alcoholic and carbonated drinks.
There is no doubt that stomach flu is easier to prevent than to treat. Therefore, it is very important to follow a number of rules for preventing this disease, namely:

• wash your hands after coming from outside, visiting the toilet and before eating;
• wash fruits and vegetables eaten raw in plenty of running water (you can pre-soak them in a 3% vinegar solution for several minutes);
• drink only boiled water (even if it is from a well or spring);
• wash children's toys and pour boiling water over them more often;
• Avoid swimming in open water.

Important! The virus of the Reoviridae group is resistant to influence external environment, it tolerates cold well and low temperatures. At the same time, simple preventive measures make it possible to destroy the virus before it enters the body, and will not become infected with the dangerous and insidious intestinal flu.

“Stomach flu” and “intestinal flu” are sometimes called incorrectly rotavirus infection, because the disease has nothing to do with the flu. The causative agent is a completely different virus - rotavirus. His affiliation with this disease proved in 1973, and was named so because of its shape, reminiscent of a wheel.

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Nevertheless, the name “stomach flu” is also understandable: catarrhal symptoms during the manifestation of the disease (as with the flu) are combined with symptoms of damage digestive tract, which are the main signs of infection. But there are other names for this disease - rotavirosis,, reflecting not only the cause of the disease, but also the level inflammatory lesion digestive tract virus – stomach and small intestine.

Epidemiology

Stomach flu in children and older people develops more often and is more severe due to their weak immune defense. The disease is recorded in the form of sporadic cases or outbreaks in children's groups. An increase in incidence is observed during the cold season.

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The source of infection is a sick person. Starting from the incubation period, the virus is excreted in the feces. Rotavirus is quite stable outside the body. Grows well on dairy products. It can even be stored in the refrigerator for a long time.

The mechanism of infection with rotavirus is fecal-oral.

Infection occurs through the mouth in various ways:

• food (especially with dairy products);
• water (with drinking water, when swimming in bodies of water);
• contact-household (for example, when changing the diapers of a sick child, the mother becomes infected);
• respiratory (when the virus dries, it rises with dust into the air).

Promotes infection:

• poor personal hygiene (the virus can be brought into the mouth with dirty hands);
• violation of food storage rules and expiration dates;
• crowding of people.

Mechanism of disease development

Within half an hour after infection, the virus enters the cells of the mucous membrane in the stomach and small intestine, actively multiplies in them, destroying them in the process. Instead of the affected cells, new, immature ones appear, unable to perform their functions of producing enzymes.

As a result of enzymatic deficiency, food digestion is disrupted, undigested carbohydrates and other substances accumulate in the intestines. nutrients. They attract a significant amount of fluid to themselves, which leads to watery diarrhea.

Clinic

Stomach flu has different durations incubation period - from several hours to 5 days.

Its duration depends on:

• the number of viruses that have entered the body;
• patient's age;
• the state of his immune system.

Symptoms of stomach flu in a child or elderly patient will appear within a few hours, that is, earlier than in a young adult with normal immunity.

Rotavirus influenza in children and adults has the first signs of the disease - catarrhal symptoms:

• runny nose;
• a sore throat;
• redness of the mucous membrane of the pharynx.

This is accompanied by an increase in temperature to 38 0 C or 39 0 C, headache, weakness and loss of appetite. But catarrhal symptoms with this “flu” last only 1-2 days.

At the same time with catarrhal manifestations The main symptoms of rotavirosis appear:

• nausea;
• repeated vomiting of mucus and undigested food particles;
• pain in the umbilical region of the abdomen;
• loose stools;
• bloating and rumbling in the stomach.

The nature of bowel movements with rotavirosis:

• watery;
• plentiful;
• without mucus and blood;
• fetid;
• yellow in color, later - grayish-yellow, reminiscent of clay.

The acute period of the disease lasts about a week. Rotavirosis usually ends with recovery. But in some cases complications may develop. One of the dangerous complications for young patients is dehydration, a condition resulting from the body losing fluid and minerals.

In children, symptoms of dehydration are:

• pronounced thirst;
• dry mucous membranes;
• decreased elasticity of the skin;
• rare urination and decreased daily urine output;
• sunken eyes;
• retraction of the large fontanel in children of the first year of life;
• lack of tears.

Another complication is the addition of a bacterial infection, as evidenced by deterioration of the condition, a repeated increase in temperature, and a change in the character of the stool.

Treatment

For stomach flu, symptoms and treatment depend on the severity of the disease and the age of the patient. Most often, treatment for stomach flu in adults is carried out at home. But in children, when vomiting more than 5 rubles. and stool frequency more than 10 r. Hospitalization is required to ensure timely rehydration and prevent dehydration.

Only the attending physician can perform differential diagnosis rotavirosis with other acute intestinal infections and decide how to treat and how to treat the disease in each specific case. There are no drugs that have a detrimental effect on viruses. Treatment is symptomatic. The use of antibiotics is not indicated.

The temperature should be reduced only when it rises above 39 0 C in adults and above 38 0 C in children. Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Nurofen are used as antipyretics.

Treatment of stomach flu is carried out for the following purposes:

• recovery water-mineral balance in organism;
• reduction of intoxication syndrome;
• improved digestion;
• prevention or elimination of dysbacteriosis.

Symptoms and treatment in adults depend on the state of the immune system for rotavirosis. Stomach flu in young people is often mild; treatment in this case consists of: drinking plenty of fluids and diet.

To replenish the loss of fluid and salts by the body, the following liquids are used:

1. Glucosolan, Regidron, Oralit (1 dose of the drug per 1 liter of boiled water);
2. Homemade solution: dissolve 1 tsp in 1 liter of boiled water. salt and soda, 2 tbsp. Sahara;
3. Decoctions:

• chamomile;
• rice;
• raisins;
• carrots;
• apple;
• rosehip;

1. Alkaline mineral non-carbonated water.

Drink in small portions every 20-30 minutes. (for a child - teaspoons or tablespoons, for an adult - 50 ml) so as not to provoke vomiting. The volume of fluid per day depends on the volume of losses and the degree of dehydration. If vomiting continues or severe dehydration occurs, your doctor may prescribe intravenous administration solutions.

The use of sorbents (Enterosgel, Smecta, Polysorb) will speed up the removal of toxins from the body. To improve the digestion of food, enzymatic preparations are used (Mezim forte, Creon, Enzistal, etc.). Bifidumbacterin, Bifiform, Linex, Hilak forte will help to cope with dysbacteriosis.

Diet is of great importance in the treatment of rotavirosis. You should not force a child to eat.

The following should be excluded from the diet:

• all dairy products (including fermented milk);
• fresh fruits and vegetables;
• fried foods;
• legumes;
• cabbage;
• black bread;
• sweets;
• juices and carbonated drinks.

You can eat:

• lean meat (beef, chicken breast) or fish;
• weak broths, vegetable soups;
• porridge (oatmeal, rice) with water;
• baked apples;
• bananas;
• jelly;
• dried fruits compote.

The diet must be followed both in acute and in recovery periods. The range of dishes needs to be expanded gradually.

Prevention

Prevention of rotavirosis includes:

• compliance with personal hygiene rules;
• use of high-quality purified or boiled water for drinking;
• compliance with implementation deadlines and proper storage food;
• strengthening the immune system.

Rotavirus infection has characteristic manifestations, which can also occur in other diseases. Therefore, when the first symptoms appear, you should consult a doctor. The disease can lead to dehydration, which is especially dangerous for young children. By taking care to strengthen your immune system, you can avoid rotavirosis.

Intestinal flu got its name due to the characteristics of its symptoms. The disease is caused by rotavirus infection and initial stage resembles a cold: the patient develops catarrhal symptoms on the mucous membranes of the nasopharynx and oropharynx, painful sensations in the larynx, nasal discharge, body temperature rises. On days 2-3, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract occurs, and the signs of the disease resemble clinical picture digestive disorders. One of the manifestations of intestinal flu is viral gastroenteritis– pathological inflammatory process, occurring in the membranes of the small intestine and stomach.

Severe dehydration can be a complication of stomach flu. If this condition is not eliminated in a timely manner, the patient’s death may occur, so treatment of rotavirus infection must begin when the first symptoms appear. typical symptoms. There is no special therapy to destroy the causative agent of the disease, and treatment in adults is aimed at eliminating intoxication, rehydrating the body and getting rid of unpleasant symptoms. After suffering from intestinal flu, the patient will have to follow a therapeutic diet and a gentle regime physical activity within another 7-10 days.

Adults get stomach flu quite rarely compared to children preschool age. This is due to the fact that adults pay more attention to personal hygiene, comply with food preparation and heat treatment standards, and more often monitor the expiration dates of food products. While children become infected primarily through dirty hands or toys touched by a sick person, in adults the main source of rotavirus is usually poor-quality food.

This could be food that has been stored incorrectly or is past its expiration date, or undercooked meat. Fans of rare steaks need to be especially careful when choosing meat, since poorly processed meat and fish are considered the leaders among products that lead to poisoning. To especially dangerous products This also includes dairy products (including fermented milk drinks). Under no circumstances should you consume dairy products with a suitable expiration date, even if they look quite edible in appearance.

Tap water can also become a source of contamination, so it must be boiled, even if a purifying filter is installed at home. For those who do not like boiled water, it is better to use spring water sold in stores for drinking.

You can become infected with rotavirus in other ways. The most common of them:

Important! Rotavirus actively multiplies in the mucous membranes of the digestive tract and is excreted from the body with feces. If there is a person with an intestinal infection in the house, it is necessary to clean the toilet and disinfect the toilet every day to prevent infection of other family members.

How can you tell if a person has intestinal flu?

Diagnosing the disease at the initial stage is a rather difficult task, since the only symptoms in the first days of the disease are signs of respiratory diseases. The incubation period of rotavirus infection can range from 4-6 hours to 5 days. Its duration depends on the state of the person’s immune system, the amount of the pathogen and the degree of its activity.

On the first day of the disease, the patient may notice the following symptoms:

• an increase in temperature to 38°C or higher, accompanied by fever and chills;
• headache;
• pain in the throat when swallowing;
• dry cough of moderate intensity (usually not painful);
• discomfort in muscles and large joints;
• redness and looseness of the tissues of the oropharynx;
• sore throat.

In older people, as well as in people with reduced immunity, smokers, patients with alcohol addiction usually all appear listed symptoms. The signs are of high intensity, intoxication of the body develops rapidly, worsening the condition and well-being of the patient. In patients over 55 years of age, discomfort and muscle discomfort can develop into pain.

What happens on days 2-3?

Approximately 2 days after the onset of the disease, the virus enters the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines, causing a characteristic intestinal symptoms. The patient begins frequent diarrhea, the stool is very liquid, watery, and has a foamy consistency. Repeated vomiting may occur. Vomit has the color of food consumed, without impurities of bile acids, blood and mucous streaks. The smell of the masses is normal, not offensive.

Abdominal pain with intestinal flu is acute and may resemble intestinal cramps. In addition to pain, the patient complains of flatulence, bloating and heaviness in the stomach (regardless of food intake).

Note! In about a third of patients, conjunctivitis appears within 2-3 days, a disease characterized by inflammation of the conjunctiva of the eye. Signs viral conjunctivitis are transparent discharge from the eyes, redness of the eye sclera, itching and burning.

How to treat stomach flu in adults?

Treatment of rotavirus infection in adult patients is symptomatic and can take place on an outpatient basis, if this possibility is allowed by the doctor who examined the patient. The main goal of intestinal flu therapy is to eliminate signs of intoxication and dehydration. To cleanse the blood and intestines of toxins released by rotavirus, the patient is prescribed sorbents. These are drugs that selectively absorb gases, solids and liquid substances and harmful fumes.

The most effective sorbents to eliminate intoxication during intestinal infections are:

You need to take them several times a day, while simultaneously increasing the amount of liquid you drink. This is also necessary to eliminate dehydration. For this purpose, rehydration therapy is selected for the patient. saline solutions. They normalize water-salt balance, support kidney function and help restore normal level moisture in the body. The most popular product in this group is “Regidron” in the form of a powder for preparing a solution. The contents of one package must be dissolved in a liter of boiled water and drunk in small sips throughout the day. At severe dehydration the patient will be hospitalized, and therapy will be supplemented with intravenous infusion of glucose and saline.

The medications listed in the table below may also be used to restore the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

Note! After completion of treatment, the patient is given a course of vitamin maintenance therapy. It is important that the complex of vitamins and minerals be selected by a doctor, since an excess of some elements is just as harmful as their lack. For example, in case of illness thyroid gland you should choose drugs that do not contain iodine. If the patient suffers from hyperkalemia or hypermagnesemia, it is necessary to refrain from taking complexes containing magnesium and potassium.

Basics of symptomatic therapy in adults

Medicines to reduce fever are prescribed if the thermometer rises above 38°C. With more low values the use of antipyretics is not advisable, since most rotaviruses die at this temperature, and its reduction may delay recovery. If the temperature has risen too high, you can take medications based on paracetamol or ibuprofen: Paracetamol, Nurofen, Ibufen. In some cases, your doctor may recommend combination drugs, for example, “Next”: they act faster and have a more pronounced therapeutic effect.

If the patient is bothered by a cough, therapy is supplemented with antitussive medications that act on the cough center and suppress the functioning of cough receptors.

These include:

Drinking plenty of fluids will also help relieve a cough and prevent irritation of the throat lining.

Important! In some cases, histamine blockers (Loratadine, Diazolin, Claritin) are used to treat intestinal flu. They are necessary for prevention allergic reactions and possible adverse reactions against the background of multicomponent therapy.

Are antiviral agents needed?

Most infectious disease specialists believe that the use of antiviral drugs does not give a pronounced therapeutic effect, and the rotavirus dies on its own after 5-7 days. However, drugs in this group can weaken the activity of the virus during acute infection and activate cells of the immune system.

Purpose antiviral drugs and immunomodulators are necessary for people with weakened immune systems, as well as those who suffer bad habits or does not receive full balanced nutrition, since their immunity is not able to independently fight pathogenic microorganisms.

The role of therapeutic nutrition in treatment

During acute course pathology (and this is approximately 5-7 days), the patient must follow a diet excluding drinks and products based on milk protein. This is whole and pasteurized milk, kefir, cottage cheese, yoghurts and other products, the basis of which is any type of milk. Such a restriction is necessary since most microorganisms develop faster in a dairy environment. In addition, fermented milk products and whole milk can increase intestinal symptoms and lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of treatment.

To reduce the load on inflamed bowel, it is important in the first 3-4 days to consume all products in pureed or highly crushed form. It is advisable to pass meat and fish through a meat grinder, grind vegetables and fruits to a pulp. Useful during this period are rice and oat infusions– they contain a lot of starch, due to which they envelop the walls of the gastrointestinal tract and protect it from damage. Fresh bread need to be replaced with rye crackers.

Before full recovery and another 7-10 days after past illness The following are completely excluded from the patient’s diet:

Important! It is necessary to gradually introduce raw vegetables and fruits, as well as dairy products, into the diet. It is recommended to start with small quantity low-fat cottage cheese (no more than 50-60 g). On the third day, you can give the patient 100 ml of natural yogurt without additives. If everything is normal, the amount of dairy products is increased to the usual norm. Cow's milk is entered into the menu last.

Stomach flu - enough rare disease in adults, but there is no effective protection against rotavirus infection at any age. To reduce the likelihood of infection, it is necessary to carefully monitor the quality of food consumed and personal hygiene. Hand washing should be a mandatory procedure after returning from the street, visiting the restroom, and other actions related to unsanitary conditions.

In order for the immune system to fight viruses on its own, it is necessary to carry out general strengthening measures, eat right, and walk more. fresh air and provide the body with sufficient motor activity. If a person does become infected, it is necessary to strictly follow all the doctor’s recommendations and not refuse hospitalization if necessary, as there is a risk of dehydration.

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