Treatment of influenza in children

A cold is the most frequent cause of the child’s ailment and visit to pediatricians. The cold can be caused by the hundreds of viruses, causing the similar symptoms; that is why when the patients apply with it, the doctors establish the diagnosis “Acute Respiratory Viral Infection” – Acute Respiratory Viral Infection.

The only cause of development of the disease is infecting with one of the viruses, included in the wide group of acute respiratory viral infections, from already infected child or adult. The virus is released while coughing or sneezing and transmitted through kisses, shared use of the dishes and personal hygiene products, while staying in the room with the ill person.

The disease has the strongly pronounced seasonal nature, affecting children mainly during the autumn and winter period. The child falls ill very often, starting to go to the kindergarten or school, where he closely contacts other children, including the infected ones.

There may be the situations, when the child, just having gone through the cold, is infected again. This is due to the fact that having gone through ARVI, the child’s organism develops a short-term immunity, but only against the concrete virus, but not the whole group of acute respiratory viral infections. The recurrent disease can be caused by another virus, but the similarity of symptoms does not allow determining it. 

In most cases, the organism copes with the acute respiratory viral infection by itself within 5-7 days. In this case, the task of the pediatrician is to prescribe treatment, which will reduce the unpleasant symptoms and monitor so that the complications do not occur.

The additional diagnosis, determining which specific virus affected the child’s organism, is usually not performed. This is due to the fact that the organism quickly neutralizes the virus by itself, without application of the antivirus therapy. In addition, the analyses and examinations take some time (up to several days), and when the analyses are ready, the organism already copes with the infection.

Only in the case, when the progression of the disease is severe and lengthy, and the child falls regularly ill, it is expedient to perform additional examinations.

The symptomatic treatment, prescribed by the doctor, can include the antipyretic and anti-inflammatory preparations, drugs for alleviating pain in the throat,  inhalations, tubus quartz, etc.

The self-medication of ARVI without the care of the pediatrician is not recommended, as the parents do not always recognize the early signs of possible complications.

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