Influenza has entered a period of high incidence, so don’t fall into these eight misunderstandings in the prevention and treatment of influenza!
CCTV News:Every winter and spring is a high incidence of influenza. Recently, the National Influenza Center released the influenza surveillance report for the second week of 2019. The report shows that the level of influenza activity in the northern and southern provinces of China continues to rise, and it has reached the peak level of influenza epidemic. The flu is fierce, but some misunderstandings about the flu may be more terrible than the flu itself!
Myth 1: This year’s flu is more serious than in previous years.
Feng Zijian, deputy director of China CDC, said that the overall epidemic intensity of influenza this year is not as strong as last year, but it may be slightly stronger in some local areas. According to past experience, influenza may reach its peak in a week or two, and then the activity intensity of influenza will fall back.
% of influenza-like cases reported by sentinel hospitals in southern provinces in 2015-2019 Source: National Influenza Center.
According to the report released by the National Influenza Center, in the second week of 2019, the ILI% reported by sentinel hospitals in southern provinces was 5.5%, which was higher than the same period in 2016 and 2017 (3.2% and 3.1%) and lower than the same period in 2018 (6.0%); The ILI% reported by sentinel hospitals in northern provinces was 5.3%, which was higher than that in 2016 and 2017 (3.2% and 3.6%) and lower than that in 2018 (5.5%).
Song Tie, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that there were more outbreaks of influenza in primary schools this year, but with the school holidays, this outbreak will gradually decrease.
Myth 2: This year, the emergence of "EB flu" and other variants of influenza virus is even more harmful.
Recently, a message about the so-called "EB flu" circulated in the circle of friends, saying that "EB virus caused a severe flu", and the news that "the flu virus turned to attack children’s brains this year" also made many people fidget. Is there a mutation in this year’s influenza virus, and is it more harmful than before? Experts said that at present, the variation of influenza virus has not been found in various places, and there is no EB flu in medicine.
Weibo screenshot
According to experts, although there is EB virus, there is no EB flu. Symptoms such as fever and sore throat caused by EB virus have nothing to do with influenza, and EB virus itself is not highly pathogenic and contagious, so it generally does not need special treatment.
Myth 3: Influenza is treated as a common cold.
The symptoms of the common cold are mild, and most of them are respiratory symptoms such as sore throat, cough and stuffy nose. Generally, they will get better after seven to ten days. If there are complications, they are usually sinusitis and otitis media, and the consequences are not serious; The flu will be accompanied by high fever above 38℃, chills, dizziness, headache, muscle aches, etc., and it will also be complicated with severe pneumonia and myocarditis, which is sometimes fatal and highly contagious. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide die of the flu every year. Experts suggest that once you have cold symptoms, you should go to the hospital in time to check and diagnose whether it is the flu or not, and prescribe the right medicine.
Myth 4: taking drugs "just a few days"
Experts pointed out that the antiviral drug oseltamivir can alleviate flu symptoms and reduce complications. However, oseltamivir has its timing: use it within 48 hours after suffering from influenza, and the earlier the effect, the better. If it exceeds the time limit, the effect will be ignored.
Other cold medicines are only "symptomatic medicines" to relieve symptoms, and any cold symptoms can only be eliminated through the resistance of patients’ own immunity.
Zheng Rongxiu, the chief physician of the General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, pointed out that there are many anti-cold drugs now, which just make the symptoms of cold less and make people feel better, but have no effect on the course of the disease itself. After the course of the disease, most patients can recover with our immunity.
Myth # 5: When you have the flu, the infusion will get better quickly.
According to experts, glucose, saline, antibiotics or traditional Chinese medicine injections are generally infused, and none of them are necessary for treating influenza. Glucose and salt can be ingested from the diet, so as long as they can eat, there is no need to directly enter the vein. Influenza is caused by virus, and antibiotics are used to kill bacteria, which has no effect on virus infection and can’t prevent secondary bacterial infection. If you have a bacterial infection, you need to use antibiotics or take them orally. There is no need for infusion. As for traditional Chinese medicine injections, at present, the side effects are unknown and the infusion risk is high.
No matter from the perspective of saving medical costs or safety, we should follow the principle that drugs can be taken orally without injection, and drugs can be injected without infusion.
Myth # 6: Mixed use of multiple drugs is effective.
Experts emphasize that taking a variety of cold medicines will not play much role in the curative effect, on the contrary, the risk of adverse reactions will be doubled.
Xie Lixin, director of the Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital, said that it is a three-point poison. In clinical work, the related side effects caused by drug abuse or excessive overdose are not uncommon, and the lessons are very profound.
Myth 7: relying on "remedies" such as vinegar fumigation to prevent influenza
In order to prevent the flu, some people smoke vinegar at home. Experts say that acetic acid can only kill bacteria when it reaches a certain concentration. Moreover, the flu virus is not a bacterium, and it cannot be killed by acetic acid at all. Blind vinegar fumigation will also aggravate the condition of patients with bronchitis and emphysema.
Others rely on oral vitamin C to prevent influenza. Experts say that taking enough fruits and vegetables has the same effect as oral vitamin C, which can improve immunity, but it has no antiviral effect. According to the method of drinking Radix Isatidis and other traditional Chinese medicines to prevent influenza, experts said that Radix Isatidis is cool and not beneficial to all patients.
Yang Shuyu, president of Xiamen Medical Association, Fujian Province, pointed out that it is very important to pay attention to improving one’s immunity when a cold is prevalent, and blindly taking drugs will affect and damage one’s immunity.
Myth # 8: Strong people don’t have to be afraid of the flu.
Experts say that people who are strong and have strong resistance should not think that their chances of getting the flu are low, so they don’t pay attention to rest and prevention, so that the virus also has the opportunity to take advantage of it, such as fatigue, hunger, or soaking clothes after sweating a lot. Among influenza complications, the incidence of myocarditis is higher in healthy young adults. This is because these people are more immune, and when they are invaded by the virus, their own defense system will also damage myocardial cells while removing the virus.
The prevention methods of influenza in active period have long been known.
Do a good job in preventing influenza:
1, keep indoor air circulation, pay attention to the clean environment;
2. Maintain adequate sleep, healthy diet and moderate exercise;
3. Pay attention to the weather change, add or subtract clothes with the temperature change to avoid catching cold;
4. Pay attention to personal hygiene, change clothes and wash hands frequently, and cover your mouth and nose with paper towels or sleeves when sneezing or coughing.
Children and the elderly should pay special attention to:
1. Put an end to letting children attend classes with illness, try to avoid contact with patients with influenza-like cases, and wear masks if necessary;
2. It is suggested that the elderly and residents with basic diseases should be vaccinated as soon as possible before the peak of influenza;
3, the school nursery institutions should do a good job of absence monitoring due to illness and morning and afternoon inspection.
Source: Weibo, Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.