How the flu strikes you?

 How the flu strikes you?

This year's flu is more severe than in previous years

Currently, China is a high incidence of flu season, since 2017 Nian 12 since January, around the seasonal flu have entered the peak. The data shows that the number of reported cases in the winter of 2017-2018 is significantly higher than in the same period of the previous year, and the number of severe cases is significantly more than in the previous year. It is expected that the intensity of influenza virus activity will remain at a high level in the following period, so what exactly is epidemic cold? How is it different from the common cold? How can we prevent the damage of the flu? Today, the health channel "Medicine" invited Li Xingwang, director of the Infectious Diseases Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Beijing Ditan Hospital, to answer your questions about recent serious and related issues.

This year's flu is more severe than in previous years

This year's flu is different than in previous years. In the past, there were more common influenza A. We called HN1 and H3N2 . Then this year, it is the influenza B epidemic, called BY type. Well, this type of influenza has accounted for more than half of the overall incidence from the national CTC to all parts of the country including Beijing, so this type is not available in previous years, and the total number of cases appears to be very high.

How to distinguish between influenza and common cold

The two are different. For a common cold, you can not have a fever, or have a low fever, rarely exceeding 38 degrees, as much as 37 degrees, a body temperature of about 38 degrees, this is from the body temperature. Furthermore, in terms of symptoms, our medical term is " upper respiratory catarrh " . That is, patients can have sneezing and runny nose. This is often said. It is a bit low in fever. This is a common cold and more common. So for the flu, it is often a sudden high fever, unlike the common cold, which is tempting, for no reason. Many patients have a fever of 38 degrees or even 39 or 40 degrees. Dry heat is accompanied by, for example, sore throat, and some patients also have runny nose, sneezing, but in addition to high fever, we call muscle soreness and headaches in the whole body, then these manifestations are more severe than ordinary cold many.

　　Furthermore, from the point of view of the common cold, it is basically not contagious and is distributed. Influenza is an influenza virus, type A and type B, caused by these. It is highly contagious, often in a class, or in an office, for example, when a person becomes sick, many people may be recruited, so it is very contagious.

　　Viral influenza, the common cold just mentioned, is also caused by a virus. Symptoms caused by this virus are relatively mild and infectious, and its healing is better. It does not say that it causes more complications or even death of patients. This probability is relatively low, which is a common cold.

How can I be diagnosed if I have the flu?

You don't feel anything. Suddenly you get cold. When you test the meter, it is 38 or 39 degrees. Suddenly you get a high fever and feel a headache. You feel a bit stiff. The whole body muscles and joints are sore. This is not common cold. This happens, and then there are some sneezing, some sore throats, and headaches. You may want to realize that you may have the flu. Especially in the family, or if your classmates or colleagues already have flu patients, and you have closer contact, you should be more alert to the fact that you may have flu.

What should patients do after the flu is confirmed?

After catching the flu, in general, it can recover on its own, or just about a week. But some people can be very serious and even life-threatening. This needs our prevention. It is very contagious. You should not go to work, school, or rest at home. The best conditions in the family are also slightly isolated. If you need to go to the hospital to see a doctor, wear a mask and don't spread it to others. If it is said that the flu has to go to the hospital, the doctor will prescribe proprietary Chinese medicine or antiviral medicine according to your situation, go home and take good medicine, take a good rest, wait for your illness to go to work, then work again. This will prevent your condition from getting worse and prevent your illness from being passed on to others.

Oseltamivir recommends taking within 48 hours

Antiviral drugs are said to be best applied within 48 hours, mainly oseltamivir, which is a neuraminidase inhibitor, is a so-called antiflu virus. There is no such regulation for proprietary Chinese medicines. For example, there is no such regulation for medicines such as lotus blast, but no matter what kind of medicine, it should be applied as early as possible. Influenza virus may infect people after two to three days of incubation. The virus starts to be excreted when there is no disease. Within two days of onset, its virus replication is at its peak, and the large amount of virus replication results in very important human damage. This medicine does not directly kill the influenza virus. It is after the infection, the influenza virus needs to replicate, and the replication must be continuously released. It blocks the release process. But there are already viruses, this medicine has no effect. It was mentioned just now that within two days is the peak time of the virus. At this time, you need to control it at the peak time. If the peak period has passed and much damage has been caused behind, the effect of this medicine may not be very good.

Flu antibodies are short-lived and require annual vaccination

We know that humans produce antibodies after infection, but antibodies to influenza have a short duration, so it needs to be vaccinated every year. Just this year's affairs, this year, there will be no antibodies. And we mentioned earlier that in the antibody flu we have influenza A and influenza B, so from humans, we are called seasonal flu, a common virus, H1N1 , H3N2 in stream A, and BV in stream B. , BY , this year is the fourth type. Between these four types, it wo n’t say that I have got A. For example , I have H1N1 . I only have immunity to H1N1 this season. I do n’t have this protection for other three class. In other words, I got H1N1 , I might get H3N2 , I got A, I got a B infection, I happened to have low resistance, I might still.

Flu vaccine should be completed by October

After the human body is vaccinated, we expect it to produce an antibody, a protective antibody, and the body will not become sick after being infected with the virus. Generally, after the vaccine is given, the antibody may gradually come up after two weeks, so it has a deadline. Vaccination is usually completed before the influenza season, so vaccination can usually be completed before October. Of course, if the epidemic season, such as the north, reaches the end of November and December, it may be until February and March, there may be flu in this season, so it is said that there is no vaccination in some seasons, and you can still continue to vaccinate.

　　Vaccine antibodies continue to be basically a season. After a few months, they will basically disappear within one year. By the next year, the antibodies will basically disappear, and it may be necessary to re-vaccinate.

　People with severe high-risk influenza should be vaccinated against influenza

Regardless of influenza A vaccine and influenza B vaccine, they are basically safe. Individuals may have fever and low fever after vaccination, which is possible. Generally, there is no problem except for local pain.

In theory, everyone can be vaccinated, but we have a key population for vaccination. In general, flu may be uncomfortable except for you. We worry about complications such as severe illness, so we have a word called " flu at risk for severe flu " . This is the focus of our vaccine.

Generally speaking, such as children, especially children under 5 years old. Another old man is an old man over 65 years old. Because one old and one young, his immunity will be lower. Once his one is sick, the probability of complications may be higher, one old and one young. Another is pregnant women, especially pregnant women in the second and third trimesters. In this case, after infection, she will also have a high incidence of complications. These conditions. There are respiratory diseases, lung diseases, heart disease, diabetes, and even a lot of cancer patients with point-free inhibitors are also at high risk. Another type of people is big fat people, that is, if we say that the body mass index is greater than 30, they are overweight and obese people. This kind of people will have many complications. It is recommended that they be vaccinated.