Flu- this is one of the dangerous diseases, during which the bronchi are affected, resulting in complications. If treatment is not started promptly, the flu can develop into pneumonia.

Cold – occurs due to hypothermia of the body, caused by cold. This usually occurs in winter, when the nasal cavity cools.

As you know, colds are most common in autumn, winter and spring.

At this time, the body needs to adapt to changing air temperatures. That's why it's especially important to dress for the season. For example, in the fall you need to wear light and at the same time enough warm clothes, and primarily for those coming from the south after a vacation. In damp, cold times with significant fluctuations in air temperature, it “raises its head” mixed infection, mostly viral - influenza, parainfluenza, acute adenoviral diseases.

How to prevent diseases?

For that so as not to get sick, it is necessary to isolate patients from people. Suppose there are two children in a family, first one gets sick, and then the other. Parents, as a rule, are no longer afraid to leave this second child with the first: after all, both are sick. And they can additionally infect each other with “their” viruses. And everyone will be sick much longer, and the likelihood of complications will increase.

As you know, many infectious diseases have been eliminated, but there are no significant changes in the fight against influenza. This is explained by the fact that viruses of types A, Ar, B and C are different in themselves and also change their individual properties. And since it is unknown which type of virus will cause the greatest number of diseases, it is not possible to prepare the necessary anti-influenza vaccines and serums in advance. They have to be updated systematically.

The difficulty of fighting the disease also lies in the fact that doctors do not have specific medications for treatment. This does not mean that they are not being sought; on the contrary, more and more new anti-flu drugs are being proposed. They passed preliminary tests and killed viruses under experimental conditions in a test tube. But in a living organism there are other conditions for their action. That's why, even after many clinical tests, it has not yet been found reliable means fight against influenza.

What methods can be used to prevent the spread of influenza infection?

As soon as an outbreak of the disease begins, doctors, using a rapid diagnostic method, can determine the true culprit of the disease. Having discovered influenza viruses, epidemiologists warn workers of children's institutions and hospitals about the need for quarantine. This measure significantly reduces the spread of influenza.

The patient should be isolated if possible. This is necessary because the patient’s mucus, sputum, and saliva are most contagious in the first four days. Millions of virus particles enter the surrounding air and are a source of infection.

A person who has contracted the virus must follow the regimen recommended by the doctor and strictly observe hygiene rules. He needs to be given separate dishes, a handkerchief, a towel, and linen. Dishes are disinfected by boiling. The patient's skin can be wiped with cologne, and hands should be washed with soap several times a day.

If a patient has a high fever and decreased appetite, he will benefit from easily digestible food, drinking plenty of fluids– tea with raspberries, lemon, fruit syrups and juices, compotes, apples, grapes.

Many people think about what to do to avoid getting sick ? You can write a lot, but you need to know the most important points to protect yourself.

• Before going outside, you need to lubricate the nasal cavity oxolinic ointment . You will create an obstacle to bacteria;
• Avoid places with large crowds of people (supermarkets, shops, markets, buses, subways, etc.);
• Ventilate your apartment or house. The cold repels the flu, and fresh air is good for health;
• Try not to interact with people who have the flu. Make him wear a gauze bandage.

How to avoid getting a cold

To avoid catching a cold, you need to strengthen your immune system. If you feel the first symptoms of a cold, you need to take medicines, which will help the body overcome viruses. Symptoms appear as follows: sore throat, headache, weakness, runny nose.

How to avoid getting sick in winter

The key to health in winter is warmth. Remember, the body should not be overcooled.

• Don't forget to dress warmly before going outside. Wear a hat and don't forget about your feet. They love warmth;
• When outside, breathe through your nose. The air passing through the nose is cleared of dust and heated;
• Wash your hands with soap after going outside;
• Carry an antiseptic with you that will help you disinfect your hands anywhere in the city;
• Wash the clothes you wear to work and your children wear. kindergarten or school. Clothing collects germs that can cause viral illness;
• Walk outside more and breathe fresh air;

By following basic rules, you will have less risk of getting sick or catching a cold. Let's consolidate what was said above and remember.

1. Wash your hands after going outside. A lot of germs collect on your hands;
2. When sneezing, cover your mouth with a tissue or hand, then wash your hands;
3. Avoid crowded places. It is easiest to catch the flu in a crowd;
4. Disinfect common areas (toilets, sinks, kitchen);
5. More on fresh air. It is easier to get sick indoors than outdoors;
6. Rinse your nose saline solution. After cleaning your nose, drop the solution and clean it well;
7. Try to strengthen your body when you are healthy. But you need to start gradually. Wipe with a towel soaked in cool water, gradually moving to a contrast shower;
8. Ventilate the room you are in every day;
9. Monitor the humidity in the room. It should be 50-60%;
10. Do wet cleaning in the house;
11. When meeting people you know, try to avoid shaking hands and kissing on the cheek;
12. Strengthen your immune system. In summer, try to eat more vegetables and fruits, and in winter you can buy vitamins at the pharmacy;
13. Don't refuse the flu vaccine. This will help your body fight viruses better;
14. When outside, try not to touch your face with your hands;
15. Try to avoid contact with sick people;
16. Use utensils and things that belong only to you;
17. Try to rest more, then your body will be full of strength and will be able to reject bacteria.

But it happens that the symptoms have already caught you. You can buy medications at the pharmacy and take them, or be treated with traditional methods.

How to cure a cold or flu using traditional methods

In order for a cold to not be terrible, you need to be able to fight it regardless of the time of year and weather conditions.

Compresses at night help with coughs. Cabbage leaf Place in boiling water for two minutes, remove, coat with honey and place on chest. You can also put it on your back. You should wear a tight-fitting T-shirt over the top. Three to five nights of this treatment and the cough goes away.

It is also useful to eat two or three ripe persimmons a day when coughing, and drink hot tea at night, adding sunflower oil(1 tbsp. spoon for 1 tbsp. tea).

At high temperature and sore throat will help you potato. Grate two raw tubers with peel on a coarse grater, add 1 tbsp. spoon of 9% vinegar and place on cloth or gauze folded in several layers. Place a cold potato compress on the forehead, and after 30 minutes the body temperature drops by 3-5 degrees. Do exactly the same compress on throat, just heat the potato pulp a little, apply it to the throat and warm it. Keep it on all night.

Children over 10 years old sore throat you can rinse with juice onions And boiled water(in proportion 1:1).

At the first sign of the flu, cologne will help you. Before going to bed, you need to completely undress. The heart area should not be touched. Thoroughly rub the rest of your body from the top of your head to your fingertips with triple cologne. Cover yourself with a warm blanket and do not open until the morning. And in the morning there will be no trace of the flu.

At colds We first of all strive to get rid of the unfortunate symptoms as quickly as possible. We drink hot tea, sneeze anywhere and everywhere, suck lozenges for sore throats. Therefore, caring for the health of household members often worries us indirectly. This can lead to disastrous consequences. Think about it, after all, treating the whole family from bacteria will be much more difficult than observing simple measures precautions. How to prevent the development of colds in your household? What should you do to avoid accidentally infecting your family with a cold? The answers to these questions are contained in this article.

Most often, adults become the source of infectious bacteria and viruses. They are the ones who constantly visit crowded places. Adults go to work, to public places, use buses and trams, and ride the subway. As a result of close contacts with by different people, parents bring different pathogenic bacteria, from which children may later suffer. Children's immunity is not yet well developed, which is why they will have to recover from illness much longer. And if the child gets sick, then you must definitely call a doctor and get a certificate 095 from Moscow, or any other city.

From all of the above, we can conclude that adults must carefully observe all the rules of hygiene, even if they do not feel any illness. Experts have found that a person with a cold can infect others within a week after the first symptoms appear. Even if a person is already infected and has not yet developed symptoms, they can be contagious. Therefore, if you feel unwell or have a slight fever, try harder to follow all the rules of personal hygiene. Also, try to avoid direct contact with people.

But what to do if you can’t avoid contact with your household? There are several rules.
? Thorough hand washing.
Even if you think you wash your hands frequently, once the illness hits, do it several times more often. Every time you sneeze, blow your nose, or touch your face, you leave particles of the virus on your hands. Then, upon contact with interior items, they remain on the sofa, bedside tables, and TV remote control. That's where the microbes wait for your family members.
? Disposable supplies. Of course, it’s not common to use disposable plates, forks and spoons in your own kitchen. However, if you don’t want to wash dishes three times and be afraid of infecting others, it is best to use plastic dishes at least during illness, sometimes even a little longer.
? Disinfection. Scientists have proven that ARVI bacteria can survive outside human body about seven o'clock. This time is enough for everyone in your household to become infected. There are many types of cold viruses and bacteria, but not fewer species disinfection. Alcohol and soda are the most accessible. Most effective types sold in pharmacies.
? Gauze bandage. You can buy this “lifesaver” at any pharmacy. This device prevents germs from spreading throughout the apartment during coughing or sneezing. Also, your family can wear a mask or bandage to prevent infection.
? Strengthen the immunity of family members. Set of vitamins, contrast shower, citrus fruits and ascorbic acids will help you.
? Air disinfection. Quartz treatment will help rid your apartment of germs. Essential oils will help disinfect the air and help everyone who breathes them.

Autumn is bright colors, a lot of materials for crafts, light morning fogs, rubber boots and a sky in puddles... But only the owners of pharmacy chains can truly love late autumn, because at this time immunity drops and the risk of colds increases.

The disease throws you out of your usual rut, and this happens even if only one family member is ill. When an adult catches a cold, it is annoying and unpleasant, but when a child gets seriously ill, it becomes simply scary.

Specifics preventive measures and the likelihood of getting sick largely depends on who is carrying the virus. In other words, who poses a potential danger to whom - parents for children or children for parents. For example, in one cold season, a child can get ARVI up to four times, and adults only once. This is due to the presence of specific protective mechanisms that are active in the body of an adult who has already had a specific illness. And local immunity in children is weaker, and the level of consciousness is lower (children often forget about the need to wash their hands, “pull” all sorts of objects into their mouths, etc.). Meanwhile, the baby can bring a virus into the house from child care facility, get sick and infect mom and dad. At the same time, in large families Adults are more likely to become victims of influenza and ARVI than couples with one child.

In a situation where one of the parents gets sick first, the children almost certainly have a chance of “catching” the virus. And what younger age crumbs, the higher the likelihood of such a development of events. Infants who are on breastfeeding, receive antibodies to various types of infections that the mother suffered from. Immune factors breast milk allow you to compensate for immaturity protective properties child's body, forming the child’s passive immunity. But if a nursing mother gets sick, then, accordingly, the baby does not receive antibodies.

Insulation

The patient must be isolated, giving the poor fellow a separate room. If a separate room is a luxury you can't afford, there are some rules you need to follow. For example, it is strictly forbidden to walk around the house, eat and drink on the spot, go to the toilet “back and forth”, and if a child is sick, provide him with a potty. For unreasonable walking around the apartment you need to scold and punish, regardless of the age of the “violator”.

Life in ventilation mode

It is necessary to ensure sufficient air flow from the street into the house in which the infection has settled. Ventilation should be regular, active and such that air currents the sick person did not come in.

Air disinfection

To improve the indoor atmosphere, use natural antiseptics- chop the garlic, put it in plates and place them in the rooms. The same can be done with the zest of lemon and other citrus fruits. Aromatherapy will also be used: essential oils contain phytoncides - native antimicrobial substances of plants that disinfect the air.

Wet cleaning

Wet cleaning should be carried out frequently and, preferably, using disinfectants. Needless to say, cleaning activities should affect all rooms in the apartment, and not just the room where the sick person lives. Special attention pay attention to objects with which your “patient” came into contact ( door handles, plumbing taps, etc.).

Stock up a large number disinfectant wet wipes, periodically wipe your hands with them. The patient should use sanitary napkins as often as possible. Near the location of the victim, you need to place a closed container into which he will throw away used tissues, wet wipes and medical masks, etc. Attention! An adult who is sick must wear a mask when communicating with healthy people and, especially, with children! Regularly (at least once an hour) instill or irrigate your nose with physiological saline solutions.

Individual household items

First of all, this concerns dishes from which a person with a cold will eat, and hand/face towels. Change your bed linen, especially your pillowcase, as often as possible. Wash immediately, do not store.

Walking

To reduce the risk of infection, a healthy person needs to be outside more often. Of course, if the condition of your ward, who is in dire need of care, allows it. If the mother is sick, the child should spend as much time as possible outside. For very small babies, it is recommended to sleep in the fresh air.

If his wife is ill, the husband has the right to take sick leave to care for the child, and, of course, is simply obliged to take on the role of a guardian - to protect and treat the mother, take care of the offspring and follow all the rules described above.

Mommies, share your ways to prevent respiratory viral infections - we probably haven’t covered all the points! And be healthy in any weather!

• Do not contact the sick person or visit him while wearing a mask.
• Do not approach the patient closer than 2 meters, or approach him while wearing a mask.
• Wash your hands with soap after each visit to a patient, cleaning his room, or visiting the toilet.
• Be sure to cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing.
• Use disposable napkins or handkerchiefs.
• Keep the child away from the sick person.
• Constantly ventilate the patient's room. In the cold season, it is enough to do this up to 4 times a day for a quarter of an hour. At this time, the patient must be taken out of the room.
• The air temperature in the room of a person with the flu should not be higher than 20 degrees Celsius, but it should not be lowered either.
• Every day, clean the patient’s room and the entire house with disinfectants.
• Get enough sleep and introduce vitamins into your diet to boost your immunity.

The most important thing is not to go to work sick. Your patriotism will only harm both you and those around you. After you feel the first signs of illness, you need to stay at home for a week from the date of illness. And, of course, follow the recommendations written above. Especially those related to personal hygiene.

If your doctor has prescribed you medications - antivirals that kill influenza viruses, or antibacterials if the flu is accompanied by another serious illness, such as pneumonia, do not ignore these instructions. Don't stop taking your medications even if you feel much better. It is necessary to complete the full course to finish off the enemy - viruses and pathogenic bacteria, otherwise the flu may return with more severe complications.

Features of caring for a patient with influenza

It is impossible for a pregnant woman or child to look after him.

It is advisable that only 1 person from the family cares for the patient.

It is imperative to provide separate dishes and hygiene items for a person with the flu - soap, towels, clothes.

All family members should not neglect medical masks and hand washing.

It is imperative to ensure that the medical masks of all family members are changed every three hours, otherwise germs on them can infect healthy person. If you use the mask correctly, clinical studies show that the risk of contracting influenza viruses can be reduced by 80%.

In addition to precautions against the flu, chemoprophylaxis can and should be used in the fight against it. First of all, these are anti-flu remedies such as arbidol, alpharon, influenza and ointments containing interferon. Alfaron and influenza are drops that help a person cope with a runny nose due to the flu and protect the nasal passages from viruses.

Herbal medicine as a prophylaxis against influenza

There's another one good way protect against or reduce the flu negative impact on the body. These are herbal medicines. They effectively fight against influenza viruses and speed up the recovery process if the flu has already taken hold of the body. Few people know, but still in Ancient Greece Doctors used lemon, honey and cloves as a cure for the flu.

What means should be used to prevent influenza?

First of all, these are the famous garlic and onions. Despite their apparent simplicity, these are truly effective remedies for the flu. They contain special substances - phytoncides, which fight the flu and help a person recover faster.

• Mint – excellent remedy for inhalations. In addition to the fact that mint destroys viruses, it also tastes good.
• Rosehip drinks are an excellent immune stimulant. Rose hips contain a lot useful substances, which help a person cope with the flu and its manifestations. Just preferably brew it not with boiling water, but with water at a temperature of 80 degrees. This way the vitamins contained in rose hips will be destroyed less.
• Sea buckthorn is an excellent remedy for healing wounds and for giving the body an increased dose of vitamins. Sea buckthorn can be brewed into tea and is an excellent remedy for the flu.

Preventing the flu requires from us not so much money as careful self-care. Therefore, if you are sick, you can completely protect your family from the flu with the help of simple preventative measures. And if you are healthy, then these remedies will help you avoid getting the flu.

Today we’ll talk about how to avoid getting ARVI and influenza. Consideration of this issue will be very relevant, since with the onset of cold weather comes an epidemic of these diseases. So, what are ARVI and influenza and how to deal with them?

In the classical concept ARVI(acute respiratory viral infection) is a group of clinically similar acute inflammatory diseases respiratory diseases caused by pneumotropic viruses, including the influenza virus.

You can become infected with ARVI and influenza in crowded groups: in the family, in public transport, at work, at public places ah (shops, clinics, etc.), where sources of infection may be located.

For example, you visited a store and are waiting in line for payment. A sick person is standing next to you, breathing on you, coughing and sneezing. Or in the same store they give you change with the money that such a person had previously paid with and left his biological secretions with the virus on them.

In another option, while in public places where sick people have already been, you grab the handrails of doors, escalators, staircases, on which their infected traces remain.

In the future, without noticing it, you introduce the virus into the mucous membrane of your mouth, nose or eyes with dirty hands. This is how ARVI and influenza infection occurs.

The risk group primarily includes: people with reduced immunity, children, the elderly, patients with various chronic diseases.

How to avoid getting the flu and ARVI - prevention

In order not to become infected or get sick from ARVI and influenza, you just need to prevent these infections.

Measures to prevent ARVI and influenza

A set of measures for the prevention of ARVI and influenza is proposed, which is divided into the following areas:

1. Avoiding direct contact with virus carriers;
2. Application various means and protective measures;
3. Increased immunity.

The essence of the first direction is to minimize direct contact with sick people, and also to exclude household and toilet items from sharing with them.

For example, a sick family member should be in a separate room, which must be ventilated frequently (every two hours) and wet cleaned two to three times a day.

He must have his own utensils for eating, a towel, disposable tissues(paper), a container for collecting them, etc. He should also eat food in his room. Food, like everything else, should be brought to his room by one of the family members.

In addition, the patient must wear a disposable mask, which must be changed every four hours, since viruses accumulate in it. You need to make sure that he coughs and sneezes not into the air, but into a disposable tissue.

You should not shake hands, hug or kiss with the patient. After visiting the toilet, it is necessary to wipe all objects that he touched with his hands (door handles, buttons, taps) with disinfectant wipes.

For another example, let's take labor collective. Here you need to ensure that people with symptoms of ARVI and influenza do not work in the team, and if such appear, then it is necessary to distance yourself from them in a timely manner and bring necessary information about the threat of infection of team members. Otherwise, the likelihood of getting ARVI and influenza is quite high.

During epidemics of influenza and ARVI, it is necessary to minimize contact with possible potential virus carriers: avoid visiting public places, travel less often on public transport.

Personal protective equipment against ARVI and influenza

The second direction of prevention of acute respiratory viral infections and influenza is the use of means personal protection from these diseases. This includes a set of measures to reduce the impact of viruses on people.

First of all, doctors advise getting a flu shot, since today this measure is the most effective and reduces the risk of disease by 90%. Vaccination creates specific immunity in the body to a particular influenza virus.

Older people should be vaccinated first; persons suffering from chronic diseases; workers who have constant contact with people: doctors, teachers, trade, transport and public service workers.

At the same time, it is necessary to understand that there are hundreds of viruses, and it is simply impossible to get vaccinated against them all, but it is still worth getting vaccinated against the most dangerous and predictable strains. The vaccination is done 3-4 weeks before the expected epidemic, since it takes time for the body to produce antibodies to the virus.

In addition to what is described above, in order to avoid getting the flu and ARVI, it is also recommended:

— Use oxolinic ointment when you are in crowded places: lubricate the mucous membrane of the sinuses twice a day (in the morning before going to work and in the evening);

— Ventilate the room at home and at work every two hours.

- Take regular walks in the fresh air.

- IN necessary cases use protective hygienic bandages (masks).

Wash your hands frequently with soap or treat them with a 70% alcohol solution or antiseptics (chlorhexidine, septomirin or miramistin).

Use onions and garlic in food or inhale their vapors.
Traditional medicine recommends the following method of prevention: finely chop the onion or garlic, place it in a gauze or cloth bag and hang it on clothing closer to the respiratory organs in order to inhale their vapors;

— Use essential oils (menthol, fir, eucalyptus, lavender, pine, cedar, tea tree, juniper) in the form of inhalation of their vapors. Traditional medicine advises smearing one of these oils on the skin in the respiratory tract area. Protection against infection with these vapors lasts approximately 40 minutes.

- do daily wet cleaning of the premises;

- after direct contact with a patient, rinse the nasal mucosa with an isotonic solution (1 gram of salt per 100 ml of water, or 1 teaspoon of salt per glass clean water) or at worst simple clean water. This measure is strongly recommended if;

- for the purpose of preventing influenza and ARVI, or when the first symptoms of the disease occur - take antiviral drugs: amiksin, arbidol, amizon, anaferon, etc. But it is better to do this as prescribed by a doctor. Read the instructions for use of these and others antiviral drugs, and you can also buy them.

Improving the body's immunity - resistance to ARVI and influenza

To minimize the risks of getting ARVI and influenza, it is necessary to increase immunity to viral infections. Very good effect hardens the body: regular swimming in the pool; dousing cold water; winter swimming At the same time, the body’s resistance to influenza and ARVI increases significantly, and while winter swimming you won’t even remember about these diseases.

In the absence of allergies, a good effect is achieved by eating substances that increase the overall resistance of the body. This following products: honey, sea buckthorn, rose hips, aloe, tinctures of eleutherococcus, ginseng, echinacea, pantocrine, lemongrass.

Courses of taking vitamin-mineral complexes also improve immunity well: Revit, Theravit, Undevit, Pikovit and others.

To maintain immunity, sleep duration should be at least eight hours.

Avoid hypothermia, as this greatly weakens local immunity. Make sure your head and feet don't get cold, since these are the parts of your body where most heat is lost. If you feel cold, be sure to take hot bath, shower, or warm yourself up with a heating pad.

Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Neumyvakin I.P. offers his own method of preventing ARVI and influenza. According to the professor, this simple method is very effective in helping to avoid illness. respiratory tract viral infections. None of his colleagues who used the prevention he proposed had ever suffered from ARVI or influenza. The essence of this method is to rinse your sinuses every morning and evening. aqueous solution hydrogen peroxide.

This mixture is prepared as follows: add 10-15, maximum 20 drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide, which is sold at the pharmacy, to ¼ glass of clean water and stir everything.

Take the resulting liquid into a 1-2 gram syringe (without a needle), insert it into the nostril, pour the contents there and draw it into yourself. In this case, the second nostril should be blocked with a finger. After this, the same procedure should be done with the second nostril.

A solution of hydrogen peroxide kills all harmful microflora in the nasopharynx and activates local immunity. Be careful, the solution is only active for 15 minutes after preparation.

Well, friends, forewarned is forearmed. The above infection prevention measures are comprehensive. Now you know how to avoid getting the flu and ARVI different conditions being.