The onset of the disease can occur in two forms. In the acute state, all the characteristic symptoms in children appear almost simultaneously and immediately.
In the subacute state, the onset of the disease seems to be postponed, the symptoms appear gradually, and at first it is mostly fever and diarrhea. It is in this scenario that the easiest way to confuse the disease with poisoning.
Next comes the intoxication of the body, the baby becomes sluggish, loses appetite, sleeps a lot from loss of strength. The tummy can be ill, but not very much.
Children need treatment
If intestinal symptoms are present in children, parents should immediately call a doctor to examine the baby and make a diagnosis. The main effort should be to prevent dehydration so that the patient’s body does not lose so much fluid.
It is necessary to compensate for the lost moisture, often offering the child to drink in small doses. Also, the baby will be useful to take frequent baths so that water enters the body through the skin.
It is very important to limit food to a strict diet for at least the first few days. A child may eat liquid non-dairy cereals, home-made, very well-dried crackers, and a weak, unsweetened tea will be suitable for drinking. Fermented milk products are actually a medicine in their own right, as they normalize the health of the intestinal microflora affected by rotavirus.
But products using whole milk are categorically not allowed in the menu until the baby is fully restored after an illness. Milk is a very heavy product, as it contains milk sugar in large quantities. For its breakdown, the enzyme lactase is required, which cannot be released in the affected intestine. Lactase deficiency arising in the body will only increase the painful symptoms in children and reduce the effectiveness of treatment.
Intestinal flu or rotavirus infection is one of the most common diseases among young children. Until recently, the diagnosis of this disease was difficult, since the symptoms in children are extremely similar to the symptoms of poisoning. Now the intestinal flu in a baby is clearly defined as a separate disease, and its treatment requires a special approach.
How can a baby get infected
The baby is infected with rotavirus due to their massive penetration into the body. Compared with many other viral particles, this virus is highly resilient, as it successfully transfers the aquatic environment, temperature drops, does not die when it is frozen or boiled, it can exist for a long time on the grass and leaves, outdoors.
All this significantly expands the range of situations in which the baby can get intestinal flu, and the usual preventive measures that can save the baby from other viruses, this time is not enough. Resistance of the pathogen to detergents and water allows it to enter the body after thorough washing of hands and regular sanitary treatment of the room in which the baby lives.
In the end, the disease turns out to be all the more unpleasant because an effective remedy that kills viruses has not yet been discovered – the patient’s body can only cope with the infection itself.
The main risk group for intestinal flu infection includes children under 4 years of age. But we must bear in mind that in close contact with parents and other relatives, they can infect the whole family, so the area of spread of the virus is very wide.
It is young children who risk picking up the virus, since the main route of infection is oral-fecal, and as you know, the baby is always keen to try for a tooth, and it often happens in the company of such children. Infection is possible through common toys, through bodily contacts, food. Parents try to make sure that children do not lick molds, swing handles for a walk, do not eat sand or leaves of bushes, but sometimes a restless person is too active, and a lot of time is not needed to perform the above described actions.
Directly from person to person, the virus is also easily transmitted, and the baby does not have to get sick in order to be a carrier of the pathogen. Often children get the virus from the parents of the sick child.
Anxiety symptoms in children
The period of introduction of the virus into the body is not long – the incubation period for the development of the disease can last less than a day. The following symptoms in children are characteristic of rotavirus infection: frequent vomiting, severe diarrhea, intoxication of the body, high fever. But unlike poisoning, there are also symptoms of respiratory diseases – throat swelling, a runny nose. Intestinal manifestations are most intense, since rotavirus directly affects the intestinal epithelium, and the enzymes necessary for the breakdown of food elements that give energy to the body simply stop being released in the right quantity.
The result is diarrhea – the reaction of the gastrointestinal tract to the inability to perform its function. These symptoms in children are very dangerous – not only does the baby not receive the necessary nutrients and weakens, but it also loses a large amount of fluid, and this can already pose a serious threat to his health.
Parents can protect a child
Since it is impossible to completely eliminate the route of infection from a child’s life, vaccination is currently the best defense against rotavirus. The course of getting the vaccine is quite short – you will need to receive the drug three times orally, there is no need to scare the child with painful injections. Resistant immunity is produced in 90% of cases.
If vaccination was unavailable for any reason, parents should be aware of the precautions when assisting a sick child. First, it is impossible to give crumbs preparations that improve digestive functions, for example, enzymes. Secondly, in the presence of a diagnosis of “rotavirus,” the baby should not drink large amounts of fluid at a time. Even if he really wants to drink, the fluid must be ingested in fractions in small portions, otherwise vomiting may occur, which will have an even more dehydrating effect on the body. Sweet and sour drinking in the form of juices or compotes is also prohibited.
It is better not to use drugs against diarrhea at all – they have an inhibitory effect on intestinal motility, as a result of which the stools are not eliminated completely. This can lead to a very strong intoxication of the body.
