Rotavirus

In the course of its development, unfortunately, not one baby is immune from various viruses and infections. So, at the age of 6 months to 3 years, children often suffer from rotavirus infection. As the rotavirus enters the body, we will discuss today the signs of it in children, as well as methods of treatment.

Dirty hands disease

As already mentioned, toddlers from six months to 2-3 years are at risk of being infected with rotavirus infection. Rotavirus disease is also found in adults, but most often they are not carriers of pathology, but become infected while caring for their offspring.

If you thought that the name of this infection comes from the word mouth, then this is a profound delusion. This infection has nothing to do with the oral cavity. If you carefully study the etiology of the word rotavirus, you can find out that in Latin it means a wheel. Why then does the infection have such a name?

For the first time, rotavirus agents that infect the gastrointestinal tract were identified in the 1970s. Scientists have noticed that under a microscope the virus has the shape of a wheel, and therefore he was given such a name.

Some parents and even specialized doctors call rotavirus infection intestinal flu. Dr. E. O. Komarovsky once spoke on this subject. He said that rotavirus infection affects the intestines and the stomach, and any form of flu causes the upper respiratory tract. Agree, even with a great desire, the stomach and intestines cannot be associated with the respiratory organs due to the anatomical structure. Therefore, in order not to be considered ignorant, such names are better left at the level of narrow-minded conversations over a cup of tea.

Most often, rotavirus is transmitted through dirty hands. In medical practice, there are cases when this disease affects whole groups of children in preschool institutions or families. No matter how hard the parents tried to follow the rules of hygiene, no one has yet managed to save the crumbs from rotavirus infection.

The whole truth about rotavirus

Parents do not have to worry, because rotavirus infection, also called intestinal gastroenteritis, is successfully treated. The danger is only dehydration caused by it. The main thing is to notice its signs in time and restore the water balance.

We will talk about treatment a little later, but now I would like to say a few words about the stages of development of the disease. There are three of them:

• incubation;
• acute;
• restorative.

The most dangerous is the latent stage. During this period, parents still do not even suspect that there is a rotavirus in the body of their baby. Symptomatology at this stage of development of pathology is absent. The incubation phase lasts about 5 days. Throughout this time, the crumb is a carrier of rotavirus and can easily infect others.

Then the acute phase begins, when the clinical picture is expressed quite clearly and the parents notice the characteristic symptoms. This period lasts no more than three days, and then the recovery begins. The duration of the regeneration stage varies from 3 to 5 days.

Let's talk about the symptoms

As already mentioned, after the incubation period, the rotavirus begins to "rage" in the body, and therefore the symptoms become pronounced. The symptoms of rotavirus in children are often specific. Often the disease proceeds without fever.

As they say in medical practice, rotavirus can develop under different scenarios. The characteristic symptomatology of pathology also depends on it. In the first case, the crumbs may appear signs that indicate a respiratory disease or flu, but not rotavirus infection. These symptoms include:

• sore throat;
• conjunctivitis;
• rhinitis;
• dry cough.

It is with this variant of the development of rotavirus infection that the subfebrile temperature does not rise, and the symptoms indicating a disturbance in the functioning of the digestive tract appear later.

In the second case, parents can immediately notice the violation of digestive processes, since the baby has the following symptoms:

• vomiting;
• loose stools with an unpleasant odor and an uncharacteristic color;
• loss of appetite;
• increased low-grade fever;
• apathy;
• drowsiness;
• pain in the peritoneal cavity.

In the products of defecation should not be blood or purulent clots. With rotavirus infection, these signs are not characteristic and normal. Parents may notice mucus in the liquid stool.

The number of urges to vomit and feces is different for each child. Someone vomiting does not stop and occurs up to 10 times a day, and some kids are limited to 1-2 times.

The next scenario of rotavirus development, as a rule, is typical for very young children - from six months to 12 months. At this time, the crumb can not consciously indicate the place of pain or tell what concerns him. Parents need to watch the baby. The presence of rotavirus will be indicated by the following symptoms:

• pushing the knees to the stomach;
• lethargy;
• drowsiness;
• crying without tears;
• scream;
• refusal to eat

Separately, I would like to talk about raising the temperature. Profile doctors claim that subfebrile temperature may rise slightly or to critical levels. And as a rule, pharmacological drugs that have antipyretic effects, in this case do not help.

How to recognize dehydration?

As already mentioned, rotavirus infection is often accompanied by dehydration. This is due to the fact that crumbs appear vomiting and loose stools. In this case, you need to closely monitor the baby and restore its water balance, otherwise it will be done by specialized doctors in the medical institution. Baby should be given salt-free drinking, for example, compote, tea or electrolyte solution. Many parents use Regidron.

How to recognize the signs of dehydration in a child with rotavirus? Parents should be alerted by the appearance of symptoms such as:

• sunken fontanel;
• drowsiness;
• failure to wake up;
• dryness of the oral mucosa;
• prolonged absence of urine emission (for 5-8 hours);
• crying without tears;
• anxiety.

We treat rotavirus: find out the opinion of the doctor

We have already examined the signs of rotavirus in children, it remains to talk about treatment. There is no special therapeutic approach to eliminating this infection, but the treatment should still be complex. First of all, parents should take care of the diet of the crumbs. During the treatment period, fermented products, fried and fatty foods are taboo.

With regard to the reception of pharmacological drugs, then you do not need to make an appointment. Only a profile doctor, after conducting a rapid test and establishing a reliable diagnosis, will be able to select effective and safe medicines.

As medical practice shows, in the treatment of rotavirus infection, drugs of various groups are used, in particular:

• antiviral;
• rehydration;
• sorbing;
• antipyretic;
• antispasmodic;
• probiotics.

Antibiotics are prescribed extremely rarely. It is impossible to self-medicate, since only a specialist can choose the exact dosage and duration of the course of treatment.

Despite the possibilities of modern medicine, finally the nature of the emergence and development of rotavirus infection has not been studied. But it is authentically known that children endure rotavirus much worse and heavier than adults. Do not forget - this is a disease of dirty hands, so hygiene and heat treatment of products must come first. Health to you and your kids!