How to prevent children from having colds, fevers, flu ... At 7 pm on September 29, Huashang Daily-Er Sanli invited Liu Xiaoquan, director of the Department of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and director of the Pediatric Department of Xianyang Rainbow Hospital, and Zhang Weihua, director of the Department of Pediatric Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, to enter the live broadcast room of Huashang Daily·Er Sanli to answer netizens' questions on pediatric questions.
1. When my baby has a cold and a fever, can I give my baby antibiotics such as cephalosporin by myself?
First of all, most of the colds are caused by viral infections, and antibiotic treatment is ineffective. Some children with colds may experience secondary bacterial infection 2-5 days after onset (the proportion is about 6%-11%), and only then are indications for antibiotic use. The choice of antibiotics requires the doctor to choose according to the specific circumstances. Therefore, parents should not apply antibiotics to their babies when they have colds and fevers.
2. The baby has a cold and has a cough and runny nose. Can the doctor prescribed compound cold medicines (such as Ai Chang and Child Aminophen Huangnamin) be taken for the baby to take?
Most of the colds are caused by viral infection. Except for a few viruses such as influenza virus infection, there are generally no special antiviral treatment drugs. The anti-cold medicines mentioned at present are mainly used to relieve cold symptoms and belong to the category of symptomatic treatment.
Compound cold medicine is a compound drug composed of a variety of drug components for different symptoms. For example, pediatric acetaminophen is composed of acetaminophen , chlorphenamine maleate and artificial beef . If the baby has a cold and only has runny nose and congestion, giving the baby acetaminophen is equivalent to taking more acetaminophen and artificial beef, because the baby does not have fever and does not need antipyretics and clear heat and detoxification. Many European and American countries do not recommend children under 6 years old to use compound cold medicine. For example, the United States' compound cold medicine instructions strictly indicate the restricted age group: it is prohibited for children under 2 years old; it is not recommended for children under 6 years old; it is only for children over 6 years old to use it independently as needed.
3. The baby often catches colds and coughs. Every time he sees a doctor, different doctors prescribe different Chinese patent medicines for cough relief, and there are a lot of medicines at home. How should I choose these cough relief medicines?
First of all, we must first determine whether cough medicine is needed. Coughing is a protective reflex of the human body. Coughing can remove foreign matter or secretions in the airway. Therefore, when the cough is not very severe, especially when there is a lot of sputum (wet cough), applying cough medicine at this time may be harmful or unhealthy. When the baby is coughing severely and causes the baby to feel very uncomfortable, we can actually relieve the cough by drinking more water or honey (babies under 1 year old cannot drink honey) or juice. If the cough is still obvious, we will only consider using coughing. Chinese patent medicines for cough relief are composed of many Chinese medicines. Different Chinese patent medicines may contain the same Chinese medicine ingredients. In order to avoid repeated overdose of certain ingredients, worrying about the mutual influence between drugs and the contraindications for compatibility with , etc., it is not recommended to drink two or more Chinese patent medicines at the same time.
4. If your baby has diarrhea and diarrhea, he will get water or egg flower soup-like stool, more than ten or twenty times a day. What should I do? Can I apply antidiarrhea medicine?
In this case, the cause of diarrhea in the baby is viral (gastric) enteritis is likely to be viral (gastric) enteritis. If the baby is in general, we can give type III oral rehydration salt orally to prevent and treat dehydration and electrolyte disorders at any time (most important), and can also give oral probiotics and montmorillonite powder (controversial, some scholars believe it is useless); if the baby is in general, he should seek medical treatment in a timely manner and be guided by the doctor. Remember not to use antidiarrhea drugs. It can be understood that defecation is also a process of detoxification (exciting a large number of pathogens and toxins). If antidiarrhea occurs, it will cause toxins and pathogens to accumulate in the body, aggravate the condition. For example, if acute dysentery in children is used, if antidiarrhea drugs are used, the stool and toxins cannot be excreted, which may cause life-threatening toxic dysentery.
5. What is the case when the baby catches a cold and has a dog-like cough and is accompanied by hoarseness? Do you need to seek medical treatment in time?
A baby has a dog-like cough after catching a cold (cough sounds like dog barking) accompanied by hoarseness. This condition is most common in acute laryngitis , occasionally in acute epiglottis (a more dangerous upper airway obstruction disease). This disease may endanger life safety and requires timely treatment. Acute laryngitis can be divided into 4 levels according to the degree of laryngeal obstruction. It was once the lightest, generally manifested as no breathing difficulties during calm, and after activity, mild inhalation dyspnea, inhalation laryngeal wheezing, or inhalation soft tissue depression. The second degree is mainly manifested as slight dyspnea during calmness, and worsening dyspnea after exercise, but no symptoms of hypoxia and will not affect the patient's normal life. The third degree is mainly due to the difficulty of breathing when calm, which is very obvious. After exercise, it often leads to hypoxia such as irritability and restlessness. The fourth degree means extreme difficulty in breathing, which is mainly manifested as cold sweating, cyanotic or pale complexion, and rapid pulse. Third-degree or above laryngeal obstruction requires first aid, especially fourth-degree, which requires timely tracheotomy or cricothyroid membrane puncture to save lives.
6. The incidence of influenza in children and the prevalence types in northern regions?
National Center for Disease Control Data shows that in July 2022, 2648465 cases of influenza in the country, 4 people died. Data from the National Influenza Center show that in the 38th week of 2022, the ILI% reported by sentinel hospitals in northern provinces was 2.5%, the same as the previous week's level (2.5%), and higher than the same period in 2019-2021; influenza activity in southern and northern provinces generally showed a downward trend, both mainly A(H3N2) subtype influenza virus. Drug resistance monitoring showed that all A(H3N2) and B influenza strains were sensitive to neuraminidase inhibitors and polymerase inhibitors.
7. The main clinical manifestations of influenza in children?
Children often have sudden onset, the main symptoms are fever, and the body temperature of some children can reach 39-40℃, which may be accompanied by systemic symptoms such as headache, general muscle soreness, fatigue, and loss of appetite. It is often accompanied by cough, sore throat, runny nose or nasal congestion, and a small number of them have nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The gastrointestinal symptoms of children are more than those of adults, and are commonly seen in influenza B. The clinical symptoms of influenza in infants and young children are often atypical. Influenza is rare in newborns, but if you suffer from influenza, you are prone to inflammation, and you often have symptoms of sepsis, such as drowsiness, milk refusal, apnea, etc. Acute laryngitis, acute otitis media, , bronchitis, bronchioles, pneumonia, etc. are more common in children than in adults.
8. The difference between children's flu and common cold?
Influenza is not a "common cold", but an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza virus infection, including upper and lower respiratory tract infections. The "common cold" is called acute nasopharyngitis or upper respiratory tract infection , without obvious seasonality. Common colds can be caused by infection with different pathogens, including rhinovirus , respiratory syncytial virus , parainfluenza virus and other viruses. In a few cases, Mycoplasma and bacterial infections can also cause symptoms of common colds. Common colds are mainly local symptoms such as sneezing and runny nose. Generally, there are no obvious systemic symptoms, no persistent high fever or severe symptoms of infection and poisoning.
9. Prevention and treatment of influenza in children?
Influenza prevention includes general prevention, vaccination and chemoprevention (anti-influenza virus drug prevention). General prevention refers to keeping the environment clean and ventilated, and developing good hygiene habits, such as washing hands frequently, balancing diet, strengthening exercise, ensuring sleep, enhancing physical fitness and body immunity; during the epidemic season, try to minimize influenza cases or take good protection (wearing a mask, etc.). Influenza vaccination is the most economical and effective means to prevent influenza and can significantly reduce the risk of influenza and serious complications. At present, influenza inactivated vaccine (IIV) and live influenza attenuated vaccine (LAIV) can be used in my country. Anti-influenza virus drug prevention is an important supplementary tool that can play an important role in prevention after community outbreaks or family members’ infections. Oseltavir is an oral chemical drug with preventive effects.
10. Children's flu vaccination plan?
influenza vaccine includes trivalent and tetravalent. The trivalent vaccine component contains a line of A (H3N2) subtype, A (H1N1) subtype and B strain. The tetravalent vaccine component contains A (H3N2) subtype, A (H1N1) subtype, and B Victoria series, and Yamagata series. The influenza vaccines approved for marketing in my country include trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3), quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV4) and trivalent live attenuated vaccine (LAIV3). Children 6 months old - 8 years old: For IIV, children 6 months old - 8 years old who receive the influenza vaccine for the first time should receive 2 doses, with an interval of ≥4 weeks; children who have received 1 dose or more influenza vaccine in 2021-2022 or before are recommended to receive 1 dose. For LAIV, only 1 dose is given, regardless of whether or not you have received the flu vaccine. Children and adults aged 9 and above: only 1 dose is required. The specific suitability for vaccination is evaluated by CDC and the preventive health department.
Reporter Yang Ning Editor Zhu Guomin
