I never expected that the first hit in 2023 would be an antidiarrheal drug.
I don’t know if you have seen such a screenshot of a circle of friends on social media during the New Year’s Day holiday. The main idea is:
After the entry quarantine is cancelled, the foreign strain XBB.1.5 will land in our country. Its toxicity will kill the domestically popular strains, and it will mainly attack the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular and gastrointestinal tracts.
recommends preparing montmorillonite powder, norfloxacin , rehydration salt, probiotics , etc. if possible.
Subsequently, anti-diarrheal drugs on the e-commerce platform, especially the monttolite powder and norfloxacin mentioned in the screenshot, quickly sold out, and even non-drug probiotic products were also in short supply.
In response to this, some netizens joked that if one is really infected with the XBB strain and becomes a "Splatoon", will it be necessary to prepare a simple toilet if there are many people in the family?
However, some netizens expressed concern that they really did not prepare antidiarrheal medicine. If the XBB strain becomes "Wang Chongyang", will they be defeated again?
However, what is ironic is that the viral screenshot on WeChat Moments was not posted by a medical professional. This person later posted on WeChat Moments again and said that there was no scientific basis for XBB.1.5 to cause severe diarrhea. It was purely personal speculation. I did not expect that casually posting on WeChat Moments would cause an uproar.
Is the XBB strain really the king of poisons?
Can it cause severe diarrhea?
What medicines should we take to stop diarrhea when we have diarrhea?
What is the XBB strain?
The Omicron XBB strain is a recombinant strain of BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75, and XBB.1.5 can be understood as one of its versions.
As of December 31, 2022, XBB.1.5 has been discovered in at least 74 countries and regions, and it has spread to 43 states in the United States. Due to its extremely high immune evasion ability, it has quickly replaced BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 and become the most popular strain in the United States.
Currently, 40% of new coronavirus confirmed cases in the United States are infected with the XBB.1.5 strain, and it is believed that this proportion will continue to increase in the future.
According to the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on December 20, my country has detected XBB sub-branch in 11 cases in 3 provinces. According to Shanghai data, 3 cases of XBB.1.5 have been detected, but they were imported cases and did not cause local transmission. Will the
XBB strain be more virulent?
Some infectious disease experts said that the XBB strain may be the worst Omicron variant currently facing the world.
However, it should be noted that experts say this mainly because its transmissibility and immune evasion ability are stronger than previous strains, making it easier for to re-infect , not that it is more toxic.
There is currently no authoritative information indicating that XBB.1.5 is more dangerous than past strains. The symptoms it may cause are similar to other Omicron strains , including fever, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, nasal congestion, diarrhea and vomiting, etc. It has not yet been found that XBB.1.5 is more likely to invade the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems and the digestive system. Will the
XBB strain be more likely to cause secondary infection?
According to global data, under the epidemic of XBB mutant strains, the new crown reinfection rate has increased from 20% to 35%, and it is still growing.
Compared with previously popular strains, the XBB variant is indeed more likely to cause secondary infection. It has a stronger immune evasion ability and is easier to "break" the immune barrier established by previous vaccinations and natural infections.
When it comes to individuals, whether there will be a second infection depends not only on the overlap of virus strains encountered twice, but also on the level of immunity .
If your own immunity is strong and the second dose of vaccine strengthens the protection, then the chance of secondary infection will be reduced. Even if you are infected again, it will not easily lead to severe illness or even death.
How to take medicine for diarrhea caused by COVID-19 infection? The montmorillonite powder and norfloxacin mentioned in the screenshot of
are indeed commonly used diarrhea drugs, but their use has certain particularities. Taking them blindly may lead to counter-effects.
Montmorillonite powder comes in powder form. It can be safely used on children and pregnant women, and it even comes in fruit flavors.After
is taken orally, the drug will cover the mucosa of the digestive tract and have a fixing and inhibitory effect on viruses, bacteria and the toxins they produce in the digestive tract. It is suitable for gastroenteritis and diarrhea caused by viruses.
It should be noted that:
There is no need to take montmorillonite powder simply because the frequency of bowel movements increases. Long-term or casual use may also cause constipation.
As for norfloxacin, it is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that is commonly used for diarrhea caused by bacteria , but it is ineffective against diarrhea caused by viruses. The cause needs to be found out before taking it.
It is important to emphasize here that norfloxacin can hinder the growth and development of bones, so minors under the age of 18 are prohibited from taking it.
In other words, in order to deal with diarrhea caused by the new coronavirus, you can prepare some montmorillonite powder at home, but there is no need to stock up and rush to buy;
There is no need to buy norfloxacin, especially families with minors, and they must not let their children take this medicine.
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