Influenza in children: how to treat it properly?

Did you know that children get flu about 5 times more often than adults? More than a third of all cases of hospitalization with ARVI are children under 17, and this is a very large percentage. Flu in children is fatal in 7% of cases. Therefore, you need to protect your children from infection with the flu virus, and if this happens, treat it correctly.

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How does flu spread among children?

Influenza is an infectious disease that is transmitted by airborne droplets. Preschoolers who go to kindergarten are especially affected by it. Influenza spreads among children when a child inhales infected droplets that remain in the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Or when a child is in direct contact with the secretions of an infected person. For example, using a handkerchief from a sick person.

Be careful! A person can infect others with the flu one day before symptoms appear and 5-7 days after they have recovered. This can happen, for example, when children give each other pencils that they have chewed before, or play computer games and share the remote control, or eat together from the same dishes. Hand-to-hand contact is also important to consider.

What causes flu in children?

Influenza is caused by one of three types of influenza viruses. Types A and B are responsible for the annual flu epidemics, while influenza type C causes a mild form of the disease. Parents should know that the influenza virus is divided into different subtypes based on its chemical structure.

What are the symptoms of flu in children?

Flu symptoms in children are more severe than cold symptoms. Flu symptoms in children begin suddenly. They usually cause children to feel worse during the first two to three days of illness. Flu symptoms in children may include:

• high temperature up to 39 degrees Celsius
• chills and fever
• extreme fatigue
• headache and body aches
• dry, intermittent cough
• sore throat
• vomiting and abdominal pain

Can there be complications from flu in children?

Some flu complications in children may include sinusitis, ear infection, bronchitis, or pneumonia. Contact your pediatrician if your child's fever does not go away for more than three to four days, or if your child complains of difficulty breathing, ear pain, headache, or persistent cough. Or if young children under age 2 get sick, cry constantly, and can't sleep. Remember that healthy children are more likely than older children to be hospitalized for complications from the flu.

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What is the best way to treat flu symptoms in children?

There are helpful home remedies as well as newer medications to treat flu symptoms in children. Keep in mind that antibiotics are not effective against the flu. Antibiotics can only be used to treat bacterial infections. And the flu is a viral infection, so antibiotics will not work against it.

Antiviral drugs are sometimes helpful for young patients if flu symptoms begin within the first two days of illness. They generally only shorten the duration of the flu by one to two days. However, the number one line of defense against flu remains the flu vaccine.

Here are the most effective home remedies for flu in children:

• sound, timely and sufficient sleep
• lots of liquid (but not soda)
• using paracetamol or ibuprofen to reduce fever and pain (both drugs can be used in children.)

Never give aspirin to children or teenagers. Aspirin can increase the risk of Reye's syndrome, a rare condition that occurs almost exclusively in children and can cause severe liver disease and brain damage.

Some children may be at increased risk for serious complications from the flu. Talk to your doctor as soon as possible if your child under 5 gets the flu and has a chronic medical condition, such as asthma or other lung disease, heart disease, or diabetes.

Should a child with flu symptoms be sent to the hospital?

If your child has any of the following signs, he or she will need hospital treatment.

• The child has difficulty breathing, which does not improve even after nasal drops and cleaning the nostrils.
• The skin color becomes bluish or gray
• The child becomes worse than in any of the previous cases of illness. The child exhibits strange reactions. For example, the child does not cry when you expect it and the child is very lethargic or cannot sleep.
• Your baby is not drinking enough fluids or you see signs of dehydration. Common signs of dehydration include no tears, no crying, decreased urine output (dry diapers), irritability, or a significant decrease in energy.

What antiviral drugs are used to treat flu in children?

If your child is at high risk for serious complications from the flu, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral drug.

In some cases, doctors use antiviral drugs to protect a child from the flu. These drugs have the ability to block the secretion of the virus and prevent it from spreading. For example, rimantadine can fight against influenza viruses of type A. This drug can be taken by children from one year old, however, in syrup and in combination with alginate. It can cause reactions in children who suffer from acute liver disease.

Another effective drug for treating children's flu is arbidol. It has antiviral and antioxidant properties. This drug is very good for treating flu types A and B. It can be used for children regardless of what virus has affected the child.

Among the new drugs that help cure a child of flu are new generation drugs, including zanamivir or relenza, and oseltamivir, also known as tamiflu. They help clear the respiratory tract of flu viruses, and the child feels better very quickly. By the way, tamiflu is also used to fight bird flu, and it is the only drug of its kind. Studies show that up to 40% of cases of the disease begin to subside already in the first or second day of use.

Flu in children is a rather serious disease if not enough attention is paid to its treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to help children cope with the flu using both conventional methods and the latest drugs.

Are there any ways to prevent flu in children?

The number one way to prevent the flu is to get a yearly flu shot. Health officials recommend that all children 6 months and older get a flu shot to prevent the flu. Vaccinating children every year helps protect them from the flu, reducing the incidence of the disease by up to 80%.

Healthy children over 2 years of age who do not have a cold or asthma can get the flu vaccine as a nasal spray. Children 6 months and older can get the flu vaccine.

Pregnant women should also be vaccinated as recommended by their doctor to avoid the severity of flu symptoms and complications from the disease.

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