Rotavirus: symptoms are disturbing, and the consequences are sometimes irreversible

As statistics show, 610 thousand children die of rotavirus infection every year , 5% of them are children under 5 years old. Let's try to determine the etiology of such a disease as rotavirus, the symptoms of which have their own specifics, but about this a little later.

First of all, it should be clarified that this infection is considered to be a viral infection, but occurs in most cases in acute form. Rotavirus affects both children's and adult organisms, but it's fair to say that adults carry this disease much easier and are not fraught with fatal consequences. Those who have been affected by rotavirus, symptoms have been observed since the first days of infection, and such clinical patients are contagious until the end of the manifestation of all signs, and this can stretch out to endure. After, as a rule, recovery comes, the body adapts, developing a stable immunity to such infections, and repeated infection is extremely rare. A characteristic feature of this disease is that adults, whose blood contains a low level of produced antibodies, are subject to re-infection.

If you look at the progress of rotavirus in children, the symptoms will be identical to adult patients. But first you need to find out how the disease is transmitted? The route of transmission is predominantly food, that is, it is possible to get infected through infected foods, especially for dairy products. It is important to emphasize that rotavirus is resistant to aggressive environmental factors, that is, it can persist in the refrigerator, and can not be influenced by chlorination. There is such an infection even in holy water. If we talk about the child's body, it should be mentioned that infection occurs in public places (school, kindergarten, day nursery) much more often than in a familiar home environment. This is the so-called "disease of dirty hands". However, this is not all the ways of transmission, since infection is possible by airborne transmission. It is important to recall here that a characteristic infection provokes an inflammation of the respiratory tract.

If we consider the spread of an infection such as rotavirus, symptoms can manifest itself in a large part of the team immediately. Rotavirus can easily acquire the scale of the epidemic and become a valid reason for closing the institution where it was identified. In addition, the signs of rotavirus are predominantly seasonal, and this is not about summer, as, as medical practice shows, the number of patients is rapidly increasing in the autumn-winter period.

What is the dynamics of this pathological process? The pathogen itself penetrates directly into the gastrointestinal mucosa and affects the area of the small intestine. A similar anomaly leads to inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, which is called enteritis.

The disease has its incubation period, lasting an average of 5 days. Rotavirus flows, the symptoms of which begin with sudden vomiting and a rapid temperature jump, in acute form. Perhaps a complete disorder of the stool with a predominance of gray-yellow feces. Also, most patients have a runny nose, reddening and swelling of the throat. During the period of exacerbation there is a sharp decline in strength, lethargy, drowsiness, but it needs to be clarified that the clinical picture in each case has its own specific differences that completely depend on the type of infection spread and those pathogenic factors that provoked its development.

The treatment has a systemic nature, and its purpose is to eliminate the consequences of the infection on the body, in particular, toxicosis, dehydration and dehydration (the doctor will recommend Regidron, Gastrolit, Hydrovit or Dufalac), and the anomalies of the cardiac and urinary systems associated with them.

In addition, the infection is better to be prevented in a timely manner, and, as is known, rotavirus is "afraid" of boiled water and soap, so the water used should be boiled and your hands washed regularly with soap.