Winter and spring are the high incidence seasons for many respiratory and digestive tract infections. After the beginning of school, the children began their collective life again. How should children, parents, and teachers prevent diseases such as influenza and norovirus? The reporter interviewed relevant departments and experts in Beijing.
Liu Baiwei, Deputy Chief Physician of the Infectious and Endemic Disease Control Institute of the Beijing Center for Disease Control, introduced that Norovirus has a strong infectivity and rapid transmission ability, is generally susceptible to infection throughout the population, and has a short immune protection time after infection. It is the most important pathogen causing acute gastroenteritis outbreaks, and is often transmitted in densely populated places such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and nursing homes.
"Human infection with norovirus can lead to acute gastroenteritis, which typically occurs 12 to 48 hours after ingestion. The most common symptoms are diarrhea and vomiting, followed by nausea, abdominal pain, headache, fever, chills, and muscle soreness.". Children mainly vomit, while adults mainly have diarrhea.
Liu Baiwei said that Norovirus acute gastroenteritis is a self-limited disease, with a mild condition that usually lasts for 2 to 3 days and a good prognosis. However, it is not ruled out that individual elderly people or children have severe symptoms and a longer duration.
Experts say that norovirus is mainly transmitted through the fecal and oral routes, usually due to ingestion of contaminated food, water, or contact with patient feces or vomitus, resulting in infection. Therefore, for students, good hand hygiene habits are the most important and effective measures to prevent and control the spread of norovirus; Do not eat raw or half raw food, especially seafood such as shellfish.
After being infected with norovirus, it is necessary to conduct home isolation, which lasts from the acute stage to 72 hours after the symptoms completely disappear. Parents should remind their children that if any classmates in the class vomit, they must leave the scene under the guidance of the teacher to reduce the possibility of contracting norovirus. If the child has been infected, it is necessary to cooperate with the school and medical and health departments to send the child's stool sample to a designated location for pathogen testing, and allow the child to rest at home until the symptoms completely disappear before resuming classes 72 hours later.
According to the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, schools and kindergartens are places where people gather, and the risk of concentrated fever caused by influenza viruses will also increase after school starts. Parents should pay attention to weather changes and help their children add and reduce clothing as the temperature changes to avoid catching cold; Children should pay attention to personal hygiene at school and avoid contacting patients with influenza like cases as much as possible; If students or teachers have symptoms, they do not come to work in class without illness.
The Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Health has suggested that with the advent of spring, the peak incidence of chickenpox has also arrived at the same time, with a higher incidence of infants and preschool and school-age children. Huang Hui, Deputy Chief Physician of the Infection Department of the Capital Institute of Pediatrics, said that chickenpox is caused by varicella zoster virus infection, with a wide range of skin lesions and itchy rash. It is necessary to maintain hand hygiene and clean clothes. You can externally use calamine lotion to relieve itching.
Huang Hui said that timely vaccination with live attenuated varicella vaccine can effectively prevent infection with varicella zoster virus. The vaccination procedure for this vaccine is to vaccinate the first dose at the age of 18 months and the second dose at the age of 4 years; For children over 13 years of age, the interval between the two doses is 4 to 8 weeks. In particular, young children who have not yet reached the age of initial immunization should pay attention to avoiding contact with varicella and herpes zoster patients to reduce their risk of illness.
"In home care, there are often parents who say, 'You cannot bathe and cannot attract wind.' This is a misconception. 'Huang Hui said that bathing can reduce skin dirt and colonization of bacteria, reducing the risk of skin infection. Children with chickenpox can take a shower with flowing water when taking a bath. They should wear loose and comfortable clothes on weekdays, do not cover their sweat, and frequently change them. According to the situation, children's clothing should be disinfected by washing, drying, scalding, and boiling, respectively.", Reduce mutual infection among family members.
