SARS (acute respiratory viral infection) is a group of morphologically and clinically similar acute inflammatory diseases that affect the respiratory system. The causative agents of this pathology are various pneumotropic viruses, of which there are at least 170 species. The most common viruses are parainfluenza, influenza, adenoviruses, respiratory syncytial viruses and rhinoviruses. If a person has symptoms of SARS, then he needs treatment, because the disease can lead to the development of a bacterial infection.

Each of the pathogens most affects one of the sites respiratory tract, for example, the parainfluenza virus is the larynx, and the rhinovirus is the nose. This explains the appearance of specific symptoms that help the doctor to put accurate diagnosis and prescribe the right treatment.

As you can see in the picture, the main common symptoms of SARS are headache, fever, chills, muscle pain and weakness. But these are common characteristic symptoms for all types of acute respiratory viral infections, then we will analyze in more detail the symptoms for each type of acute respiratory viral infection, which include influenza, parainfluenza, rhinovirus infection, adenovirus infection, and we will also talk separately about the symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections for children.

Signs of a rhinovirus infection

Rhinovirus infection is also called contagious rhinitis, because it affects the mucous membrane of the pharynx and nose. The disease can begin both acutely and gradually. First of all, there are symptoms of intoxication: muscle weakness, headaches and a feeling of heaviness in the head, chills and malaise against a slightly elevated temperature.

There are also specific signs of the disease: nasal congestion, perspiration, slight hoarseness, sneezing, difficulty in nasal breathing, as well as nasal discharge, which at first is abundant and mucous, and then thick, grayish or yellowish. Usually this disease is not severe and ends with a complete recovery of the person.

Signs of adenovirus infection

With adenovirus infection, not only the respiratory organs are affected, but also the lymph nodes, as well as the eyes. The disease begins acutely, with an increase in temperature, which can persist for 7-14 days. There are also symptoms of general intoxication: headaches and muscle pain, a feeling of weakness and weakness, lack of appetite, chills. Sometimes there is a disorder of bowel function, which aggravates the patient's condition.

The clinical picture of this type of acute respiratory viral infection includes other symptoms: pain when swallowing, perspiration, swelling of the eyelids, conjunctivitis, cough, white plaque in the form of films and threads on the palatine tonsils, as well as a large-spotted rash. As soon as the first alarming symptoms of the disease appear, the patient should seek medical help, as there is a high risk of developing pneumonia.

Signs of a respiratory syncytial infection

This pathology is characterized by damage to the bronchi and lungs. And most often it occurs in children, provoking the development of bronchitis and pneumonia in them. First, the patient's temperature rises slightly, a runny nose, cough, sore throat and sore throat occur. Then the patient's condition may worsen, as evidenced by the appearance of the following symptoms:

• severe cough with phlegm;
• dyspnea;
• a significant increase in body temperature.

These signs indicate the development of severe complications - bronchitis or pneumonia.

Signs of parainfluenza

The symptoms of this type of SARS are very similar to the flu, but parainfluenza is characterized by a more severe lesion of the upper respiratory tract and a protracted course. This disease develops gradually, and already on the fourth day complications may appear - pneumonia or bronchitis. Therefore, as soon as the first symptoms appear, you should consult a doctor.

The symptoms of this SARS are as follows:

• sore throat;
• hoarseness;
• headache;
• feeling of weakness and weakness;
• pain when swallowing;
• sweating;
• chills;
• dry, sometimes "barking" and rough cough;
• a slight increase in temperature;
• body aches;
• runny nose.

flu symptoms

Influenza is caused by RNA-containing viruses of the genus A, B, C. This disease is characterized by intoxication, a short febrile period, and damage to the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract.

Influenza is common in both adults and children, it is especially common in the cold season. This disease begins, as a rule, acutely, with a rise in temperature to 38-40 degrees and the appearance of pronounced symptoms of intoxication: headache (moreover, it is localized mainly in the temples, superciliary arches and forehead), weakness, aches in the joints and throughout the body, brokenness.

Then there are symptoms of damage to the trachea and bronchi - dry cough, perspiration and sore throat, pain and soreness behind the sternum. The face and neck of the patient becomes hyperemic, nasal breathing is difficult. Arterial pressure slightly decreases, and the heart rate, on the contrary, increases. Sometimes there are epistaxis and herpes on the wings of the nose and lips.

In adults, fever may persist for five days, after which the patient's condition begins to improve. But this does not always happen, because the flu can cause serious complications, for example, such dangerous ones as toxic shock or pneumonia.

Most attention should be paid to older people with the flu, because they have the highest risk of developing complications. Against the background of infection, their existing chronic pathologies may worsen, which will significantly worsen their well-being. The flu is also dangerous for children under one year old, so their well-being should be monitored especially carefully.

Signs of SARS in a child

In children, the disease begins with a rise in temperature, chills and the appearance of symptoms of intoxication - headache, weakness, lethargy, body aches. The baby can become very capricious and irritable.

The child's face becomes hyperemic. His nose will be stuffed up, from it may appear copious discharge. The baby has a sore and sore throat, tearing, pain in the eyes, as well as a dry or wet cough. If such signs appear in children, you should consult a doctor who knows what symptoms are characteristic of one or another type of SARS, which means that he will be able to establish the correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

Signs of SARS that require urgent medical attention

To many people, SARS does not seem like a very serious disease, but it is not at all the case. Symptoms of SARS sometimes take on a very dangerous character. Call ambulance recommended in the following cases:

• rise in temperature from 40 degrees and above;
• lack of effect from taking antipyretics at temperatures above 38;
• very severe headache;
• the appearance of a rash on the skin;
• impaired consciousness (fainting, confusion, hallucinations);
• pain in chest arising from breathing;
• difficulty exhaling or inhaling;
• the appearance of sputum of a brown or greenish hue or with an admixture of blood;
• feeling short of breath, shortness of breath;
• swelling and pain behind the sternum, not related to the breathing process.

Such types of SARS as influenza can lead to complications, especially in the elderly and in young children. And those who suffer from serious chronic diseases ( diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and pathologies of the respiratory tract), there is a risk of their exacerbation. Complications worsen the prognosis of the disease. and sometimes can even cause death.

• Signs of the flu
• Forms of development of the disease
• How is ARI treated?
• Complications after influenza and its prevention

With the onset of autumn, along with colds and rains, influenza and SARS come. Traditionally, the peak of the disease falls on winter period, and most of our country has been covered by this viral infection for 5 weeks. According to statistics, among all infectious diseases, influenza and colds are the most common and account for 95% of all infections. Such diseases are dangerous for the development of complications. Influenza is divided into several types: A, B and C. Type “A” is moderate and severe in severity. It affects humans and animals equally. Type "B" most often affects children. View "C" is not yet well understood. Symptoms of the disease do not appear or are only slightly present. The influenza virus is capable of mutating, and doctors have to look for new means of dealing with it. That is why vaccinations should be done annually.

Signs of the flu

This disease has a number of characteristic features:

1. The temperature rises to 39 ° C and above, which lasts for 5 days.
2. Chills.
3. Malaise and weakness.
4. Sometimes nausea and vomiting.
5. Muscle pain and cramps.
6. Respiratory failure, usually in the direction of acceleration.
7. Hallucinations and delusions.

These symptoms appear within 24-48 hours and indicate intoxication of the body. Any flu patient will accurately name the time when the disease manifested itself. In addition to signs of intoxication, flu and colds are also manifested by common characteristic signs:

• runny nose;
• cough;
• lacrimation.

The main route of transmission of the virus is airborne. During sneezing or coughing, particles of the virus scatter along with sputum by 2-3 meters. This is quite enough to infect nearby standing man. The peak of the disease falls on 3-5 days from its onset. The patient recovers within 8-10 days if there are no complications. After the illness, the risk of catching any other disease persists for 3 weeks. Often people confuse influenza with SARS and acute respiratory infections.

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Forms of development of the disease

Many factors influence the manifestation of symptoms of the disease. For example, the level of immunity, general health, the presence of bad habits. These factors determine one of the following three forms of the disease:

1. Light form. The temperature remains normal or rises slightly. There are no symptoms of intoxication or they are mild.
2. Medium. The temperature rises to 39.5 ° C, and the standard flu symptoms appear: muscle and joint pain, cough, chest pain, runny nose, drying of the nasal and pharyngeal mucosa, and respiratory failure.
3. Severe form. The temperature rises to 40.5°C. The patient has seizures, nosebleeds, hallucinations, and vomiting. The fever lasts 2 to 4 days, and the illness resolves in 10 days. After recovery, weakness persists for another 3 weeks.

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What are ARI and SARS

A rather high incidence is observed not only with influenza, but also with acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections.

ARI - an acute respiratory disease - combines ARVI (acute viral respiratory infection), a cold and exacerbation of chronic infections of the nasopharynx. This term is generic for several diseases. ARVI is caused by many pathogens, including 5 viruses and 300 of their subtypes. Since the way of infection with viruses is airborne, the incidence is very high.

An acute viral respiratory infection has its own symptoms and signs different from the flu:

1. The disease begins gradually. First there is a runny nose, fatigue, weakness and drowsiness. Symptoms develop within the first 2 days.
2. Body temperature rises to 38 ° C and not higher, passes through 2-3 days.
3. There are no symptoms of intoxication characteristic of the flu. The virus affects the eyes, causing conjunctivitis, tearing.
4. There is nasal congestion, swelling of the nasopharyngeal mucosa, sometimes sneezing and a severe runny nose appear.
5. The throat and tonsils become red and loose. There is dryness, pain and perspiration in the throat, the voice changes.
6. Cough. It can be dry or with sputum, different in intensity.
7. Often the lymph nodes are enlarged, on the mucous membranes there is a white coating.
8. An acute viral infection lasts about 2 weeks. After treatment, the patient has no weakness and headaches.

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How is ARI treated?

It should be aimed at eliminating the virus and the symptoms of the disease. In addition, you need to follow some rules of life. Bed rest should be observed for 5 days. Rest and long sleep are needed. During illness, a person sweats a lot, and to avoid dehydration, you need to drink plenty of fluids. The amount of liquid should be at least 2 liters per day. It is better to drink drinks with a high content of vitamin C. These are fruit drinks, tea with lemon, rosehip infusion. In combination with sweating, drinking plenty of water will help eliminate toxins that are formed during the vital activity of viruses. In addition to these rules, it is necessary to carry out timely and thorough treatment, which is as follows:

1. The use of anti-inflammatory drugs (paracetamol). They reduce fever and relieve headaches. It should be remembered that lowering the temperature by such means is necessary only if it is above 38 ° C.
2. Getting rid of a cold. Nose drops have the property of constricting blood vessels and thereby reduce swelling and eliminate congestion. But you can not use such drops for a long time, as rhinitis may develop. There is a thickening of the mucous membrane, which causes dependence on such drugs.
3. Sore throat treatment. Rinses with herbal infusions and ready-made solutions greatly relieve pain, relieve inflammation and have an anti-inflammatory effect.
4. Cough medicines. Their purpose is to thin the mucus so that it comes out more easily.

Many people with this disease are treated with antibiotics. Under no circumstances should this be done. Antibiotics are powerless against viruses, and their unwise use is addictive, and at the right time, the antibiotic simply will not work.

For many, the off-season is the most dangerous time of the year. It is during this period that viruses attack the most people. As a result - ARVI and influenza, which knock out the usual pace of life and cause significant discomfort. To start effective therapy disease, it is necessary to correctly determine its etiology. Therefore, it is so important to know how to distinguish ARVI from influenza by clinical manifestations.

What is SARS?

If the doctor has diagnosed ARVI, you should know that this ailment is a general concept for all respiratory diseases that have a viral etiology. Influenza is one of these diseases.

The diseases of this group are characterized by the rapid onset of symptoms, such as respiratory phenomena, lacrimation, general weakness, sweating and fever. The viral infection is transmitted by airborne droplets, while it spreads rapidly and affects 75-80% of people who have been in contact with the patient. This sad statistic is due to the fact that human body is not able to develop immunity to viruses, since the latter are constantly changing and mutating.

What do you need to know about the flu?

Many do not consider this disease serious and make a huge mistake, exposing their body to danger. After all, the flu is one of the most insidious respiratory viral diseases. It annually spreads across our planet in the form of global pandemics and epidemics that claim from 300 to 500 thousand lives. Therefore, it is so important to know how to distinguish ARVI from influenza in the initial stages of pathology development in order to start effective therapy.

To date, scientists have isolated more than 2,000 subspecies of the virus. The most dangerous of them are Spanish (A / H1N1), pork (H1N1) and bird flu. Like all SARS, the disease is transmitted by airborne droplets and is characterized by a high "contagiousness". The latter fact is explained by the fact that incubation period flu and ARVI lasts from two to four days, and during this time the patient manages to infect many other people.

The disease begins with acute manifestations of intoxication, such as headaches, vomiting, chills, dizziness, and sometimes sleep disturbance and even hallucinations. Treatment should include bed rest, symptomatic therapy, and antiviral medications. It is also worth noting that the patient must be isolated from healthy family members for the duration of treatment.

Diagnosis of ailments

To determine an acute respiratory viral infection, it is enough for a therapist to examine the patient, but it will not work to determine the etiology of the disease in this way, since the symptoms of influenza and SARS are very similar. For an accurate diagnosis of the disease, the doctor must send the patient to the laboratory for a series of tests. This is the only way to determine the presence of the virus in human blood.

In the laboratory, to determine the disease, cultures of infected blood are most often used in specific nutrient media. For this, a number of studies are carried out on the basis of serological reactions, with the help of which the concentration of the patient to the virus is determined.

But given the fact that laboratory tests are quite complex and expensive, not everyone passes them. And pediatricians categorically diagnose the flu only on the basis of the information received about the beginning of the epidemic. In exceptional cases, only the first patients undergo the study, and for all the rest, until the end of the epidemic situation, the disease is set “automatically”. It is for this reason that the treatment of the disease is not always effective and can lead to a host of undesirable consequences. Therefore, those people who care about their health should definitely know how to distinguish ARVI from the flu on their own.

The initial stage of the disease

Despite the fact that these two ailments are very similar in symptoms, there are a number of differences by which a person can independently determine what exactly he is sick with. So, the first thing you need to pay attention to is the rate of development of the disease. As a rule, the initial stage of ARVI is delayed for 1-2 days, while the symptoms appear sluggishly, but the person feels significant discomfort (lethargy, nasal congestion, sore throat, sometimes fever) and partially loses ability to work. A memo on SARS and influenza, which, as a rule, always, and especially during epidemics, is present on one of the health bulletins in the clinic, contains a lot of useful information about the development of the disease and its prevention.

As for the flu, a person who is still healthy in the morning in the afternoon already completely loses his strength and feels bad because of this disease, a rapid acute onset is characteristic.

The nature of the development of the pathology, as well as other signs of influenza and SARS, allow the patient to independently determine which of these ailments attacks the body.

Body temperature

As already mentioned, in many ways the symptoms of these diseases are similar, and one of the signs is an increase in body temperature. But there is one nuance here. So, influenza is characterized by rapid (for 1-2 hours) temperature jump up to 39-40 o C. At the same time, almost all antipyretics are not very effective. And even if the temperature was lowered, after 1-2 hours it will begin to rise again. In such cases, doctors prescribe to patients not only medicines for influenza and SARS, but also several antipyretic drugs that need to be alternated and taken every 2.5-3 hours.

As for ARVI, then, as a rule, the temperature does not exceed 37.8-38.5 ° C. It is easily reduced after taking drugs such as Paracetamol or Ibufen. If the patient's condition is stable, no deterioration is observed, then antipyretic drugs can be dispensed with to enable the immune system to cope with the disease on its own. But if a child is sick, self-medication is not worth it. After all, the body of the crumbs may not cope with the disease, which will adversely affect his health. Therefore, when the first symptoms appear, you need to go to an appointment with a pediatrician who will assess the condition of a small patient and prescribe treatment.

General condition of the patient

It's no secret that influenza, colds, SARS are diseases that cause a decrease in efficiency and cause significant discomfort. But even by these signs, you can independently understand what kind of ailment has violated daily plans.

So, with influenza, patients complain of severe muscle and headaches (especially in the temples), as well as body aches, chills and increased sweating. In addition, in some cases, there is pain when moving the eyes and photosensitivity.

If we talk about the general condition of the patient with ARVI, then weakness and weakness are present throughout the entire illness. But the pain in the head and muscles is very weak.

Nasal congestion and runny nose

Influenza and ARVI viruses are provocateurs inflammatory processes in the respiratory organs. At the same time, the patient begins to cough, the body temperature rises, and a runny nose appears. However, with influenza, inflammation and swelling of the mucous membranes of the nasal cavity occurs much less frequently than with SARS. And after 2-3 days, the runny nose completely disappears.

If the disease began with fever, body aches and headaches, and only 2-3 days later a dry cough appeared, any doctor will diagnose the flu. Pain in the trachea and chest accompanying the cough can confirm the diagnosis. If, with such symptoms, you do not start taking medicines for influenza and ARVI ("Cycloferon", "Viferon", "Immunoflazid", "Arbidol", "Anaferon", "Ingavirin", "Rimantadine", "Tamiflu", etc.) , the patient's condition may worsen significantly, because the virus will continue to exert its pathogenic effect on the respiratory system and the body as a whole.

Gastrointestinal reaction

In some cases, the body's response to the influenza virus may be a malfunction gastrointestinal tract. Diarrhea and vomiting in the patient appears already 2-3 days after infection and lasts 24-48 hours. Without symptomatic therapy, the manifestation of this symptom can last for several more days and lead to dehydration.

Despite the fact that many and SARS are very similar, you can independently diagnose the disease yourself. It is enough to carefully analyze the sequence and nature of the main clinical manifestations.

Duration of ailments

Subject to all the doctor's recommendations, the patient's condition with ARVI improves already on the third day, full recovery occurs on the 6-7th day. After suffering an illness, a person quickly restores strength and performance.

Despite the fact that the incubation period of influenza and SARS is the same, the active phase of the latter is much more complicated and longer. Only heat the patient can last up to 5-6 days, and the disease begins to recede only on the 10-12th day. However, this is not all "surprises" from the flu. After all, even after a full recovery in for 2-3 weeks a person experiences weakness, malaise and headaches.

how to distinguish the flu from a cold and how to survive an epidemic

An underestimated threat

The danger of the flu is underestimated. Meanwhile, it is one of the most serious and widespread diseases among others. viral infections. Seasonal influenza, according to the World Health Organization, annually causes 3 million to 5 million cases of severe illness and leads to 250-500 thousand deaths.

Of all cases of infectious diseases, influenza and SARS account for 95%. Every year, according to Rospotrebnadzor, about 30 million people (about 20% of the population) get sick with influenza and SARS in Russia.

Many people don't see much difference between the flu and the common cold. As the chief epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health of Russia Nikolai Briko explains, a cold is a household vernacular name all ailments associated with either hypothermia or upper respiratory tract disease, including viral infections.

AT International classification diseases (ICD 10) there is no concept of "cold". Influenza is an infectious disease caused by viruses.

How is the flu different from SARS and ARI

Acute respiratory diseases and acute respiratory viral infections

Temperature up to 37.5-38.5 °C

Headache

Cutting in the eyes

Sore throat

Weakness and drowsiness

Flu

Temperature 38.5°C to 40°C

Severe headaches

Cutting in the eyes (the symptom is pronounced)

Sore throat (symptom pronounced)

Cough (pronounced symptom)

Chills (symptom pronounced)

Weakness and drowsiness (the symptom is pronounced)

Pain in the muscles

Increased sweating

Sometimes abdominal discomfort, vomiting, diarrhea

How dangerous is the flu

Despite the development of science, humanity still has not been able to completely defeat the flu. This is due to its ability to evolve rapidly.

Is it true that an influenza virus can change more in a day than the human genome can change in a few million years?

It is not correct to directly compare the rate of change of viral and human genomes: the human genome is millions of times larger (3 billion "letters" in humans versus 13 thousand for the influenza virus), and the reproduction cycle is tens of thousands of times longer (25 years for Homo sapiens versus 6 hours for flu). At the same time, the relative rate of accumulation of mutations in the influenza virus is at least 100 times higher than in humans.

In the photo: a strain of the influenza virus under an electron microscope

© Ruslan Shamukov/TASS

Constantly emerging new strains allow pathogens to bypass the defenses of the human immune system and provide drug resistance.

The high variability of the virus, which can cause illness in people who have been ill, contributes to the emergence of pandemics (global epidemics) of influenza. It is believed that since 1500, humanity has experienced at least 15 pandemics.

Pandemics occur when the human influenza virus receives genome fragments from viruses that normally reproduce in other species, such as pigs or birds. Such viruses are completely new to our immunity, so the disease spreads among a huge number of people.

Is it true that pigs are ideal incubators for growing new strains of influenza, as they are susceptible to all its varieties?

Indeed, pigs are susceptible to their own influenza viruses, as well as those of humans and birds. Thanks to this "illegibility", viruses specific to all these living beings can meet and "mix" in the body of pigs, creating a new variety.

© AP Photo/Seth Perlman

Apart from high speed mutations, the flu is dangerous with easy transmission. The virus can be transmitted through household items and airborne droplets, such as when talking or sneezing.

But the main threat of the flu lies in the complications. Against its background, pneumonia, lesions of the heart and blood vessels, as well as diseases often develop. nervous system such as meningitis. Young children, elderly or chronically ill people are especially vulnerable.

seasonal flu

Seasonal flu epidemics occur annually. According to epidemiologists, in Russia this is the period from November to May.

The period between infection and illness (incubation period) lasts about two days, but can be up to five. The severity of the disease depends on the general state of health, age, whether the patient has previously been in contact with this type of virus.

Is it true that frozen viruses live forever?

To answer the question of whether something can last forever is, for obvious reasons, impossible. But in cold water (about 4°C) under laboratory conditions, influenza viruses remain active for many months, and theoretically they can be stored frozen. However, repeated freeze-thaw cycles, especially under suboptimal conditions outside the laboratory, are fatal for viral particles: no more than 10% survive in each such cycle.

© AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Prevention

Vaccination is the most reliable protection

The main and most effective method Influenza prevention, according to doctors and epidemiologists, is vaccination. A particle of an infectious agent is introduced into the body, which stimulates the production of antibodies that prevent the reproduction of viruses.

Vaccination reduces the risk of getting sick by 70-80%. As Nikolai Briko, chief epidemiologist of the Russian Ministry of Health, explained, even if infected, a vaccinated person will suffer the disease in a mild form and without complications. Due to the fact that the virus is constantly mutating, the strain composition of vaccines is updated annually, the expert added.

You need to be vaccinated in September-November. Immunity lasts for 7-9 months. If you missed the vaccination time, and the epidemic has already begun, you do not need to run to the vaccination room - immunity is formed on average 21 days.

Who needs to be vaccinated

The main contraindications include:

Allergic reactions to vaccine components - chicken protein;

Severe reaction to the introduction of a similar vaccine earlier;

Exacerbation of a chronic disease or an infectious disease in the acute stage. In this case, vaccination can be done through 2-3 weeks after recovery.

Is it true that immunological memory (of viruses from previous epidemics) allows older people to fight new viruses more successfully?

Quite the opposite: it is people over 65 who most often become victims of even the "ordinary" influenza virus, and even more so of its pandemic varieties - from 80 to 90% of deaths from influenza and its complications fall into this category. The fact is that with age, the immune system begins to cope worse with its "duties", so after 65 years of age, vaccination against influenza becomes especially important. Moreover, in last years special vaccines have been developed for the elderly, because due to the reduced activity of immunity, conventional vaccines may not provide sufficient protection.

© Rick Wilson/AP Images for Flu + You

Where does chicken protein come from in the vaccine

To produce vaccines, viral particles are injected into chicken eggs within which they thrive. The viruses are then harvested and heat inactivated. To obtain a vaccine, either the entire virus particle, or parts of it, or individual proteins of the virus (primarily hemagglutinin and neuraminidase) are used.

People with a mild allergy to egg protein should consult a doctor before vaccination, people with severe allergies should not be vaccinated against influenza with traditional vaccines. But technologies have already been developed to create recombinant influenza vaccines, which in principle do not use chicken eggs, and in some countries, such as the United States, such vaccines are available on the market.

Where can you get grafted

A referral for a free vaccination can be obtained from a local therapist. If the heads of the enterprise have concluded an agreement with a state medical institution, vaccination for employees will also be free.

ARVI or the common cold develops smoothly - a person gets worse gradually, within 1-2 days.

With the flu, the temperature, most often, jumps sharply (usually in 2-3 hours and lasts 3-4 days) to 39 degrees and above (although there are times when the temperature does not rise at all).

Fever 38-40C, lasting from 1 to 5 days, with a peak during the first 24 hours, and with ARVI, the body temperature rarely rises above 38 degrees.

An important sign of the difference between influenza and SARS is the degree of general intoxication of the body.

• With SARS, a sick person feels more or less normal.
• With the flu, symptoms of severe intoxication appear:
• chills, headache, dizziness, feeling of weakness, muscle pain, pain in the abdomen and eyeballs, vomiting, sleep disturbance, hallucinations.

For ARVI, symptoms from the respiratory tract come to the fore, signs of intoxication are not leading in the clinical picture. The patient is concerned about: sore throat, redness and sore throat, cough (usually dry, intermittent, "barking" and can turn into a wet cough with sputum), runny nose (common symptom). With SARS, redness of the eyes appears only if a bacterial infection joins the disease.

Characteristic appearance patient with influenza- hyperemia and puffiness of the face, scleral vessels are injected, conjunctival hyperemia, cyanosis of the mucous membranes and lips. When examining the pharynx, the granularity of the mucous membrane of the soft palate and uvula is revealed. Symptoms of damage to the upper respiratory tract in the first hours are usually not pronounced and are characterized by difficulty in nasal breathing, poor muco-serous rhinitis, dry mucous membranes, sore throat, rawness or pain behind the sternum, dry infrequent cough.

From the 2-3rd day of influenza, the development of tracheobronchitis is characteristic, the main symptom of which is a dry, obsessive, often painful, excoriating cough, accompanied by pain behind the sternum along the trachea. Acute bronchitis with damage to the bronchi of large and medium caliber is observed in 20% of cases.

The flu is different

For mild flu body temperature does not exceed 38C and normalizes in 2-3 days. Symptoms of general intoxication and catarrhal syndrome are mild, which practically does not differ from acute respiratory infections of other etiologies.

Moderate form of the flu characterized by an increase in body temperature up to 39C, pronounced symptoms of intoxication and lesions respiratory system. The fever lasts up to 4-5 days. This form of influenza is the most commonly reported.

Severe forms of the disease are observed mainly during influenza epidemic periods due to a new or modified version of the type A influenza virus.

How to recover quickly after an illness?

A patient recovers after an acute respiratory viral infection in just a couple of days (of course, if there were no complications), and after the flu, you need to take care of yourself, since a sick person is accompanied by weakness, fatigue, and loss of appetite.

After the flu, a person should rest more, walk in moderation and only calmly, not play sports. Therefore, doctors, after the flu, exempt children from physical education for 2 weeks.

Flu and SARS are easier to prevent!

Currently, the most effective anti-influenza drugs recommended World Organization health care, are blockers of viral proteins: oseltamivir and zanamivir, which inhibit the activity of neuraminidase, as well as amantadine and rimantadine, which block the M2 protein, due to which the virus attaches to the epithelial cells of the respiratory tract in order to penetrate into them.

However, the processes of antigenic drift and antigenic shift lead to the emergence of strains of the influenza virus, the proteins of which are not affected by these drugs. With respect to such strains, some or all blockers of viral proteins become ineffective.

From this disadvantage, drugs are spared, the action of which is aimed at increasing the body's own defenses, that is, immunomodulators. Their effect does not depend on the specific strain of the virus.

The effect of these drugs is best manifested if you start taking them immediately after the first symptoms of influenza appear - they facilitate the course of the disease at any stage.

In addition, immunomodulators have a pronounced preventive effect: if the body's defenses are mobilized directly when the epidemiological situation worsens, without waiting for infection, then if the virus enters, the disease will proceed in a mild form or not develop at all. This will allow you to keep working and save money on treatment.

One of the immunomodulators that has demonstrated its anti-influenza activity over the years of use is the original domestic drug "Cycloferon". Its active ingredient meglumine acridone acetate stimulates the production of special molecules in the body - interferons.

These molecules are released by the cells of the body in response to the invasion of viruses and change the life processes of the cell in such a way that it becomes immune to the virus and does not participate in its reproduction. In addition, interferons cause the activation of immune cells - lymphocytes and macrophages.

The conducted studies of "Cycloferon" confirmed its effectiveness in influenza caused by various strains of the virus - the drug produces a pronounced preventive effect, and also significantly reduces the severity and duration of the disease that has already occurred.

"Cycloferon" is well tolerated, easy to use and compatible with all drugs. *

* There are contraindications, it is necessary to consult a doctor.