Komarovsky: treatment of influenza and ARVI, instructions on how to treat. Doctor Komarovsky wrote detailed instructions on influenza and ARVI

Influenza is a respiratory disease of viral origin and a wave-like prevalence in the form of epidemics. Every year, several influenza epidemics occur in the world, the causative agent of which is a virus with a different set of proteins in the core, the so-called strain, which determines the severity of the disease.

Flu in children, symptoms and treatment, which depends on the strain, can cause various complications, which is why it is so important to vaccinate children with weakened immune systems in a timely manner.

Despite the fact that influenza is included in the group of acute respiratory infections, it is easy to distinguish from other respiratory diseases caused by rhinovirus, adenovirus, etc. However, from year to year the influenza virus mutates and appears to us in a new guise, and the symptoms of influenza in children also change.

How does flu infection occur?

The influenza virus is transmitted by airborne droplets from a sick person when microparticles of saliva are spread during coughing or sneezing. When a virus enters a new body, it can die immediately if its quantity is insufficient to establish itself in the mucous membrane or the person’s immunity is very strong. For this reason, influenza is most common in children whose immune systems are not yet formed or are weak.

When the influenza virus enters the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, it penetrates into the mucous membrane, where it produces its own kind at the cellular level. With the maximum number of viruses, the cell membrane into which the virus is embedded bursts and the infection comes out, capturing more and more new territories in the body.

The incubation period, during which the amount of virus reaches its maximum, can last from several hours to several days, depending on the strength of the child’s immunity and his age. At the end of the incubation period, the activity of the immune system is mobilized and the child feels weak, sneezing appears, during which the virus tries to spread and invade another, healthy body. It is at this stage of the disease that influenza is most contagious.

Symptoms and manifestations of influenza in children

The first signs of influenza in children, indicating its presence in the child's body, are general weakness and lethargy of the child, periods of sneezing and the appearance of liquid discharge from the nose. Exactly the child’s body tries to get rid of the infection - destroying it with the help of mucin(active protein contained in the nasal mucosa) and removed from the body with waste mucus.

When the virus has passed the barrier in the form of adenoids and the mucous membrane of the nose and throat, another protective reaction begins in the body, aimed at reducing the replication of viruses, namely, the temperature rises. The increase in temperature may be insignificant within 37 - 38 degrees, while the child feels unwell, and the disease may progress. With strong immunity, the number of antibodies increases, and when fighting the virus, they secrete a special substance that, entering the part of the brain responsible for thermoregulation through the bloodstream, unbalances its work. The child’s temperature begins to rapidly rise to 39–41 degrees, thereby destroying the virus and slowing down its spread and reproduction.

How long does the fever last for the flu in children? This depends on the intensity, a fever of 39 - 40 degrees can last for several hours, after which the child gets better, while a subfibral temperature can last for several days, but it cannot be brought down. At moderate temperatures, viruses do not lose their ability to reproduce, since the protein in their core is not destroyed, as happens with fever, so new viruses are periodically released from the cell, which provokes a rise in temperature.

High temperature promotes recovery, but can cause complications in the functioning of the heart and blood vessels, especially in children under 2 years of age and with heart defects.

Flu has symptoms, which are more pronounced in children than in adults, among them the following signs of the disease can be listed as they appear:

General weakness of the body
Burning nose, sneezing
Pressure in the eyeballs
Runny nose, lacrimation
Heat
Muscle pain caused by viral toxins.

Influenza in children has symptoms similar to those of other infectious viral diseases; for this reason, pediatricians, without laboratory confirmation of influenza, diagnose ARVI, which in principle is true and does not affect treatment methods.

Treatment and care for children with influenza

Treatment of influenza in children consists of following bed rest and doctor's instructions and, in the absence of pathologies in the child, can be carried out without hospitalization. Wherein There is no specific cure for influenza, and all measures are aimed at alleviating the child’s condition and strengthening his immunity, which fights infection. Before treating influenza in children, it is necessary to call a pediatrician for diagnosis and treatment.

What your doctor can advise:

First of all, it is necessary to observe bed rest, since carrying the disease on the legs is fraught with complications and a more protracted course of the disease. This is due to the fact that the body spends all its energy fighting the virus, which leads to weakness and drowsiness in the child.
Viruses are known to release their metabolic products into the body, which leads to its intoxication. In order to quickly remove toxins through sweat and urine, the child needs to consume more liquid in the form of tea, natural fruit drinks and rosehip decoction, which has a diuretic effect and contains vitamin C.
In order to support immunity at first, antiviral drugs are used, although on the third day after the first manifestations, such treatment is considered ineffective. Moreover, the immune system weakens, since in the presence of synthetic antibodies, the amount of its own substances produced by the body decreases sharply.
How to treat flu in a child if there is no specific medicine and antiviral drugs cannot be used for more than 3 days? The body itself fights the virus, but the parents’ task is to provide the child with proper conditions during recovery, as well as provide treatment aimed at eliminating symptoms. So, at a temperature above 38.5 degrees, an antipyretic is used, to eliminate a runny nose, a vasoconstrictor is instilled in the first days, and then an antibacterial agent for rhinitis.
With adequate treatment and good care, a child’s flu goes away within a week, and some more time is needed to restore the body’s strength spent during recovery.

Measures to prevent influenza infection

Prevention of influenza in children is to strengthen the body. So daily walks, a balanced diet, and exercise strengthen the immune system and the entire body as a whole. In addition, before a wave of influenza epidemic, scientists analyze previous strains and determine the one that will presumably spread. Therefore, the best prevention of the disease is vaccination against this strain.

Doctor Komarovsky: the child has FLU

Dear moms and dads! People!!! Remember the most important thing: the tactics of your actions are completely independent of the name of the virus. This is seasonal flu, swine flu, elephant flu, pandemic flu, it’s not flu at all - it doesn’t matter. The only important thing is that it is a virus, that it is transmitted by airborne droplets and that it affects the respiratory system. Hence the specific actions.

Prevention

Theoretically, here I should give (and I do) a link to a chapter from my book about acute respiratory infections (prevention of acute respiratory viral infections) and shut up, since everything has already been said. But practically, let's repeat all the most important things once again.
If you (your child) are exposed to the virus and you do not have protective antibodies in your blood, you will get sick. Antibodies will appear in one of two cases: either you get sick, or you get vaccinated.
You can only get vaccinated against seasonal flu. There is no vaccine against pork yet (in Ukraine). However, having protective antibodies to the three viruses included in the seasonal vaccine is better than having none at all.

1. There is an opportunity to get vaccinated (vaccinate your child) - get vaccinated, but on the condition that, firstly, you are healthy and, secondly, to get vaccinated you will not have to sit in a snotty crowd at the clinic. The latter provision makes your chances of adequate vaccination illusory.

2. There are no drugs with proven preventive effectiveness. Those. no onion, no garlic, no vodka and no pills you swallow or put into your child can protect against any respiratory virus in general, or the influenza virus in particular. Everything that you are dying for in pharmacies, all these supposedly antiviral drugs, supposedly stimulants of interferon formation, immune stimulants and terribly useful vitamins, everything that has disappeared from pharmacies by today, everything that the government has promised to fill pharmacies with in the coming days - all these are medicines with unproven effectiveness, drugs that satisfy the main mental need of the Ukrainian - “the need to do something” - and the Russian - “we need to do something.”
The main benefit of all these medications is psychotherapy. You believe, it helps you - I’m happy for you, just don’t storm the pharmacies - it’s not worth it.

3. The source of the virus is man and only man. The fewer people there are, the less chance you have of getting sick. Quarantine is wonderful! The ban on mass gatherings is great! Walking to the stop and not going to the supermarket one more time is wise!

4. Mask. A useful thing, but not a panacea. It should definitely be on a sick person if there are healthy people nearby: it will not stop the virus, but it will stop droplets of saliva that are especially rich in the virus.

5. The patient’s hands are a source of the virus no less significant than the mouth and nose. The patient touches his face, the virus gets on his hands, the patient grabs everything around him, you touch everything with your hand - hello, ARVI.
Don't touch your face. Wash your hands, often, a lot, always carry wet disinfectant sanitary napkins with you, wash, rub, don’t be lazy!
Learn yourself and teach your children, if you don’t have a handkerchief, to cough and sneeze not into your palm, but into your elbow.
Chiefs! By official order, introduce a ban on handshakes in the teams subordinate to you.
Use credit cards. Paper money is a source of spreading viruses.

6. Air!!! Viral particles remain active for hours in dry, warm, still air, but are destroyed almost instantly in cool, humid, and moving air. In this aspect, a rally in the center of Kyiv, which attracted 200,000 people, is less dangerous than a meeting of 1,000 people in a club in Uzhgorod.
You can walk as much as you like. It is almost impossible to catch a virus while walking. In this aspect, if you are already out for a walk, there is no need to ostentatiously walk around the streets wearing a mask. It’s better to take a breath of fresh air and pull on your mask before entering a bus, office or store.
The optimal indoor air parameters are temperature about 20 °C, humidity 50-70%. Frequent and intensive cross-ventilation of the premises is mandatory. Any heating system dries out the air. It was the beginning of the heating season that became the beginning of the epidemic! Control humidity. Wash the floor. Turn on humidifiers. Urgently demand air humidification and ventilation of rooms in children's groups.
It is better to dress warmly, but do not turn on additional heaters.

7. Condition of mucous membranes!!! Mucus constantly forms in the upper respiratory tract. Mucus ensures the functioning of the so-called. local immunity – protection of mucous membranes. If the mucus and mucous membranes dry out, the work of local immunity is disrupted, viruses, accordingly, easily overcome the protective barrier of weakened local immunity, and a person becomes ill upon contact with the virus with a much higher degree of probability. The main enemy of local immunity is dry air, as well as medications that can dry out mucous membranes (of the popular and well-known ones - diphenhydramine, suprastin, tavegil, trifed - the list is far from complete, to put it mildly).
Moisturize your mucous membranes! Elementary: 1 teaspoon of ordinary table salt per 1 liter of boiled water. Pour it into any spray bottle (for example, from vasoconstrictor drops) and spray it into your nose regularly (the drier, the more people around - the more often, at least every 10 minutes). For the same purpose, you can buy at the pharmacy saline solution or ready-made saline solutions for administration into the nasal passages - Saline, Aqua Maris, Humer, Marimer, Nosol, etc. The main thing is don’t regret it! Drip, spray, especially when you go from home (from a dry room) to where there are a lot of people, especially if you are sitting in the corridor of the clinic.
In terms of prevention, that's it.

Treatment
In fact, the only drug that can destroy the influenza virus is oseltamivir, commercial name Tamiflu. Theoretically, there is another medicine (zanamivir), but it is used only by inhalation, and there is little chance of seeing it in our country.
Tamiflu actually destroys the virus by blocking the neuraminidase protein (the same N in the name H1N1).
Do not eat Tamiflu all at once for any sneeze. It’s not cheap, there are a lot of side effects, and it doesn’t make sense. Tamiflu is used when the disease is severe (doctors know the signs of severe ARVI), or when a person at risk even gets sick mildly - old people, asthmatics, diabetics (doctors also know who is at risk). The bottom line: if Tamiflu is indicated, then at least medical supervision and, as a rule, hospitalization are indicated. It is not surprising that with the greatest possible probability, Tamiflu entering our country will be distributed to hospitals, and not to pharmacies (although anything can happen).

Attention!!!
Treatment with antiviral drugs has nothing to do with the absolute, overwhelming majority of those who read these lines.
FLU IS A MILD ILLNESS FOR MOST.
Treatment of acute respiratory viral infections in general and influenza in particular is not about swallowing pills! This is the creation of such conditions so that the body can easily cope with the virus.

TREATMENT RULES.
1. Dress warmly, but the room is cool and damp. Temperature about 20 °C, humidity 50-70%. Wash floors, moisten, ventilate.

3. Drink (water). Drink (water). Drink (water)!!!
The temperature of the liquid is equal to body temperature. Drink a lot. Compotes, fruit drinks, tea (finely chop an apple into tea), raisin infusions, dried apricots. If a child drinks too much, I will do this, but I won’t, let him drink whatever he wants, as long as he drinks. Ideal for drinking - ready-made solutions for oral rehydration. They are sold in pharmacies and should be there: rehydron, humana electrolyte, gastrolit, etc. Buy, breed according to instructions, feed.

4. Saline solutions are often used in the nose.

5. All “distracting procedures” (cupping, mustard plasters, poultices, feet in boiling water, etc.) are classic soviet parental sadism and, again, psychotherapy (something needs to be done).

6. If you decide to fight a high temperature - only paracetamol or ibuprofen. Aspirin is strictly forbidden.
The main problem is that to dress warmly, moisturize, ventilate, not push food and give him something to drink - this in our language is called “not to treat”, and “to treat” means sending dad to the pharmacy...

7. If the upper respiratory tract (nose, throat, larynx) is affected, no expectorants are needed - they will only worsen the cough. Infections of the lower respiratory tract (bronchitis, pneumonia) have nothing to do with self-medication. Therefore, on your own, no “lazolvans-mukaltins”, etc.

8. Antiallergic drugs have nothing to do with the treatment of ARVI.

9. Viral infections are not treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics do not reduce, but increase the risk of complications.

10. All topical interferons are drugs with unproven effectiveness or “medicines” with proven ineffectiveness.

11. Homeopathy is not a herbal treatment, but a treatment with charged water. Safely. Psychotherapy (something needs to be done).

When is a doctor needed? ALWAYS!!!
But this is unrealistic. Therefore, we list situations when a doctor is definitely needed:

* no improvement on the fourth day of illness;
* increased body temperature on the seventh day of illness;
* deterioration after improvement;
* pronounced severity of the condition with moderate symptoms of ARVI;
* appearance alone or in combination: pale skin; thirst, shortness of breath, intense pain, purulent discharge;
* increased cough, decreased productivity; a deep breath leads to a coughing attack;
* when body temperature rises, paracetamol and ibuprofen do not help, practically do not help or only help for a very short time.

A doctor is needed urgently and urgently:

* loss of consciousness;
* convulsions;
* signs of respiratory failure (difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, feeling of lack of air);
* intense pain anywhere;
* even moderate sore throat in the absence of a runny nose;
* even moderate headache combined with vomiting;
* swelling of the neck;
* rash that does not disappear when you press on it;
* body temperature above 39 °C, which does not begin to decrease 30 minutes after the use of antipyretics;
* any increase in body temperature combined with chills and pale skin.

Source http://www.komarovskiy.net/blog/svinoy-gripp.html

Dear moms and dads! People!!! Remember the most important thing: the tactics of your actions are completely independent of the name of the virus. This is seasonal flu, swine flu, elephant flu, pandemic flu, it’s not flu at all - it doesn't matter. All that matters is that it is virus that it is transmitted airborne way and what it hits respiratory system. Hence the specific actions.

PREVENTION

Theoretically, here I should give (and I do) a link to a chapter from my book about acute respiratory infections () and shut up, since everything has already been said. But practically, let's repeat all the most important things once again.

If you (your child) are exposed to the virus and you do not have protective antibodies in your blood, you will get sick. Antibodies will appear in one of two cases: either you get sick, or you get vaccinated.

You can only get vaccinated against seasonal flu. There is no vaccine against pork yet (in Ukraine). However, having protective antibodies to the three viruses included in the seasonal vaccine is better than having none at all.

1. There is an opportunity to get vaccinated (vaccinate your child) - get vaccinated, but on the condition that, firstly, you are healthy and, secondly, to get vaccinated you will not have to sit in a snotty crowd at the clinic. The latter provision makes your chances of adequate vaccination illusory.

2. There are no drugs with proven preventive effectiveness. Those. no onion, no garlic, no vodka and no pills you swallow or put into your child can protect against any respiratory virus in general, or the influenza virus in particular. Everything that you are dying for in pharmacies, all these supposedly antiviral drugs, supposedly stimulants of interferon formation, immune stimulants and terribly useful vitamins, everything that has disappeared from pharmacies by today, everything that the government has promised to fill pharmacies with in the coming days - all these are medicines with unproven effectiveness, drugs that satisfy the main mental need of the Ukrainian - “the need to do something” - and the Russian - “we need to do something.”

The main benefit of all these medications is psychotherapy. You believe, it helps you - I’m happy for you, just don’t storm the pharmacies - it’s not worth it.

3. The source of the virus is man and only man. The fewer people there are, the less chance you have of getting sick. Quarantine is wonderful! The ban on mass gatherings is great! Walking to the stop and not going to the supermarket one more time is wise!

4. Mask. A useful thing, but not a panacea. It should definitely be on a sick person if there are healthy people nearby: it will not stop the virus, but it will stop droplets of saliva that are especially rich in the virus.

5. The patient’s hands are a source of the virus no less significant than the mouth and nose. The patient touches his face, the virus gets on his hands, the patient grabs everything around him, you touch everything with your hand - hello, ARVI.

Don't touch your face. Wash your hands, often, a lot, always carry wet disinfectant sanitary napkins with you, wash, rub, don’t be lazy!

Learn yourself and teach your children, if you don’t have a handkerchief, to cough and sneeze not into your palm, but into your elbow.

Chiefs! By official order, introduce a ban on handshakes in the teams subordinate to you.

Use credit cards. Paper money is a source of spreading viruses.

6. Air!!! Viral particles remain active for hours in dry, warm, still air, but are destroyed almost instantly in cool, humid, and moving air. In this aspect, a rally in the center of Kyiv, which attracted 200,000 people, is less dangerous than a meeting of 1,000 people in a club in Uzhgorod.

You can walk as much as you like. It is almost impossible to catch a virus while walking. In this aspect, if you are already out for a walk, there is no need to ostentatiously walk around the streets wearing a mask. It’s better to take a breath of fresh air and pull on your mask before entering a bus, office or store.

The optimal indoor air parameters are temperature about 20 °C, humidity 50-70%. Frequent and intensive cross-ventilation of the premises is mandatory. Any heating system dries out the air. It was the beginning of the heating season that became the beginning of the epidemic! Control humidity. Wash the floor. Turn on humidifiers. Urgently demand air humidification and ventilation of rooms in children's groups.

It is better to dress warmly, but do not turn on additional heaters.

7. Condition of mucous membranes!!! Mucus constantly forms in the upper respiratory tract. Mucus ensures the functioning of the so-called. local immunity - protection of mucous membranes. If the mucus and mucous membranes dry out, the work of local immunity is disrupted, viruses, accordingly, easily overcome the protective barrier of weakened local immunity, and a person becomes ill upon contact with the virus with a much higher degree of probability. The main enemy of local immunity is dry air, as well as medications that can dry out mucous membranes (of the popular and well-known ones - trafed - the list is far from complete, to put it mildly).

Moisturize your mucous membranes! Elementary: 1 teaspoon of ordinary table salt per 1 liter of boiled water. Pour it into any spray bottle (for example, from vasoconstrictor drops) and spray it into your nose regularly (the drier, the more people around - the more often, at least every 10 minutes). For the same purpose, you can buy at the pharmacy saline solution or ready-made saline solutions for administration into the nasal passages - Humera, Nosol, etc. The main thing is don’t regret it! Drip, spray, especially when you go from home (from a dry room) to where there are a lot of people, especially if you are sitting in the corridor of the clinic.

In terms of prevention, that's it.

In fact, the only drug that can destroy the influenza virus is oseltamivir, commercial name – . Theoretically, there is another medicine (zanamivir), but it is used only by inhalation, and there is little chance of seeing it in our country.

Tamiflu actually destroys the virus by blocking the neuraminidase protein (the same N in the name H1N1).

Do not eat Tamiflu all at once for any sneeze. It’s not cheap, there are a lot of side effects, and it doesn’t make sense. Tamiflu is used when the disease is severe (doctors know the signs of severe ARVI), or when a person at risk even gets sick mildly - old people, asthmatics, diabetics (doctors also know who is at risk). The bottom line: if Tamiflu is indicated, then at least medical supervision and, as a rule, hospitalization are indicated. It is not surprising that with the greatest possible probability, Tamiflu entering our country will be distributed to hospitals, and not to pharmacies (although anything can happen).

Attention!!!

Treatment with antiviral drugs has nothing to do with the absolute, overwhelming majority of those who read these lines.

FLU IS A MILD ILLNESS FOR MOST.
Treatment of acute respiratory viral infections in general and influenza in particular is not about swallowing pills! This is the creation of such conditions so that the body can easily cope with the virus.

TREATMENT RULES.

1. Dress warmly, but the room is cool and damp . Temperature about 20 °C, humidity 50-70%. Wash floors, moisten, ventilate.

3. Drink (water). Drink (water). Drink (water)!!!

The temperature of the liquid is equal to body temperature. Drink a lot. Compotes, fruit drinks, tea (finely chop an apple into tea), raisin infusions, dried apricots. If a child drinks too much, I will do this, but I won’t, let him drink whatever he wants, as long as he drinks. Ideal for drinking - ready-made solutions for oral rehydration. They are sold in pharmacies and should contain: humana electrolyte, gastrolyte, etc. Buy, breed according to instructions, feed.

4. In the nose often saline solutions .

5. Everything "distraction procedures" (jars, mustard plasters, poultices, feet in boiling water, etc.) – classic soviet parental sadism and again psychotherapy (something needs to be done).

6. If you decide to fight a high temperature - only or. Absolutely not.

The main problem is that to dress warmly, moisturize, ventilate, not push food and give him something to drink - this in our language is called “not to treat”, and “to treat” means sending dad to the pharmacy...

8. Antiallergic drugs have nothing to do with the treatment of ARVI.

9. Viral infections are not treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics do not reduce, but increase the risk of complications .

10. All interferons for topical use are drugs with unproven effectiveness or “medicines” with proven ineffectiveness.

11. Homeopathy is not a treatment with herbs, but a treatment with charged water. Safely. Psychotherapy (something needs to be done).

WHEN YOU NEED A DOCTOR

ALWAYS!!! BUT THIS IS UNREAL. SO WE LIST THE SITUATIONS WHEN A DOCTOR IS NECESSARYLY NEEDED:

no improvement on the fourth day of illness;

elevated body temperature on the seventh day of illness;
worsening after improvement;
severe severity of the condition with moderate symptoms of ARVI;
appearance alone or in combination: pale skin; thirst, shortness of breath, intense pain, purulent discharge;
increased cough, decreased productivity; a deep breath leads to a coughing attack;
when body temperature rises, paracetamol and ibuprofen do not help, practically do not help, or help very briefly.

A doctor is needed urgently and urgently:

loss of consciousness;
convulsions;
signs of respiratory failure (difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, feeling of lack of air);
intense pain anywhere;
even moderate sore throat in the absence of a runny nose;
even moderate headache combined with vomiting;
swelling of the neck;
a rash that does not go away when you press on it;
body temperature above 39 °C, which does not begin to decrease 30 minutes after the use of antipyretics;
any increase in body temperature combined with chills and pale skin.

Everything that I wrote above is information that theoretically should be known to any doctor and which doctors should bring to the masses. In practice, something completely different happens, so everything I will talk about further is pure journalism and emotions. If you are a mother, you already know everything you need to know about the flu in the first place, and if you want to know more, there is something to do on this site.

I write everything else in the hope that some presidential candidate, or a candidate’s wife, or a candidate’s husband, or a candidate’s adviser, or an adviser’s wife will read it, think about it, analyze it... After all, President Medvedev read Khodorkovsky’s article, what if I get lucky...

First reflection:

During two days of panic hysteria, the main advisers and teachers of the people were politicians - deputies, ministers, former ministers, etc. As soon as a doctor appeared on the screen, it immediately became clear that politicians could speak better...

The apotheosis of panic was the statement of the presidential candidate (!!!) that Ukrainians were dying not from the flu, but from pneumonic plague. I repeat once again: it was not the grandmother who said that she sells seeds, but a candidate for president of a European country.

Another presidential candidate bitterly complains that there is no oxolinic ointment in our country, and criminal pharmacists did not import it. Of course, none of those present could explain to the candidate that the effectiveness of oxolinic ointment had not been proven, and it had not been imported and was not going to be imported either to the USA, or to France, or to any other country.

Anyway. There are no doctors among the presidential candidates, and having a medical adviser is apparently very expensive. But there are also politicians who are doctors!

One of them kept confusing (an antipyretic drug) and Tamiflu, the other did not see the difference between viral pneumonia and pneumonia, which is a bacterial complication of a viral infection, but when the deputy is a doctor, not just a deputy, but the secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Health Protection Committee (!! !), says that Tamiflu is a drug that only supports the immune system, and we at the National Security Council decided that we would purchase oseltamivir, I feel scared and ashamed. If the fate of the country is decided by people who do not know that Tamiflu and oseltamivir are the same thing, then what should we all expect!

Who will decision makers listen to?

After all, someone is writing speeches for the president and prime minister, someone will now approve the list of medications that must be in pharmacies! And they will transport them to our country in tons shameful drugs, not used anywhere in the civilized world: oxolinic ointments, anaferons, aflubins, immune stimulants, interferon drops and much more, but you won’t find a solution to give a child something to drink or salt to drip into your nose during the day.
Authority advice: Ask WHO experts to compile a list of mandatory medications.

Second reflection:

The most urgent advice that everyone (ALL) gives to our people: do not self-medicate, consult a doctor at the first symptoms.

Moreover, everyone swears: they say, if you contact us in time, we will definitely save you. The culmination is the statement of the country’s chief sanitary doctor, who said something like the following (heard with my own ears): we don’t yet know who caused the pneumonia, but we need to seek help in time - the doctors know what to do.

From all these statements, the average person gets the impression that doctors know some secret medicines that can help with ARVI.

Well, I’m a doctor who has been treating ARVI for almost thirty years. A patient will come to me on the first day of illness (i.e. in a timely manner) and will say - help! What will I answer him? Yes, everything that is written above: moisturize, ventilate, do not feed, give water, no medications needed. And he will believe me.

What should a doctor do, from whom everyone wants a golden pill? Who knows for sure that for ten unnecessary medications they will say thank you, but for instructions on the rules of adequate care they will be accused of inattention: what kind of doctor is this who did not prescribe medications!

What will the mass demand for medical help lead to in the current situation:

to snotty queues at clinics;
to a huge number of house calls, when an exhausted doctor will either refer you to a hospital or prescribe embarrassing medications, plus spread the infection from one patient to another;
to the massive and unfounded prescription of antibiotics, expectorants and other drugs, to the delight of pharmacists and medical charlatans;
to queues at pharmacies, since the only way to go from the doctor is to the pharmacy;
to unnecessary hospitalizations, to hospital-acquired pneumonia;
to the fact that doctors will still overlook the severe ones behind the mass of mild patients.

Advice to the authorities: do not tell people to run to the doctor every time they sneeze. Stop the election campaign, let the doctors tell people basic things about what to do, and when you really need a doctor.

Third reflection

About rumors.

A part-time student at the Kharkov Law Academy died in Donetsk from complications after surgery. All this happened in the midst of “calming” speeches by our politicians, so all the students who had contact with the deceased felt unwell, and one was even hospitalized.

On Friday I received at least 20 calls from people who said that they know for sure: in the dormitory of the legal academy, two children died from swine flu.

Here is the text of the letter I received (there were many of them, this is the most revealing):

URGENTLY!!! Dr. Komarovsky

Good afternoon
Please help me figure it out. From many (unofficial) sources: today, on the night of 30 to 31, some substance will be sprayed over Kiev, supposedly to protect against the flu or prevent it. For me, it sounds ridiculous, and I would not be asking you this question if
a) the editor of the police publication did not inform me about this, who, according to him, was informed by the employees of the authorities who will directly carry out the operation.
b) a friend, cat acquaintance works in the Presidential Office and says that the information is reliable.
c) a neighbor, someone works at the sanitation station and this someone said that from 12 to 5 in the morning they will spray, you need to close the windows and then not stick your head out for 2 days.
d) a stranger on the Internet on a forum, claiming that the influenza virus was very likely produced in a laboratory in Ukraine and has already been sprayed over its western regions. And about the spraying of something over Kiev on October 30, I’m sure, because his father works at an aircraft factory and they work for this. hired planes.
e) a student girl from the west of Ukraine says that a couple of days ago planes flew over and sprayed something.
So the question is:
1. Is there a substance that can be sprayed from an airplane to protect against influenza? What is its mechanism of action?
2. Is there a danger for a small child?
3. How long should you not leave the house?
4. If they are spraying something else other than anti-flu, what could it be?
Thanks a lot. K. Kiev

Question: to what point do we need to bring the people so that people believe in this?

Nevertheless, compared to the statement about pneumonic plague, this is all nothing.

For those who might not only believe, but even doubt: firstly, with pneumonic plague, no one goes to the hospital on the 7th day of illness - by this day the flowers on the grave have already withered; secondly, with pneumonic plague, everyone in contact with the patient gets sick and 100% die. But if treated, only 10% die. So all the hospital staff should have gotten sick by now...

It's difficult to give advice. For asking politicians to remain silent in a situation where the subject of the conversation is not clear is somehow even funny and awkward...

By the way, on Thursday, the same Savik Shuster had Barbara Brylskaya on his show. When she found out that we would talk about the flu, she said: I don’t understand anything about this, got up and left. Here is a wonderful example!

Fourth reflection

Why were doctors left defenseless? Why, in a situation where we knew for sure that there was swine flu and that we would have it in the fall, why were doctors, who 100% cannot hide from the virus, not vaccinated against swine flu in September and are not vaccinated now?

There is no vaccine in Ukraine. Even for doctors. Therefore, now, in the midst of an epidemic, doctors will go to bed first or will admit them with snot (I’m generally silent about the nurses who will sew masks at home). Could we buy (order a vaccine) at least for doctors, at least in limited quantities? COULD NOT.

Because after what was done with vaccination in this country, after the barbaric, unworthy and uncivilized anti-vaccination campaign, no one could even imagine that any vaccine could be introduced into the country with an accelerated registration procedure, without repeated tests, etc. .d. It looks like registration and testing will end by the summer...

By the way, two days ago everyone rushed en masse to get vaccinated against the flu. It turns out that as soon as the threat of disease becomes real, everyone immediately begins to love vaccinations.

Vaccinations that pushed back the threat of diphtheria, polio, measles... Diseases that our media are massively trying to bring closer - to make a real threat. Then there will be something to talk about. By the way, exactly a week ago, a local news company wanted to talk to me about the flu, and I spent 15 minutes talking and talking. Of the entire conversation, they left and showed 15 seconds, during which I said that the flu epidemic is a good reason for vaccine manufacturers to make money and that there is nothing wrong with selling a quality product.

If we compare the number of sick people (and multiply it in half, since at best half go to doctors) with the number of deaths, this confirms the fact that there is no particularly severe (not like in other countries) viral disease in Ukraine. As of the morning of November 2, 200 thousand officially fell ill and 60 died. The mortality rate is lower than usual with the flu.

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in all countries and at all times. Pneumonia complicates the course of most diseases and injuries. If every death from pneumonia is massively reported by the media, nothing good will happen, to put it mildly.

We were very unlucky that everything coincided like that: crisis, elections, autumn, flu.

But we must firmly know and understand: snot, cough and fever are ARVI. The most common and mildest disease. Requiring calm and very specific, elementary actions that are quite accessible to people with any level of material well-being.

What actions these are – see above.

Many years ago, at the age of 28, as a young and arrogant doctor in the intensive care unit, I performed mouth-to-mouth breathing on a child and after a few hours “earned” lobar pneumonia of the middle lobe, caused by the hospital flora of the intensive care unit (doctors will understand that this is Means). I remember very well how I felt when, after 10 days of treatment with the “coolest” antibiotics, the pneumonia became larger on the x-ray.

Those. I know how a person feels when he knows that he has a disease from which he will die.

And I perfectly understand how she feels, what stress she experiences and what a mother is capable of, who every day hears from all sides about a fatal disease, and suddenly discovers snot in her own child.

I just don’t understand: why and why are they doing all this to our people?

I sincerely intended to write about the flu in a couple of days - I really wanted to wait for at least some adequate and objective information. But I just spoke with a nurse I know who works in a clinic.

The boss (department head) called her and said: she’s going to work tomorrow, so bring 3 masks with her. To a completely fair objection, they say, where will I get them, was followed by a more than adequate answer for the current Ukrainian realities: “your problems, the order of the head physician, it’s a long night, you’ll make it up...”. This information was the last straw: it seems that it is no longer possible to remain silent, we must speak up.

In fact, both Friday and Saturday all I did was talk. There are 850 entries in my phone's address book and it seems like everyone called in those two days. I answered questions as best I could, reassuringly, explained... I understood perfectly well that if my friends and patients (that is, people who had obviously undergone both practical and theoretical training in the treatment of viral infections) were panicking, then the overall situation was simply catastrophic.

On Friday I spoke with the head of one of the Kharkov TV channels. It turned out that there was no chance to talk to the residents of the city. Absolutely all the time is occupied by politicians. In the evening of the same day, Savik Shuster’s show was on, dedicated to the situation in Ukraine in connection with the flu. This show was my biggest shock in recent years: I have never experienced such burning shame for my own country... On Saturday, a naive soul, I called Kiev. I didn't talk to the most recent people on television. He said that he was ready to come, that it was a shame, that he needed to calm people down, that this was a national disgrace... People tried to help. Failed. The reasons were not explained. And so everything is clear. Flu and elections are as incompatible as flu and aspirin - a lot of complications (not for the liver, but for the brain).

Specific information

In Ukraine, with the highest possible probability, there will be an epidemic of ACUTE RESPIRATORY VIRAL INFECTION.

PREVENTION

The main benefit of all these medications is psychotherapy. You believe, it helps you - I’m happy for you, just don’t storm the pharmacies - it’s not worth it.

Don't touch your face. Wash your hands, often, a lot, always carry wet disinfectant sanitary napkins with you, wash, rub, don’t be lazy!

Learn yourself and teach your children, if you don’t have a handkerchief, to cough and sneeze not into your palm, but into your elbow.

Chiefs! By official order, introduce a ban on handshakes in the teams subordinate to you.

Use credit cards. Paper money is a source of spreading viruses.

It is better to dress warmly, but do not turn on additional heaters.

7. Condition of mucous membranes!!! Mucus constantly forms in the upper respiratory tract. Mucus ensures the functioning of the so-called. local immunity - protection of mucous membranes. If the mucus and mucous membranes dry out, the work of local immunity is disrupted, viruses, accordingly, easily overcome the protective barrier of weakened local immunity, and a person becomes ill upon contact with the virus with a much higher degree of probability. The main enemy of local immunity is dry air, as well as medications that can dry out mucous membranes (of the popular and well-known ones - diphenhydramine, suprastin, tavegil, trifed - the list is far from complete, to put it mildly).

Moisturize your mucous membranes! Elementary: 1 teaspoon of ordinary table salt per 1 liter of boiled water. Pour it into any spray bottle (for example, from vasoconstrictor drops) and spray it into your nose regularly (the drier, the more people around - the more often, at least every 10 minutes). For the same purpose, you can buy at the pharmacy saline solution or ready-made saline solutions for administration into the nasal passages - Saline, Aqua Maris, Humer, Marimer, Nosol, etc. The main thing is don’t regret it! Drip, spray, especially when you go from home (from a dry room) to where there are a lot of people, especially if you are sitting in the corridor of the clinic.

In terms of prevention, that's it.

In fact, the only drug that can destroy the influenza virus is oseltamivir, commercial name – Tamiflu . Theoretically, there is another medicine (zanamivir), but it is used only by inhalation, and there is little chance of seeing it in our country.

Tamiflu actually destroys the virus by blocking the neuraminidase protein (the same N in the name H1N1).

Attention!!!

Treatment with antiviral drugs has nothing to do with the absolute, overwhelming majority of those who read these lines.

TREATMENT RULES.

1. Dress warmly, but the room is cool and damp . Temperature about 20 °C, humidity 50-70%. Wash floors, moisten, ventilate.

3. Drink (water). Drink (water). Drink (water)!!!

The temperature of the liquid is equal to body temperature. Drink a lot. Compotes, fruit drinks, tea (finely chop an apple into tea), raisin infusions, dried apricots. If a child drinks too much, I will do this, but I won’t, let him drink whatever he wants, as long as he drinks. Ideal for drinking - ready-made solutions for oral rehydration. They are sold in pharmacies and should be there: rehydron, humana electrolyte, gastrolit, etc. Buy, breed according to instructions, feed.

4. In the nose often saline solutions .

6. If you decide to fight a high temperature, use only paracetamol or ibuprofen. Aspirin is strictly forbidden.

8. Antiallergic drugs have nothing to do with the treatment of ARVI.

9. Viral infections are not treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics do not reduce, but increase the risk of complications .

10. All interferons for topical use are drugs with unproven effectiveness or “medicines” with proven ineffectiveness.

11. Homeopathy is not a treatment with herbs, but a treatment with charged water. Safely. Psychotherapy (something needs to be done).

WHEN YOU NEED A DOCTOR

ALWAYS!!! BUT THIS IS UNREAL. SO WE LIST THE SITUATIONS WHEN A DOCTOR IS NECESSARYLY NEEDED:

no improvement on the fourth day of illness;

elevated body temperature on the seventh day of illness;
worsening after improvement;
severe severity of the condition with moderate symptoms of ARVI;
appearance alone or in combination: pale skin; thirst, shortness of breath, intense pain, purulent discharge;
increased cough, decreased productivity; a deep breath leads to a coughing attack;
when body temperature rises, paracetamol and ibuprofen do not help, practically do not help, or help very briefly.

A doctor is needed urgently and urgently:

loss of consciousness;
convulsions;
signs of respiratory failure (difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, feeling of lack of air);
intense pain anywhere;
even moderate sore throat in the absence of a runny nose;
even moderate headache combined with vomiting;
swelling of the neck;
a rash that does not go away when you press on it;
body temperature above 39 °C, which does not begin to decrease 30 minutes after the use of antipyretics;
any increase in body temperature combined with chills and pale skin.

First reflection:

Anyway. There are no doctors among the presidential candidates, and having a medical adviser is apparently very expensive. But there are also politicians who are doctors!

One of them always confused Theraflu (an antipyretic drug) and Tamiflu, the other did not see the difference between viral pneumonia and pneumonia, which is a bacterial complication of a viral infection, but when a deputy is a doctor, not just a deputy, but the secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Health Protection Committee (! !!), says that Tamiflu is a drug that only supports the immune system, and we at the National Security Council decided that we would purchase oseltamivir, I feel scared and ashamed. If the fate of the country is decided by people who do not know that Tamiflu and oseltamivir are the same thing, then what should we all expect!

Who will decision makers listen to?

Second reflection:

The most urgent advice that everyone (ALL) gives to our people: do not self-medicate, consult a doctor at the first symptoms.

From all these statements, the average person gets the impression that doctors know some secret medicines that can help with ARVI.

What will the mass demand for medical help lead to in the current situation:

to snotty queues at clinics;
to a huge number of house calls, when an exhausted doctor will either refer you to a hospital or prescribe embarrassing medications, plus spread the infection from one patient to another;
to the massive and unfounded prescription of antibiotics, expectorants and other drugs, to the delight of pharmacists and medical charlatans;
to queues at pharmacies, since the only way to go from the doctor is to the pharmacy;
to unnecessary hospitalizations, to hospital-acquired pneumonia;
to the fact that doctors will still overlook the severe ones behind the mass of mild patients.

Third reflection

About rumors.

On Friday I received at least 20 calls from people who said that they know for sure: in the dormitory of the legal academy, two children died from swine flu.

Here is the text of the letter I received (there were many of them, this is the most revealing):

URGENTLY!!! Dr. Komarovsky

So the question is:
1. Is there a substance that can be sprayed from an airplane to protect against influenza? What is its mechanism of action?
2. Is there a danger for a small child?
3. How long should you not leave the house?
4. If they are spraying something else other than anti-flu, what could it be?
Thanks a lot. K. Kiev

Question: to what point do we need to bring the people so that people believe in this?

Nevertheless, compared to the statement about pneumonic plague, this is all nothing.

It's difficult to give advice. For asking politicians to remain silent in a situation where the subject of the conversation is not clear is somehow even funny and awkward...

Fourth reflection

By the way, two days ago everyone rushed en masse to get vaccinated against the flu. It turns out that as soon as the threat of disease becomes real, everyone immediately begins to love vaccinations.

We were very unlucky that everything coincided like that: crisis, elections, autumn, flu.

What actions these are – see above.

Those. I know how a person feels when he knows that he has a disease from which he will die.

I just don’t understand: why and why are they doing all this to our people?

On the eve of the autumn-winter season and the associated increase in the incidence of colds and flu, children's pediatrician Evgeniy Komarovsky publishes a memo on prevention. So,

Doctor Komarovsky's rules. Treatment and prevention of acute respiratory infections and influenza.

Prevention

2. There are no drugs with proven preventive effectiveness. That is, no onion, no garlic, no vodka and no pills you swallow or put into your child can protect against any respiratory virus in general, or the influenza virus in particular. Everything that you are dying for in pharmacies, all these supposedly antiviral drugs, supposedly stimulants of interferon formation, immune stimulants and terribly useful vitamins, everything that has disappeared from pharmacies by today, everything that the government has promised to fill pharmacies with in the coming days - all these are medicines with unproven effectiveness, drugs that satisfy the main mental need of the Ukrainian - “the need to do something” - and the Russian - “we need to do something.”

The main benefit of all these medications is psychotherapy. You believe, it helps you - I’m happy for you, just don’t storm the pharmacies - it’s not worth it.

3. The source of the virus is human and only human. The fewer people there are, the less chance you have of getting sick. Quarantine is wonderful! The ban on mass gatherings is great! Walking to the stop and not going to the supermarket one more time is wise!

Don't touch your face. Wash your hands, often, a lot, always carry wet disinfectant sanitary napkins with you, wash, rub, don’t be lazy!

Learn yourself and teach your children, if you don’t have a handkerchief, to cough and sneeze not into your palm, but into your elbow.

Chiefs! By official order, introduce a ban on handshakes in the teams subordinate to you.

Use credit cards. Paper money is a source of spreading viruses.

The optimal indoor air parameters are temperature about 20 °C, humidity 50–70%. Frequent and intensive cross-ventilation of the premises is mandatory. Any heating system dries out the air. It is the beginning of the heating season that becomes the beginning of the epidemic! Control humidity. Wash the floor. Turn on humidifiers. Urgently demand air humidification and ventilation of rooms in children's groups.

It is better to dress warmly, but do not turn on additional heaters.

7. Condition of mucous membranes! Mucus constantly forms in the upper respiratory tract. Mucus ensures the functioning of the so-called. local immunity - protection of mucous membranes. If the mucus and mucous membranes dry out, the work of local immunity is disrupted, viruses, accordingly, easily overcome the protective barrier of weakened local immunity, and a person becomes ill upon contact with the virus with a much higher degree of probability. The main enemy of local immunity is dry air, as well as medications that can dry out mucous membranes (of the popular and well-known ones - diphenhydramine, suprastin, tavegil, trifed - the list is far from complete, to put it mildly).

Moisturize your mucous membranes! Elementary: 1 teaspoon of ordinary table salt per 1 liter of boiled water. Pour it into any spray bottle (for example, from vasoconstrictor drops) and spray it into your nose regularly (the drier, the more people around - the more often, at least every 10 minutes). For the same purpose, you can buy at the pharmacy saline solution or ready-made saline solutions for administration into the nasal passages - Saline, Aqua Maris, Humer, Marimer, Nosol, etc. The main thing is not to regret it! Drip, spray, especially when you go from home (from a dry room) to where there are a lot of people, especially if you are sitting in the corridor of the clinic.

First aid kit

Vitamins - primarily C, A and group B.

Bee products (honey, propolis, royal jelly, etc.).

Homeopathic remedies.

Interferon inducers

Phytoimmunomodulators - i.e., herbal preparations that improve immunity.

Treatment

FLU IS A MILD ILLNESS FOR MOST.

Treatment for ARVI in general and influenza in particular is not about swallowing pills! This is the creation of such conditions so that the body can easily cope with the virus.

TREATMENT RULES.

1. Dress warmly, but the room is cool and humid. Temperature about 20 °C, humidity 50–70%. Wash floors, moisten, ventilate.

3. Drink (give water). Drink (water). Drink (water)!!!

The temperature of the liquid is equal to body temperature. Drink a lot. Compotes, fruit drinks, tea (finely chop an apple into tea), raisin infusions, dried apricots. If a child drinks too much, I will, but I won’t, let him drink whatever he wants, as long as he drinks. Ideal for drinking - ready-made solutions for oral rehydration. They are sold in pharmacies and should be there: rehydron, humana electrolyte, gastrolyte, etc. Buy it, dilute it according to the instructions, drink it.

4. Saline solutions are often administered into the nose.

5. All “distracting procedures” (cupping, mustard plasters, poultices, feet in boiling water, etc.) are classic soviet parental sadism and, again, psychotherapy (something needs to be done).

6. If you decide to fight a high temperature - only paracetamol or ibuprofen. Aspirin is strictly forbidden.

8. Antiallergic drugs have nothing to do with the treatment of ARVI.

9. Viral infections cannot be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics do not reduce, but increase the risk of complications.

10. All interferons for topical use are drugs with unproven effectiveness or “medicines” with proven ineffectiveness.

When do you need a doctor?

No improvement on the fourth day of illness;
- elevated body temperature on the seventh day of illness;
- deterioration after improvement;
- pronounced severity of the condition with moderate symptoms of ARVI;
- appearance alone or in combination: pale skin; thirst, shortness of breath, intense pain, purulent discharge;
- increased cough, decreased productivity; a deep breath leads to a coughing attack;
- when body temperature rises, paracetamol and ibuprofen do not help, practically do not help, or help very briefly.

A doctor is needed urgently and urgently:

Loss of consciousness;
- convulsions;
- signs of respiratory failure (difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, feeling of lack of air);
- intense pain anywhere;
- even moderate sore throat in the absence of a runny nose;
- even moderate headache combined with vomiting;
- swelling of the neck;
- a rash that does not disappear when you press on it;
- body temperature above 39 °C, which does not begin to decrease 30 minutes after the use of antipyretics;
- any increase in body temperature combined with chills and pale skin.

Flu and pregnancy

The most important thing: if, while pregnant, you still get the flu, then with a 99% probability (!) it will not affect the child in any way. Therefore, there is no need to throw tantrums at the slightest runny nose. You need to clearly know what you can do, what you need to do, and not succumb to the provocations of others, because intimidation of pregnant women is our national sport.

Now a few words about specific actions.

Prevention:

Vaccination!!! It’s especially great if you do it before. Modern vaccines that do not contain live viruses.

In conditions of a real threat of an epidemic, vaccination is advisable even during pregnancy, regardless of the period. It definitely makes sense to vaccinate everyone who could potentially bring the flu into the house: husband, older child, etc.

If possible, avoid crowds, shops, clinics, and cultural events. Don’t be shy about using a protective mask if you really can’t avoid it.

Ventilating rooms is a real way to protect yourself.

Numerous tablets supposedly for the prevention of influenza are, as a rule, safe, but their effect is rather psychotherapeutic.

Treatment:

Maximum food volume limit.

Increasing the amount of fluid you drink.

Mode of clean, cool, humid air (but dress warmly), optimal temperature is 18–20 ° C, relative humidity is 50–70%.

Saline drops in the nose (for example, saline solution) - without restrictions.

Any other medications - only in consultation with the doctor.

Remember: the flu is caused by a virus. Antibiotics do not work on viruses and have nothing to do with the treatment of influenza!