How to protect the child from the flu?

With the onset of the cold season, the question of how to protect the child from the flu becomes urgent. Of course, you do not want to get sick, but adults are still less susceptible to virus attacks than small children, whose immunity is still very weak, since it is not fully formed.

How to protect children from flu and colds?

The most effective tool, able to protect the baby from the flu by 70-90% is vaccination. Unfortunately, if a child is vaccinated with a single strain of vaccine, and then suddenly another person's epidemic begins, which was not expected, then the vaccine will be protected from such vaccination. So you have to protect yourself from the disease in other ways.

It is quite popular such a tool, as Oksolinovaya ointment. Going out on the street, it is lubricated by the nasal passages of the child, thereby closing the access to the mucous membrane, through which germs penetrate.

Do not forget about such a simple procedure as regular hand washing with soap. Upon coming home, you can also rinse the baby's nose and drip saline into it. Older children can be given an antiseptic gel, which can be handled several times a day.

How to protect a one-year-old child from the flu virus?

A well-known Kharkov pediatrician, to whom thousands of young mothers listen and trust Yevgeny Komarovsky, knows how to protect the child from the flu. These are commonplace and familiar methods, which are often undeservedly ignored:

  1. Vaccination or vaccination - the answer to the question of how to protect a child from the flu, without it, all methods will be only additional actions. But the famous doctor does not recommend the vaccination of children who are not yet attending kindergarten because of the weakness of the immune system and the possible unwanted reaction of the body. It is better to be given to family members and anyone who comes into contact with the baby so as not to become a peddler of the infection.
  2. In the room where the baby is, it is necessary to carry out a wet cleaning daily.
  3. Humidity of air in the house should be at least 60% and then the mucous baby will not dry out and will not become a good soil for getting microbes.

In addition, the doctor advises with a preventive goal to give the child a lot of liquid - tea, juices, compotes, and also to observe the correct temperature regime in the room. That is, in the room where the baby is located, the thermometer should show a mark of 19-20 ° C, no more.

What is dangerous about the flu virus?

The main danger of the disease is severe complications, which it gives mainly to the lungs (pneumonia) and ears (acute otitis). Inflammation of the lungs, in which the flu can migrate, is difficult to treat and may even lead to a fatal outcome. And the inflammation of the middle ear leads to the defeat of the cerebral cords (meningitis).

Of course, the likelihood of complications with ordinary flu is small, especially if you comply with bed rest and appointment of a doctor. What can not be said about the strain H1N1 - the virus of swine flu, especially dangerous for the child, as it is impossible to protect against it with the help of vaccination - there is simply no such vaccine. This disease is extremely difficult for children under three years of age, and therefore it is better to reduce contacts with people during the epidemic.

Ways of infection

In order to protect children from the flu, they must know how it spreads and is transmitted from person to person. Parents themselves need to clearly understand this and from an early age tell their children to give them the necessary knowledge about the way to protect themselves from an insidious illness.

Like all viruses, the flu is volatile - that is, it is transmitted mainly by airborne droplets. A sick person secretes microparticles when sneezing, coughing and even when talking. Microbes, getting into the respiratory system of a nearby person, immediately under favorable conditions begin to multiply actively.

In addition to the airborne method of transmission of the virus, there is also a contact one. That is, the patient, touching dirty hands to the door handles, buttons in the elevator, charging in the bus and the subway leaves on these objects microparticles of infected saliva. The ill person countless times touches his face during sneezing, wipes his nose, and covers his mouth when coughing, which means that he has a huge amount of dangerous microorganisms on his hands.

But in an open place, that is, outside the room, a virus with air currents quickly volatilizes, losing concentration. Thus, during the epidemic, walking through the streets is not terrible, but to visit crowded places - supermarkets, pharmacies, schools, to travel in public transport is very unsafe.