Rotavirus infection (another name - gastric flu) is an intestinal infection, which is most often affected by small children between the ages of six months to two years. You can catch the infection through food. Also, children who attend preschool institutions are at risk.
In the case of rotavirus disease, the child has a violation of appetite and diarrhea, which leads to dehydration of the body.
Rotavirus infection in an infant
The most difficult to tolerate the disease rotavirus infection infants younger than one year, due to the difficulties of additional dopaivaniya such a baby to avoid dehydration.
A child with rotavirus refuses to breastfeed, he may have vomiting and a large loss in weight (up to 1 kg). However, with mild and moderate degree of rotavirus, infants recover more quickly. If possible, it is important to preserve breastfeeding and continue feeding or decanting if the rotavirus infection is not expressed explicitly, and the child is at least a little, but agrees to breastfeed. Since the micronutrients found in breast milk contribute to the acceleration of the process of recovery of the infant and the colonization of the intestinal microflora with useful bacteria.
How to treat rotavirus in a child?
If a child is diagnosed with "rotavirus infection", treatment in children is reduced to dehydration, which can lead to death.
It is also important to restore the water-salt balance in the body, for which use the oral method of introducing a solution of glucose and salts. Antibiotics doctor appoints only in case of bacterial infection.
To normalize the act of defecation, you can drink imodium, however, it should be limited to two days because of an abundance of side effects.
As an antiviral drug, a doctor may prescribe aflubin or interferon. Smecta and bacterins will help to remove dangerous toxins from the body.
Nutrition of the child with and after rotavirus infection
After oral administration of the glucose solution, food is usually allowed no earlier than four to six hours. In this case, the infant who is breastfed reduces the interval between the feeds, the artificial mixes the formula with water or rice decoction for better digestion.
Children after a year from the third day add cottage cheese and cereals to the diet.
Usually on the fourth-sixth day the child's nutrition is restored in full. However, if rotavirus infection in children is still present, then a special diet that excludes sweet, excessively salty foods, black bread, sour-milk products is important.
In the case of a decrease in the child's appetite, you can feed it more often and reduce the intervals between meals and gradually introduce one feeding per week.
Recovery of the child after rotavirus occurs no earlier than a week after the medical measures. However, some time it is necessary to adhere to a strict diet to fix the result, because rotavirus has the property of returning and parents in the child can again notice the symptoms of rotavirus infection.
Rotavirus in children - prevention
After the course of treatment it is important not to allow the repeated development of the disease. This can be done by implementing
- hygiene (hand washing after the street and before eating);
- careful rinsing of vegetables and fruits with warm water from the tap;
- for cooking a child use only boiled water;
- drink water only from the kettle.
Simple rules of hygiene can help prevent illness and exclude its development.