What Is Influenza?
Influenza, commonly known as flu or grippe, is an acute
viral infection of the upper or lower respiratory tract that causes fever,
chills, muscle weakness, and varied degrees of soreness in the head and
abdomen.
Symptoms Of Influenza And How It Is Transmitted:
The flu can affect people of all ages, but young adults and children
are at the biggest risk of contracting it. During the colder months of the
year, influenza is more common. Infection spreads from person to person by the
respiratory tract, via inhalation of contaminated droplets produced by coughing
and sneezing. The virus particles selectively assault and destroy the ciliated
epithelial cells that line the upper respiratory tract, bronchial tubes, and
trachea as they enter the body. The disease has a one-to-two-day incubation phase,
following which the onset of symptoms is quick and clear, with chills,
exhaustion, and muscle aches.
Flu symptoms include sore throat, fever, frontal or retro-orbital headaches, weakness, cough, nasal discharge, myalgias, severe fatigue, and other respiratory symptoms, tachycardia, and red and watery eyes, according to medical experts. Coughing and other respiratory symptoms may be minor at first, but they often worsen as the infection progresses. Diarrhea is a common symptom in children.
How To Protect Your Family Before Monsoon Season:
The arrival of monsoon conjures up ideas of relief from
summer's sweltering heat, the sound of clouds and the drizzling rain as well as
the rebirth of nature's beauty in the form of trees and plants. The monsoon, on
the other hand, brings with it the difficulty of braving the elements and
battling water and food-borne ailments, including seasonal infections like flu or
influenza.
Influenza can cause major absences from school or work, and
people with co-morbidities like asthma or diabetes are more likely to die from
flu-related complications. Infants and the elderly have the greatest mortality
rates.
The estimated ten million patients each year, place an enormous load on doctors and administrators to provide sufficient treatment, including flu vaccination. Due to Covid19 constraints such as social distancing, masking, staying indoors, keeping hygiene, and viral interference, in-season burden estimates were minimal in the last two years.
According to MBBS/MD-Pediatrics from Gauhati Medical College
research;
Many children have recently been familiar with the
outside world and have begun to spend time outside. As a result of the
children's choosing to stay indoors, infectious diseases may return. As the
monsoon season approaches, children are more prone to respiratory illnesses.
Children under the age of five are especially vulnerable to influenza. Those
with related disorders like heart disease or asthma, as well as those over 65,
are more at risk. To prevent the sickness from spreading throughout the family
and society, the flu vaccine is considered a necessary.
Influenza and covid co-infection has also been recorded.
Because children under the age of 12 do not have approcah to the Covid vaccine,
getting a flu vaccination is vital. Coinfection will be less likely as a result
of this. To distinguish between influenza and covid in children and to
recommend the right vaccine, diagnostic screening is required. Handwashing and
masks on a frequent basis help to avoid the transmission of illnesses.
The flu vaccine is changed every year to match changes in
viral strains. Because antibodies take a few weeks to build during flu season
(June-September), it's best to get the vaccine as early as May."
Flu can disrupt the body's essential processes, and if it
exacerbates underlying chronic illnesses, patients may need to be hospitalization.
Pneumonia or heart attack are possible complications. Adults over the age of
forty are eight times more likely to have their first stroke and ten times more
likely to have their first heart attack than those under the age of forty. An
adult with diabetes has a 75% chance of experiencing an unusual glycemic
episode. Pneumonia is eight times as frequent in children than in adults.
Treatment And Prevention:
The most effective influenza management technique is prevention.
The vaccine of influenza is advised once a year for all people aged six months
and up who do not have any contraindications. If a person is not vaccinated but
still gets the flu, the symptoms will be minimal and there will be no
consequences.
People who have been diagnosed with respiratory disorders,
such as asthma, should not wait to get vaccinated because they are at a higher
risk of developing consequences as a result of their damaged respiratory
systems. Asthma exacerbations and influenza-related asthma complications will
be reduced with vaccination.
Summer and pre-monsoon are the busiest seasons for influenza
cases. As a result, now is the optimum time to receive your flu vaccination so
that your body has enough time to generate antibodies before flu season begins.
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