1 Causes of the disease

The cause of this flu is rotavirus( in most cases) and enterovirus. If you look at them under a microscope, they look like wheels. They have 2 protein interlayers. These viruses began to be studied systematically since the 1970s. At this time, they were found in the mucous layers of the small intestine in many patients with gastroenteritis.

Intestinal flu is transmitted from a sick person. For example, in young children, the source of infection is their mother. At an older age a person can get infected from other people in the team. The carrier of the virus may not be sick, but it will infect other people. The most dangerous period is considered to be the first 5 days after the onset of symptoms. At this time, the number of viruses in the stool will be maximum. There are no methods of human infection from animals at this time.

As a rule, this flu is transmitted by the fecal-oral method. That is why it is often called sickness of dirty hands. The virus is capable of infecting people in large numbers. For example, through food and water. Quite often, the spread of a microorganism occurs through dairy products. This is associated with the cycle of microorganism development and the nuances of processing dairy products. In addition, there is a possibility of a contact-household method of infection if the virus is located on objects that people use. The virus is well preserved in a cold environment, even in refrigerators, so that it can stay there for a long time and cause illness in people.

The time of the microorganism spread is approximately from the end of autumn to the middle of spring. In the rest of the year there can be isolated cases. The disease is called intestinal flu, as the development of this ailment is preceded directly by the epidemic of influenza.

When a virus enters the human body, it seeks to enter the cellular structures of the mucous layers of the digestive tract, usually a thin intestine. There it settles on the villi, and they take part in the production of enzymes for the breakdown of food, so that because of the virus, the process of digesting food is disrupted.

2 Symptoms of intestinal flu

Symptoms of intestinal flu can be divided into 2 groups. The first category includes those that are associated with the flu itself or the common cold. Symptoms of the second group are those that are associated with intestinal or gastric disorders. If both appear simultaneously, then you need to think about such a disease.

The main symptoms of intestinal flu are as follows:

• sensation of general weakness in the body, aches and pains in the muscles;
• dry cough;
• conjunctivitis;
• increased body temperature;
• nausea, attacks of vomiting( but there are no clots of mucus and blood);
• runny nose, nasal congestion;
• sore throat, pershenie, redness;
• cramps in the abdomen, flatulence, diarrhea, and the stool masses are liquid, foaming with an unpleasant odor.

In addition, with prolonged disease, symptoms of dehydration appear.

With intestinal flu, the incubation period lasts from a couple of hours to 5 days. It is during this time that the infection enters the gastrointestinal tract, and then begins to multiply rapidly. The length of the period for which the infection affects the organs, depends on its amount in the human body. This factor also affects the severity of the patient's condition. The child and the elderly are the most difficult to tolerate the disease. In adults, the duration of the disease is about a week, but to fully recover, it takes another 5 days after the acute stage. All this time a person is a carrier of the virus, so you must remember about personal hygiene, especially in public places.

One of the complications of intestinal flu is dehydration. Then there are typical symptoms. For example, there is dizziness, a feeling of dryness and stickiness in the mouth, thirst, dry skin, eyes become hollow. In this case, you need to carefully consider the state of health and carefully select the medication. Dehydration can be weakened. For this you need to drink warm water and decoctions. You are allowed to eat rice, croutons, bananas. Apple juice is good. All this applies to the anti-inflammatory diet.

3 Treatment of pathology

Treatment of intestinal flu is based on an integrated approach. The initial task is to eliminate dehydration. There is no specific treatment, so the therapy is aimed at eliminating intoxication and stabilizing the water-salt balance, which is disturbed with diarrhea and vomiting.

To eliminate signs of intestinal infection, the following is prescribed:

1. Treatment of rehydration type. The best fit is Regidron. The drug should be consumed every half hour.
2. Enterosorbents. For example, Polysorb or Smecta is assigned.
3. Diarrhea is helped by Enterofuril and Furazolidone.
4. If you manage to cope with vomiting, then you need to start using drugs with digestive enzymes. For example, Pancreatin and Creon are used.
5. When all the symptoms are gone, medications are prescribed to help restore the intestinal microflora. For example, Hilak-forte, Bifiform, Dinex are suitable.

If the virus in children causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, they should be urgently hospitalized. If there is a loss of fluid from the body by 15% in a child, then infusion therapy is performed, that is, intravenous medications are introduced to stabilize the water-electrolyte balance and metabolism. For example, Electrolyte, Oralin, Regidron, various colloidal solutions, etc. are used.

Treatment assumes a decrease in infusion therapy by 70-80% if proper evaporation is performed. It passes through two phases. First, it is aimed at eliminating rehydration. The use of the necessary liquid depends on its loss within 6 hours from the time the therapy began. It is necessary to consume from 50 to 100 ml for each kilogram of a person's weight. You need to drink every 15 minutes. If vomiting occurs, then you need to take a break for 10 minutes, but then continue. The second phase of evaporation suggests that a daily dose of fluid is 80-100 ml per kilogram of the patient's weight. The earlier the evaporation begins, the better the result.

If the flu caused a temperature increase to 38.5 ° C, then you do not need to knock down the heat. The virus can withstand low rates, but at elevated temperatures it dies. If the indications became critical, the patient should be wiped with a solution of water and vodka or water and vinegar. It is also permitted to take Paracetamol and Nurofen in the most severe cases.

Treatment involves a diet, because without it the patient's condition will not improve. The food should be gentle. If an intestinal disorder in a child is diagnosed before the year, it is better to prolong breastfeeding. Children older than 2 years should be removed from the diet of carbohydrate and sour-milk products. If a person wants to eat, then low-fat chicken broth is allowed. Rice porridge is also allowed, which is welded on water. To prevent vomiting, food should be fractional.

4 Conclusion

Gastrointestinal, or intestinal, influenza is a fairly common problem. The viruses that provoke this disease cause a lot of unpleasant symptoms. The doctor prescribes symptomatic therapy, since no specific treatment has been established. In addition, you need to fight with dehydration. Be sure to temporarily adhere to dietary nutrition.