Symptoms and Treatment of Rotavirus Intestinal Infection

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

A common cold of infectious etiology with the causative agent of RNA-rotavirus is called rotavirus infection. Its peculiarity is in a long latent period, which for each person, at different ages, proceeds from the moment the virus enters the body to the manifestation of the first symptomatology of the disease in everyone in different ways.

Most often, the virus affects the respiratory organs in children from 2 to 8-9 years old, actively communicating in kindergartens and schools.

What is Rotavirus

An infectious disease is epidemic, it is often confused with influenza, but by the nature of its manifestation, these diseases do not have similar symptoms. The peculiarity of the infection is that the virus is quite stable outside the human body.

In water, the RNA virus lives up to 2 months, on the surface of household items of furniture, furnishings - up to a month. It is not affected by an acidic environment, it is afraid of disinfectants when processing with a temperature of more than 80 ° C.

A small number of viruses that have entered the human body provoke an infectious disease. Rapidly rotavirus infection in children and adults passes into the intestinal with its symptoms, which determines the direction of treatment. Rotavirus infection is a type of acute intestinal infection. Therefore, this disease is called "intestinal flu".

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The first signs of rotavirus infection in a child

The manifestation of the disease in children and adults is different, rotavirus intestinal infection has its own symptoms in each case, which also determines the difference in treatment.

Affecting children, rotavirus is aggressive and quickly manifests itself with acute symptoms of malaise, fever, and diarrhea. An adult often does not consider himself ill, mild symptoms of a cold, he suffers minor diarrhea on his feet, without leaving his workplace. In fact, they themselves are sick, and can transmit the virus to members of the collective, bring the infection to the family, to their children.

Rotavirus intestinal infection is especially difficult in children 2 years old, manifests itself in vivid symptoms, and requires special treatment. This is due to the age of the children.

Children are characterized by a severe picture of clinical manifestations:

• temperature rise to a critical level, often above 38, 5-39, 7 ° C;
• repeated vomiting;
• frequent debilitating diarrhea.

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Symptoms increase with the development of the disease, each child has a different reaction to the virus. If the disease began in an infant, he is immediately hospitalized in the infectious diseases department. In children under 3 years of age, the disease is especially difficult, therefore, they are offered inpatient treatment, here treatment at home is excluded.

Signs of rotavirus infection in an adult

The first signs of the disease are:

• damage to the gastrointestinal tract, the appearance of pain in the epigastrium, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea;
• catarrhal signs of damage to the eyes, respiratory tract, which is usually characteristic of a cold;
• intoxication manifestations in general weakness, drowsiness, severe headache, pain in joints and muscles, loss of appetite;
• the appearance of the smell of acetone from a sick person.

The clinical picture proceeds mainly without temperature, with mild symptoms. This is typical of the disease of an adult.

In adults, the treatment of rotavirus intestinal infection depends on the symptoms, and what to treat will be determined by the therapist called at home. According to the patient's condition, the doctor will prescribe treatment at home, or suggest hospitalization in the infectious diseases department.

First aid

The algorithm of parental actions upon detection of rotavirus infection has been worked out in pediatrics and in adult practice. When children show signs of rotavirus in an uncomplicated form, how to treat it at home should be clear to parents. First of all, it is important to prevent dehydration of the body, especially in an infant.

Basic first aid steps at home:

1. Give warm drinks often, but not too much.
2. If the child goes to the toilet every 3 hours, then the water intake is sufficient to prevent dehydration. When the child cannot be drunk, he does not swallow water even from a measuring syringe, spits it out, or, worse, vomits him from the water, an ambulance must be called urgently.
3. Small children are placed on their side so that in bouts of vomiting, masses do not enter the respiratory tract, which often happens in an infant, and he chokes from vomiting.
4. It is necessary to give antipyretic medicine only at a temperature of more than 38, 5 ° C.
5. Exclude feeding. If an appetite wakes up in children of 4 years old, they can be given a little liquid porridge, pharmacy fruit puree.
6. If the disease happened in a baby, it is recommended to leave the diaper with feces before the doctor comes, and in children 5 years old, leave a full pot. The doctor will more accurately determine the type of disease by the content of feces.

Often parents make mistakes, give children antibiotics, antibacterial, antidiarrheal drugs. In the case of rotavirus, they are powerless, taking them can aggravate the child's condition, cause unforeseen complications. Before the arrival of the doctor, do not give the child folk remedies.

Rotavirus infection treatment

Rotavirus RNA disease is treated in other ways. It is dangerous to stop diarrhea, while the virus remains in the small intestine, where it destroys useful cells. With this disease, diarrhea is the natural defense of the body, with the feces penetrated viruses are removed faster. Against rotavirus, antiviral drugs available in pharmaceuticals, usually used for intestinal infections, are powerless. Homeopathic remedies will not help either.

Infectious disease doctors know that RNA rotavirus cannot be destroyed by antibiotics; they kill non-pathogenic bacteria. Antibacterial agents and diarrhea agents are not applicable either.

There are directions of treatment:

• relieve the patient from dehydration; in difficult cases, the patient is prescribed intravenous drip of saline with vitamins, glucose with colloidal solutions;
• cleanse the body of toxins remaining after the life of rotaviruses;
• follow a diet, first with a complete rejection of dairy products; when a person's appetite is restored, he himself asks what he would like to eat. But we must completely abandon fatty, salty, smoked products;
• restore the microflora in the intestines affected by viruses; for this, doctors prescribe probiotics, vitamins. Most often, such treatment is carried out already at home, after the acute period of the disease has passed, the person is discharged home.

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Such treatment is carried out regardless of how long a person's incubation period lasted. To exclude general intoxication, sorbents are prescribed to the sick after the end of the incubation period. Folk remedies are added to the general treatment.

Child treatment

If rotavirus is recorded in children of 6 years old, they are treated in the infectious diseases ward. Only a mild form of the disease allows treatment at home, with strict adherence to the doctor's prescriptions.

Therapy in the inpatient department has the goal of:

1. Restore the water-salt balance.
2. Cleanse the body of toxins. For this, sorbents are prescribed.
3. Restore digestion.
4. Eliminate diarrhea.

Temperatures up to 38 ° C are not knocked down, since in this state the synthesis of interferon is stimulated - a natural defender against disease, which has a detrimental effect on viruses.

Doctors rule out the use of Aspirin against fever.

The doctor prescribes drugs for each specific child, based on his age, general condition, signs of intoxication. Children recover from such a disease for a long time - from 2 weeks to 1, 5 months. At this time, the remnants of intoxication appear, the child may be drowsy, tired, and feel lightheaded.

Rotavirus intestinal infection in children after 10 years of age is similar in symptoms and treatment to the treatment of the disease in adults. During the recovery period, all those who have been ill are given folk remedies that strengthen the immune system.

Adult treatment

To successfully cure an adult, doctors use symptomatic treatment aimed at removing the clinical signs of the disease, preventing complications from occurring.

Therapy standard:

• oral administration of rehydration;
• taking enterosorbents;
• diet food.

In the case of a severe form of the disease with signs of intoxication, dehydration, the patient is prescribed droppers to replenish fluid reserves, restore the balance of mineral salts.

Reception of enterosorbents reduces the number of toxins, removes them through the intestines. These agents bind toxins in the intestines, prevent them from entering the bloodstream, and remove them with feces through the intestines. Treatment of rotavirus intestinal infection in adults and children with similar symptoms allows the use of folk remedies.

Restoration of bowel function

At the last stage of treatment, drugs are prescribed that restore the intestinal microflora. They can be taken at the end of the acute stage of the disease. Restoration of the intestinal microflora is required to prevent dysbiosis and normalize digestion.

These drugs include pro- and prebiotics. They are prescribed for both children and adults.

Incubation period in adults and children

The latent incubation period of rotavirus intestinal infection in children lasts 1-5 days, but sometimes a vivid clinical picture develops in a day. This is due to the age of the child, the strength of his immune defense, the number of penetrated RNA rotaviruses.

The incubation period of rotavirus intestinal infection in adults lasts from 15 hours to a week, most often vivid symptoms appear on the second day after the penetration of the virus.