How not to get infected from the patient. Precautions at the household level: elementary prevention of SARS in children

The flu is most easily contracted indoors, where it is warm and humid. We will tell you how not to catch the disease if someone in the house is sick.

How can you get the flu and colds?

It is easiest to get the flu or cold indoors. Viruses are transmitted by airborne droplets from person to person. penetrates through the respiratory tract into the cells of the mucosa, causing the destruction of the surface layer of cells, which leads to inflammation. The cells of the epithelium of the respiratory organs are exfoliated, and are rejected during respiration. These cells contain many viral particles, they are in the air and can easily infect others.

Indoors, flu and cold viruses can spread around a sick person up to 7-8 meters. Pathogenic viruses are able to live from 2 to 9 hours, circulating in the air of the room.

The second mechanism of transmission of infection is contact-household. So, you can get infected through objects - door handles, dishes, towels. Pay special attention to your hands. The influenza virus lives on the hands for 5-7 minutes, and if during this time a person manages to touch his face or bring his hand to his nose or mouth, then the risk of infection increases significantly. According to experts, it is the viruses on the hands that pose a high danger, since infection most often occurs in this way.

British scientists have found that a child touches the nose, eyes or mouth more than 300 times a day. On metal or plastic, influenza viruses live up to 48 hours, and on the surface of glass - up to 10 days.

What to do

If someone in the family gets sick, there is an increased risk of infection for the rest of the family. What is the right thing to do to minimize the risks? Doctors recommend the following activities:

Isolate the patient. Ideally, this should be a separate room. If this is not possible, then the patient should be warned not to walk around the apartment (house) and not spread the infection. Food and drink should be brought to the patient. It is advisable to limit movement around the apartment only by visiting the toilet and bathroom, while you need to do everything promptly, without lingering in other rooms.
Provide the patient with separate items of use. He should have his own towel, underwear and bed linen, handkerchiefs, dishes. Towels, underwear and bed linen should be disinfected by boiling for 15 minutes. And the thermometer after each use must be wiped with ethyl alcohol or vodka.
Carry out wet cleaning. It is recommended to clean the room where the patient is located 2-3 times a day. Cleaning is preferably carried out using disinfectants or using a soap solution.
Ventilate the room. This is necessary to reduce the concentration of circulating viruses in the room. It is necessary to ventilate the room 3-4 times a day. When airing, you can sprinkle water with aromatic oils, which will help disinfect the air.
Humidify the air. For a speedy recovery and minimizing the infection of influenza and colds by other family members, the room must be additionally humidified.
Put on your mask. When communicating with other family members (especially children), it is advisable for the patient to wear a mask. And healthy people should drip saline solutions into the nose 1-2 times an hour to reduce the risk of infection.

Important!

Wash hands and face thoroughly after each visit. So you reduce the likelihood of contracting the flu and colds by 50%! Personal hygiene is an extremely important factor in protecting against a viral infection, which should never be neglected.

How to protect the child if the mother is sick

Now let's talk about a more specific case. How to protect your baby from the flu if his mother is sick. We know how children often get sick and easily catch viruses, so in this case it is extremely important to do everything right so that the baby does not get sick. So here's what to do:

Dad instead of mom. If possible, when a mother is sick, another family member - father, grandmother or someone else - should take care of the child. According to the law, if the mother is sick, the father can receive a sick leave to care for the child.
As long as possible, the child should be in the fresh air. If it is not possible to go outside, then go to the balcony.
As in the previous case - do wet cleaning, ventilate, wash and boil clothes.
If the mother wants to talk to the child, then this should be done in a mask and with well-washed hands.
Time should be limited. If possible, switch to artificial feeding during the illness.
Before and after feeding, a saline solution (saline) should be dripped into the nose of the child.

Wait for a full recovery, and only then contact the baby in the usual mode for you.

Frost and sun, wonderful day .. or not? The cold season can be filled with magical moments, but a cold or flu can easily ruin both workdays and a long-awaited vacation with your family. How to protect yourself and loved ones from the flu and SARS? Now we'll tell you everything.

Colds are gaining strength at the beginning of winter and can ruin both New Year's holidays and all vacations. To maintain health, strength and good mood for loved ones, it is worthwhile to prevent influenza and SARS. Viral diseases and common colds can be prevented if the necessary preventive measures are taken. Agree, prevention of disease is better than cure.

If you are going to defeat the disease, you need to get to know your opponent well. There are quite a lot of seasonal viral diseases, but often all of them, without understanding, are called with one word “cold”. How is influenza different from SARS? The simplest answer would be “everything”, but we are not looking for easy ways.

Let's start with terminology- “flu” is translated from French as “grab, scratch”, and if you have ever experienced this disease, you understand why it got such a name. In general, influenza, acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections are diseases that are initially caused by different viruses and differ in both symptoms and the course of the disease.

There are over 200 viruses that cause colds.
We will answer the most common questions about the differences between these diseases.

How is the flu different from a cold?

Cold- a household name that denotes any ailment caused by viruses or ordinary hypothermia. With the flu, all these ailments have in common a number of common symptoms, but the very course of the disease will not allow you to confuse the flu with a cold. Even in a healthy person with a strong immune system, influenza occurs with symptoms of intoxication - aching joints, pain in the eyeballs, may be accompanied by nausea and chills, and this disease is also characterized by temperature fluctuations that stay above the norm from 2 days to a week, and a severe headache .

If the body is weakened or the immune system is unstable, as is the case in children, the elderly and pregnant women, the flu is more severe, can cause convulsions and lead to pneumonia (pneumonia) or other respiratory diseases, so they are most vulnerable during epidemics.

At the beginning of the course of the disease, influenza is characterized by a dry cough, but if complications occur, sputum may appear, as with bronchitis. Colds pass faster and do not require a long recovery, while after the flu, a long recovery period is required with dizziness and blood pressure drops.

What is the difference between ARI and SARS?

ARI and SARS- abbreviations that are often confused, which is not surprising - these groups of diseases are almost identical. ORZ stands for acute respiratory disease, and ARVI stands for acute respiratory viral infection. Thus, the main difference between them is the viral nature, acute respiratory infections can be limited to one patient, and SARS has the ability to be transmitted.

Thus, influenza viruses are included in the concept of SARS, and before establishing an accurate diagnosis - determining a specific infection that has appeared in the human body - these four letters make up the first diagnosis in patients.

Usually, colds occur in the off-season, and often we wonder how not to get a cold in the fall, but the most dangerous flu epidemics are in the winter-spring period, especially often outbreaks of the disease occur in February and March. If you care about your health, then you should prevent a cold at an early stage or protect yourself from it altogether with the help of preventive measures.

First of all, general measures to maintain immunity are relevant - high-quality nutrition, multivitamins, exercise. To prevent the onset of a cold at an early stage, it is enough to follow basic precautions:

avoid hypothermia, especially freezing of the legs and nose, since a weakened body can become infected faster;
try to avoid contact with patients;
wash everything regularly that get into public places with you, especially during epidemics, including outerwear, since viruses can be stored in it for a long time;
if you have a runny nose, use disposable handkerchiefs, so as not to become a “mobile home” of a bacterial colony;
during epidemics or if you yourself have caught the virus and have to be on the street or in a public place, you need to wear a sterile medical mask, and change masks at least once every 4 hours.

Also, when answering the question of how to prevent the disease, you need to remember the rules of hygiene when visiting public places - be sure clean hands and face after visiting public transport and public places.

If the disease has already affected your household, you should think about how not to get ARVI from a patient, since often the disease can capture everyone living in the house in a circle. If there is a sick person with SARS or flu in the house, then after contact with him, you should be especially careful in hygiene. In a room with a patient, you need to regularly ventilate, this will benefit both the sick person and healthy household members.

Through ventilation is most effective, but it can adversely affect the patient's condition. To update the air in the room without, it is better to use it - it will supply fresh air to the room in a timely manner without the street cold, as well as dirt, dust and allergens due to several filtration stages.

During epidemics, ordinary precautions may not be enough, and it is worth including “heavy artillery” in the form of folk remedies and medicines.

Before highlighting folk remedies for flu and colds, we remind you that the treatment of diseases must be carried out under the supervision of a qualified doctor, and these methods can only be used as prevention, self-medication can be dangerous to health.

The most common folk remedies include:

Garlic

If eating garlic is not possible for any reason, inhalation can be done: grate a few cloves of garlic and half a small head of onion and breathe over the mixture.

vitamins

Winter and the beginning of spring are often accompanied by a massive one - if the body is deficient in vitamins, then it is more difficult for it to resist diseases. Therefore, most of the folk methods of preventing influenza are vitamins - they are replenished by eating honey, berry fruit drinks, cranberries and lingonberries, herbal decoctions, rose hips, aloe and other plants are especially effective. In addition, it is recommended to consume lemons and ascorbic acid - at least 500 mg per day - and drink more fluids.

Inhalations

At an early stage of colds, the first “swallow” is a runny nose. Inhalations can be carried out using essential oils. To do this, 500 ml of water is heated in a small saucepan to a boil, after which oil is added to the water - usually eucalyptus or mint - and the fragrant steam is breathed under a towel for 10-15 minutes. Also for inhalation, you can use decoctions of sage, oregano, lavender or other herbs, as well as steam of freshly boiled potatoes. Such “breathing” slightly reduces the risk of catching an infection, but helps to restore the nasal mucosa and get rid of a runny nose.

Folk remedies have their pros and cons. Their advantages include:

availability: both recipes and ingredients are easy to find in any store at low prices;
minimal side effects: even if the chosen remedy does not help prevent the disease, there will be no harm from it either;
no contraindications they can be used during pregnancy and while breastfeeding;
they are universal, as they support immunity in general, and are not aimed at a specific virus.

The disadvantages of folk remedies include low efficiency- in order for them to have an effect, you need to practice them constantly. Such prevention is more a way of life than a set of measures.

Prevention of influenza and SARS, the drugs for which you find in a pharmacy, is more effective than traditional methods. Medicines work effectively if they are used according to the instructions. Today, there are many drugs to prevent diseases, first of all, they support our immunity. The fact is that due to the variety of viruses, it is impossible to invent pills for influenza - what wins one strain of the virus is not suitable for fighting another. Respectively, drugs are divided according to known influenza modifications and types of drugs.

Exist individual drugs against influenza A, they are used as prescribed by a doctor, they shorten the course of the disease, and the symptoms become less pronounced.
Antiviral drugs are used to treat and prevent influenza A and B. Such drugs are used during epidemics in contact with an infected person according to the instructions.
Homeopathic remedies for flu most often syrups can be used to prevent flu and colds in children.
Complex soluble powders with paracetamol, which are most often used as an answer to the question “What to take to prevent a cold?” they are characterized by a high speed of work and almost immediately relieve the symptoms of the disease, however, they have a strong effect on the gastrointestinal tract and liver, so it is not recommended to use them for prevention.
Nasal drops most often used when in contact with a sick SARS, so as not to catch the virus. Among them there are both preventive and stronger drugs. For example, nose drops for flu and colds are used at any stage of the disease, and some of them also help fight the destruction of the nasal mucosa. The doctor will help you choose the right drops, in accordance with the characteristics of the body and the stage of the disease.
Often used to prevent influenza ointment in the nose. The locality of their impact allows the use of ointments even during pregnancy and lactation.

Whether to get a flu shot

The flu shot is one of the most talked about ways to protect against illness. It is considered most effective if the vaccine is chosen correctly and matches the current strain. The task of vaccination is to strengthen the immune system, start the production of antibodies and prevent infection. There are several vaccines, it is best to choose the right one together with your doctor. When answering the question of whether it is possible to get a flu shot, the doctor considers the general history and condition of the body.

First, it is worth noting that there are a lot of myths about how you can catch a cold, most of which are wrong. Observing some ridiculous and far-fetched rules, people themselves do not notice how they are driving themselves into the trap of illness.

Myths and reality

Myth: You get sick sitting in a draft. Sitting at an open window, you can catch a cold in the muscles, most often this happens with the dorsal. But there is no way to catch an acute respiratory viral infection or flu. All "winter" diseases are not the cause of hypothermia as such. Such ailments provoke viruses that do not have the ability to fly into an open window.

Doctors, refuting the theory of a disease caused by a draft, argue that it is easier to cling to a disease weakened by hypothermia. This especially happens with a frozen nose, which is usually covered with a scarf on the street in frosty or windy weather.

Cold is not the cause of the disease, but only a contributing factor.

Myth: Germs make you feel bad. In any case, microorganisms that enter the body of a carrier - a person, collide with his immunity. We will not even feel the invasion of a weak infection, thanks to the “shield”. If the disease is stronger, the immune system will begin to confront, which will already affect the person's well-being.

Leukocytes - white blood cells, will produce special substances that suppress the infection. While the body thus gets rid of pathogens, a person feels:

weakness;
drowsiness;
headache;
sometimes even nausea.

The mucosa also suffers a lot - the virus irritates its cells with its influence, which provokes the production of a secret more actively in order to wash the infection out of the body. That is why doctors say that the most unpleasant temperature from 37 to 38 cannot be brought down with medication, because this is a sign of the fight against the disease.

If the temperature does not fall, but rises, then the human resources are depleted or weak against the invading disease. In this case, third-party stimulants in the form of antipyretic and antiviral drugs are needed.

Myth: The color of sputum reflects the state of the pathology. In fact, the color of sputum will tell a lot, but to a physician who can understand. But in general, it does not indicate an exacerbation of the disease, but about the "staffing" of the disease regimen.

2-3 days after infection, the body will begin to reject the enzymes that took part in the fight against the virus - processed. Mostly these are iron-containing elements that affect the color of the mucus, making it yellow or even green.

Myth: A cold is a source of infection. To some extent, this is indeed true. But this does not mean that, having protected yourself from everyone, you definitely will not get sick.

The ideal environment for the life and reproduction of microbes is the human mucosa. Therefore, during a cough or sneeze, a certain dose of microbes is also pushed out along with it, which settle on surrounding objects. But they do not die on dry and cold objects, because they are in the remains of the mucus, where they are quite comfortable. Thus, holding the handrail in public transport, you can become another carrier of the infection.

Myth: Stress helps develop colds. Definitely true. Stress has a detrimental effect on the human body, and it does not matter whether he is healthy or sick. Nervous shocks significantly weaken the defense, which allows ailments to quickly enter the body and take root there.

Prevention of SARS is familiar to everyone who has ever encountered a cold. Its main rule is to avoid direct contact with the infected. But how not to catch a cold if there are already infected people in the family. It is impossible to isolate a loved one, especially if it is a child.

How to protect yourself

Far from all living conditions allow isolating a sick family member, allocating him even a personal bathroom. What to do in this case? The patient must wear a special medical mask in order to protect loved ones from his illness.

The bathroom needs to be disinfected frequently - about 2 times a week. Because personal hygiene acquires in this case an unprecedented relevance. When in contact with the patient, even remotely, you continue to interact with the objects that surround him. And they may contain germs that will infect you.

Seriously, even healthy people should have individual items for personal hygiene - these are not things that can be shared even with the closest. These include a toothbrush, a sponge for washing the body, towels for the body and face, etc. But in the case of a person with a cold, it is not recommended to wash hands with soap alone and use toothpaste alone. An infectious person should eat exclusively from the dishes allocated to him, so as not to spread germs in this area. In such situations, the child is even easier to separate in terms of individual items than the adult.

Taking antiviral prophylactic drugs will not be superfluous. Thus, it will turn out to strengthen your immunity and not allow an insidious infection to enter the body even after contact with microbes.

There are people who are more prone to colds.

The risk group includes:

children;
pregnant women;
elderly.

Therefore, these people must first of all be removed from the patient and in every possible way be protected from infection. For a pregnant woman, especially during the first trimester, any disease is very dangerous, even a slight cold can adversely affect the fetus.

If possible, the same person who takes preventive measures and has strong immunity should take care of the sick. While caring for an infected loved one, it is necessary to wear a protective medical mask, and then thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water.

Sick children are most often looked after by mothers to protect their husbands. If two people in the family fall ill, but one of them is a child, an adult can look after the baby only as a last resort. Ideally, if the disease progresses greatly, you should think about hospitalization or additional medical assistance.

With a cold, we first of all strive to get rid of the unfortunate symptoms as soon as possible. We drink hot tea, we sneeze everywhere and everywhere, we dissolve lollipops from sore throats. Therefore, caring for the health of households often worries us indirectly. This can lead to disastrous consequences. Think about it, then treating the whole family from bacteria will be much more difficult than following simple precautions. How to prevent the development of a cold in your household? What to do to avoid accidentally infecting your family with a cold? The answers to these questions are contained in this article.

Adults are the most common source of infectious bacteria and viruses. It is they who constantly visit places of accumulation of masses of people. Adults go to work, to public places, use buses and trams, ride the subway. As a result of close contacts with various people, parents bring various pathogenic bacteria into the house, from which children can then suffer. Children do not yet have a well-developed immunity, which is why they will have to recover from an illness much longer. And if the child is sick, then you must definitely call a doctor and get a certificate 095 from Moscow, or any other city.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that adults must carefully observe all the rules of hygiene, even if they do not feel any ailments. Experts have found that a person who has a cold can infect others within a week after the onset of the first symptoms. Even if a person is already infected and has yet to show symptoms, they can still be contagious. Therefore, if you feel unwell, a slight fever, try harder to follow all the rules of personal hygiene. Also, try to avoid direct contact with people.

But what to do if you can’t contact your household members? There are several rules.
? Thorough hand washing.
Even if you think you wash your hands often, once the illness kicks in, do it several times more often. Every time you sneeze, blow your nose, touch your face, you leave virus particles on your hands. Then, upon contact with interior items, they remain on the sofa, bedside tables, TV remote control. There the microbes are waiting for your family members.
? Disposable accessories. Of course, it is not customary to use disposable plates, forks and spoons in your own kitchen. However, if you do not want to wash the dishes three times and be afraid of infecting others, it is best to use plastic dishes at least when you are sick, sometimes even a little longer.
? Disinfection. Scientists have proven that SARS bacteria can survive outside the human body for about seven hours. This time is enough for all your household members to become infected. There are many types of cold viruses and bacteria, but no less types of disinfectants. Alcohol, soda - the most affordable. The most effective types are sold in pharmacies.
? Gauze bandage. You can buy this “lifesaver” at any pharmacy. This device does not allow germs to spread throughout the apartment during coughing or sneezing. Also, your relatives can wear a mask or bandage so as not to get infected.
? Strengthen the immunity of family members. A set of vitamins, a contrast shower, citrus fruits and ascorbic acid to help you.
? Air disinfection. Quartz will help rid your apartment of germs. Essential oils will help disinfect the air and help everyone who breathes them.

The cold season, from October to March, is the most dangerous in terms of the incidence of respiratory viral infections, in particular influenza. This pathogen, in comparison with other types of viruses, has some features that determine the set of measures to prevent infection, especially if the family already has a patient with flu symptoms.

Epidemiological features of the influenza virus

Everyone knows that this virus is constantly changing. It is represented by two types, A and B, which mutate almost every year, so a person who has already had the flu may get sick again next fall or winter. The type A virus is the most mobile in terms of mutations; its spread in the form of epidemics is recorded every 1–2 years. Moreover, the disease always begins acutely, proceeds rapidly and often leads to serious complications. Influenza type B virus, on the contrary, is more resistant to mutations, its spread is repeated after 3–6 years, and the clinical picture of the infection is more uniform and the process develops gradually.

The danger of contracting the flu threatens all people, since no one has natural immunity to a new strain of the virus (if we do not consider the creation of artificial immunity through vaccination). But the most susceptible to infection are children, the elderly, as well as patients of any age suffering from concomitant chronic diseases.

The influenza virus has a very pronounced affinity for the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, that is, it is able to instantly attach to epithelial cells and immediately begin its destructive activity. That is why the flu has the shortest incubation period (from infection to the onset of symptoms of the disease) - from several hours to one day. Symptoms are acute and develop rapidly, the body temperature immediately rises to significant numbers (39–40 degrees), the patient suffers from severe headache and aching joints, and severe weakness develops. Then, a runny nose, cough join these signs, then the infection can spread through the respiratory tract, affecting other internal organs.

When breathing, coughing or sneezing, the influenza virus, along with the smallest particles of saliva and mucus, enters the external environment (this is an airborne spread). If there is a healthy person nearby, then in the absence of personal protective equipment, the possibility of contracting the flu approaches 100%. Overcrowding, high humidity and low air temperatures, which are very fond of the virus, as well as poor epidemic and hygienic conditions in the room - all these factors contribute to the extremely rapid spread of this dangerous infection.

From the air, especially indoors, viruses can settle on furniture and clothing, toys and utensils. Then they can get into the mouth from the hands, for example, along with food. In epidemiological terms, this route of infection (oral) does not play such a significant role as airborne, but on the scale of a single apartment and family, when someone is already sick with the flu, it cannot be written off.

What are the urgent measures to prevent influenza

All of the above features of the influenza virus and methods of infection must be taken into account if a child or adult in the family falls ill. First of all, of course, it is necessary to call a local doctor who, having diagnosed the flu, will prescribe a treatment regimen: medications, strict bed rest, plenty of warm drinks, light vegetable, fruit or meat dishes according to the patient's appetite.

Having provided the patient with all the conditions for recovery, it is necessary to think about other family members who are also at risk of getting sick with the flu. For this, it is important to carry out activities aimed at minimizing the concentration of the influenza virus in the air of the apartment, which will reduce its invasiveness (the ability to infect a person) and largely protect healthy people. These measures are:

Try to isolate the sick family member in a separate room, which will additionally create good conditions for him (there will be no unnecessary noise and other annoying factors).
Ventilate the patient's room as often as possible, as well as the entire apartment. The influenza virus is very volatile and, with good ventilation and open windows, quickly leaves the room. The most optimal time for airing is morning and evening, if possible, you can do this more often.
Mandatory wet cleaning of the premises, not only the floor, but also all surfaces on which the influenza virus can settle from the air: countertops, window sills, glass, design items. That is why, as soon as a person is ill, it is better to remove all unnecessary items from his room, which will create the best conditions for cleaning the room and, therefore, protecting other family members from the flu. If possible, cleaning should be carried out 2 times a day, using gentle disinfectants.
Use for the patient only an individual set of dishes (cup, plate, spoon and fork), after use, wash it with disinfectant solutions. This preventive measure, given the predominantly airborne way of spreading influenza, is not as important as, for example, in intestinal infections. But, bearing in mind the possibility of the oral route of infection with influenza in a limited room (apartment), it must be observed.
The use of a gauze mask by the patients themselves, which dramatically reduces the release of the influenza pathogen into the environment.
The use of natural fighters against influenza viruses that release strong phytoncides: garlic and onions. These vegetables can be hung in rooms and often eaten fresh.

Other urgent prevention measures are aimed at creating conditions under which the virus cannot enter the respiratory tract of a healthy person, even at high concentrations in the air. Of these, two of the most important points can be noted:

Mandatory use of personal protective equipment. First of all, it is a gauze bandage, or a mask, which, when worn constantly in an apartment, reduces the risk of contracting the flu several times over. It is necessary to have such masks, preferably disposable, for all family members and change them every day. If this is not possible, the used gauze dressings can be washed and then ironed with a very hot iron.

You can also advise rubber gloves, in which you need to carry out wet cleaning of the room where the flu patient lies, as well as washing the dishes he used.

Treatment of the nasal mucosa with special drugs:
- oxolinic ointment 0.25% (lubricate the nasal cavity 2-3 times a day);
- ointment "Viferon", which also has an immunostimulating effect (3-4 times a day);
- Fleming's ointment, this is one of the homeopathic remedies that is used both for the prevention and treatment of influenza (2-3 times a day);
- ointment "Asterisk", which does not process the mucous membrane, but the skin under the nose and around the nostrils (1-2 times a day).

All these measures for the urgent prevention of influenza, if the family already has a person with this dangerous infection, must be known and must be followed. Then the rest of the family will have a chance not to get sick and maintain their health.

What can be done before an expected flu outbreak or epidemic

Influenza outbreaks cause so many people to be temporarily disabled every year; often, unfortunately, serious complications develop. Children, pregnant women, employees of medical and children's institutions, and the elderly are at increased risk. Therefore, the state takes special measures that are designed to reduce the incidence of influenza.

First of all, it is the prevention of infection with the help of a vaccine. Virologists are constantly studying the behavior of the influenza virus, the nature of its mutations and distribution. Make predictions about which strain will threaten the population in the near future. Based on these data, immunologists develop a special vaccine that will be effective only against this viral strain. Then this vaccine goes to the network of medical institutions.

It contains particles of killed or weakened viruses, which, when they enter the human body, cause a massive production of antibodies that can later cope with active microorganisms. But in order to form a sufficient amount of antibodies, a certain period of time is needed. This is usually 1-2 months before the expected start of an influenza outbreak or epidemic, so vaccinations begin in October-December.

Anti-influenza vaccination is completely free for the population, each person can come to the clinic and get vaccinated. It is practically painless and causes no side effects. As the years of use of vaccination show, this measure is the most effective in preventing the incidence of influenza, significantly strengthening the immune system and helping it to cope with the infection, even with the highest degree of invasiveness of the virus.

In addition to prevention by vaccination, you can use such well-known methods as:

antiviral ointments applied to the nasal mucosa (oxolinic, "Viferon");
antiviral drugs in tablet form ("Remantadin", "Arbidol");
interferons and interferon inducers ("Grippferon", "Amiksin", "Kagocel").

They must be used when there are already people infected with influenza in the immediate environment, as well as at the very beginning of the disease. Moreover, they take drugs not once, but according to a special scheme that the doctor develops.

The prevention of any infections, including influenza, should not be forgotten throughout the year. It is very important to constantly strengthen the immune system through hardening, physical education, good nutrition, and the rejection of bad habits.