How to treat rotavirus infection in adults. Treatment of rotavirus infections in adults. Antibiotics, folk remedies. Rotavirus during breastfeeding

Of course, no vomiting viral infection exists in nature, it is called rotavirus, but users on the Internet turn to search engines over and over again with the wrong query... Therefore, we decided, in order to help those suffering, to name the article exactly that.

Vomiting viral infection in children

Treatment of a vomiting viral infection should be carried out in mandatory isolation of the sick baby from others. Infection occurs through the mouth when a child plays with a toy, communicates with another child carrying the virus, or drinks from the same cup. The methods of transmission of infection do not depend on how severe the symptoms of the disease were. Viruses can reside and multiply for a long time in dairy products that are refrigerated. If one of the adults in the family gets sick, then their infection can occur in a latent form, since the body already has the necessary antibodies. Young children do not yet have such antibodies, so they get sick more seriously.

Vomiting viral infection in adults

A vomiting viral infection develops very rapidly. The possibility of complications compared to food poisoning is very high. Between the moment of infection and the appearance of the first signs, a week to ten days pass. The virus is transmitted by airborne droplets and through poor-quality food. After recovery, the body develops strong immunity. In adults, vomiting viral infection has its own characteristics. When it enters the intestines, it produces toxins that destroy the mucous membrane and cause diarrhea.

Vomiting viral infection symptoms

An adult who is sick with a vomiting viral infection has a sharp decrease or loss of appetite. Vomiting occurs up to five times a day. Body temperature rises to 38 °C and can last for three days. Diarrhea lasts up to five days. Unpleasant pain appears in the intestines. They are aching, cutting or stabbing in nature. Flatulence is a concern. In severe cases of the disease, signs of dehydration appear:

• lips, skin and mucous membranes become dry;
• the skin becomes flabby and easily folds;
• possible loss of consciousness, convulsions, low blood pressure

The disease can occur in three forms:

• mild, when the temperature does not rise, vomiting and diarrhea no more than three times a day, there are no signs of dehydration;
• moderate, in which the temperature rises to 38.5°C, mild dehydration, frequent vomiting and diarrhea;
• severe, when the temperature reaches 40°C, unconsciousness, vomiting and diarrhea up to fifteen times and signs of dehydration are observed

The incubation period of infection in children is shorter than in adults and is five days. The acute period of the disease lasts seven days. The infection is very similar to a cold and begins with a common runny nose. Then comes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever. Vomiting is a characteristic symptom and can occur up to ten to twelve times. The child complains of pain and rumbling in the stomach. The stool is watery or liquid mixed with mucus. The baby refuses to eat and looks lethargic and weakened. The temperature can drop dramatically when it reaches high values. In children under three years of age, a vomiting viral infection is often accompanied by a respiratory infection, a runny nose, cough, red eyes and ear pain.

Vomiting viral infection causes

The cause of the disease is rotaviruses, which enter the body through airborne droplets and infect the gastrointestinal tract. The disease can be either isolated or in the form of an epidemic and is seasonal. Most of the people who get sick occur in the period from early spring to autumn.

One of the reasons for the transmission of infection is failure to comply with personal hygiene rules. The infection is also called dirty hands disease, so wash your hands often, especially after using the toilet.

Vomiting viral infection treatment

It is not recommended to lower the temperature to 38 °C, since at this level the virus dies. A very high temperature can be brought down by cool rubbing in the places where the blood vessels pass. To eliminate diarrhea, Enterofuril is used, which must be used according to the scheme, as well as Smecta and Enterol. You can relieve pain in the stomach with the help of No-shpa. To restore the intestinal microflora, Acipol, Bifiform, Linex are prescribed.

Treatment of infection is aimed at combating dehydration and toxicosis, as this is very dangerous for the urinary and cardiovascular systems. Smectite, activated carbon, and Attapulgite are used in medicinal therapy. A strict diet is required. It is allowed to eat porridge cooked in water and drink compotes. Dairy products are not recommended.

The development of rotavirus infection is divided into an incubation period, an acute stage and a recovery period. After recovery, a person remains infectious for another 10-12 days, excreting the virus in their feces.

Rotavirus infection is an acute infectious disease characterized by several stages. The duration of its course differs in different patients. How long rotavirus infection lasts depends on the severity of the disease, correct and timely treatment. After the illness, the patient continues to feel weakness and indigestion for some time.

In its course, this disease is divided into several periods:

• stage of the height of the disease (acute stage);
• recovery stage.

The stage of recovery may be preceded by the stage of development of complications. This applies mainly to the severe course of the disease.

The duration of each period depends on the severity of the disease and the effectiveness of the prescribed treatment. The disease takes longer and is more severe in children under 2 years of age and elderly patients. Children are more susceptible to dehydration, and they are more likely to experience various complications.

Incubation period

The latent period of the disease lasts from one to 5 days. At this time, the rotovirus does not manifest itself in any way, people feel absolutely healthy, and lead their usual lifestyle at home. Nothing bothers him. Only towards the end of the incubation period do the first symptoms of the disease appear - weakness, lethargy, slight nausea.

Acute stage

How long does the acute stage last? Its duration is from 3 days to a week. Symptoms of the disease develop rapidly. From its first manifestations to the peak of the disease in adults, no more than a day passes. After minor nausea, painful nausea appears, which develops into vomiting. At the same time, diarrhea occurs. Most often, after the first 24 hours, vomiting stops in adult patients.

In addition, the disease is manifested by the following symptoms:

• diarrhea;
• abdominal pain;
• increased body temperature;
• signs of dehydration;
• ARVI symptoms.

Diarrhea is accompanied by loud rumbling and abdominal pain. The rumbling is so pronounced that it can be heard at a distance from the patient. If you feel your stomach, the rumbling becomes stronger. Depending on the severity of the disease, the infected person can recover from 3-4 times to 20 times a day.

The stool becomes watery very quickly. Its color is yellowish or greenish. There is a lot of gas in the discharge, so it splashes in different directions during bowel movements. Feces have an unpleasant, sharp, sour smell that forces you to cover your nose and ventilate the room.

Patients complain of abdominal pain. As a rule, they indicate that the entire stomach or only the upper part hurts. In adults, the pain is less pronounced; in children it can be paroxysmal. There are times when it is pain that becomes the reason for a child’s hospitalization in the clinic.

With each vomiting or trip to the toilet, the patient loses water. This affects his well-being and appearance. The skin becomes flabby and pale. The eyes droop, facial features lose their usual roundness. Blood pressure may decrease and the patient may feel palpitations. There may be less urine, it loses its usual color and becomes more transparent.

The patient loses weight. In severe cases of the disease, a person loses every ninth kilogram of his weight before the disease. In adults, dehydration occurs later. In children, the body dehydrates faster, and they tolerate it more severely than adults.

The first manifestations of rotavirus infection may be a sore throat and sore throat. Worried about cough, runny nose, fever. All this suggests a viral disease of the upper respiratory tract. This leads to incorrect diagnosis and, accordingly, treatment.

Often the above symptoms are accompanied by weakness and lethargy of the patient. Sometimes the patient has diarrhea only a few times, and the weakness is so severe that he is not even able to get out of bed.

Recovery stage

With the right treatment, the third stage begins - recovery. Symptoms of the disease gradually disappear, and the patient feels better. This stage occurs within the period from 4 days from the moment the first signs of the disease appear to 7–10 days. This depends on the severity of the disease.

With a mild course of the disease, the patient recovers quickly. He regains his appetite and his weight is restored to normal levels.

In severe cases, this period is prolonged, and it takes weeks to fully recover. For some time the patient continues to feel weak and drowsy. I feel dizzy from time to time. The patient is forced to adhere to the diet, since any error leads to unpleasant sensations in the abdomen, bloating, and stool disorders. The weight does not return to normal immediately. Dehydration that a person experiences during the course of the disease is also dangerous.

How many days is a person contagious with rotavirus infection?

From the moment of infection until final recovery (approximately 10–12 days), the person continues to be a carrier of rotavirus, and excretes it every time he goes to the toilet. After a rotavirus infection, a person who has recovered is contagious for several more days.

Consequences of rotavirus infection

Conclusion

Both adults and children are susceptible to the disease. The shorter the incubation period, the more severe the rotavirus infection. How many days a person is contagious depends on the patient’s immunity status, the severity of the disease and the correct treatment. The carrier of the virus continues to excrete it in feces for several days after recovery.

Treatment must be carried out only under strict medical supervision and strictly follow the recommendations of the attending physician.

Orthoviral disease is an infectious disease caused by rotavirus (rotavirus infection). In an adult, the course of the infection is much easier than in a child. There are other names for this infection - intestinal flu, gastroenteritis or rotavirosis, RI, rotavirus gastroenteritis, etc. The causative agent of the infection is rotavirus. The disease is characterized by a short-term course (about 5 days) of an acute nature. The pathology begins in the oral cavity, where the virus enters from the outside. After recovery, patients develop immunity that prevents the infection from reoccurring. Although, if there is insufficient antibody response, viral pathology may occur again. Viral infection occurs in stages:

• incubation period – from 1 to 5 days;
• acute phase – from 3 to 7 days;
• recovery period – from 4 to 5 days.

Viral infection is diagnosed in both children and adults. For adults, this disease usually occurs in a mild form, but for children it results in serious complications. The patient becomes contagious on the first day of infection and remains until recovery, which usually occurs after 5-7 days, after which the body develops immunity to this virus.

In people with low levels of antibodies in the body, symptoms of the disease may return again.

How does infection occur?

Infectious pathology enters the body through the oral cavity. Infection can occur through dirty hands or insufficiently washed food. It is especially worth highlighting dairy products, due to the specifics of their production, it is through them that children are most often infected with rotavirus. These viruses are characterized by increased survivability: they survive well in refrigerator conditions and cannot be killed by bleach.

Infection of a child under 2 years of age often coincides with the start of kindergarten. This is due to new microbes that were absent in the home environment.

Doctors often refer to this infection as a “dirty hand” disease, since the virus can easily enter the child’s oral cavity from unwashed hands. Infections caused by rota viruses are often accompanied by inflammatory processes in the respiratory tract, so rota viral pathology can spread by droplets. Rotaviruses from the patient’s mouth are released into the air when sneezing, coughing or simply talking, and then infect others. From the oral cavity, viruses penetrate the gastrointestinal mucosa, affecting mainly the small intestine, which causes the characteristic signs of infection.

Establishing diagnosis

The diagnosis of "Ortho virus" or "Gastroenteritis" is made using laboratory methods, such as:

• RPHA (passive hemagglutination reactions);
• RSK (complement fixation reaction);
• PCR (polymerase chain reaction).

A general blood test will show leukocytosis with a neutrophilic shift to the left; in the acute period, an increase in ESR. A general urine test will determine erythrocyturia and leukocyte levels.

Symptoms of the disease

The viral infection spreads quickly in the body and immediately after infection causes the following symptoms:

• repeated vomiting;
• a sharp increase in temperature;
• rumbling in the stomach;
• diarrhea (in rare cases).

In the first days of the disease, the stool turns yellow, and in subsequent days it acquires a clay-like consistency. This symptom is a hallmark of gastroenteritis. The patient develops a severe runny nose, sore throat and sore throat, as well as a painful cough. All these symptoms are more common in children.

In an adult, the manifestations of infection are similar to digestive disorders. At the same time, the temperature may rise and appetite may decrease. The stool loosens over the course of several days, but this does not bother the infected person for long. During this period, the patient poses a danger to others, because the viral infection is easily and quickly transmitted. The symptoms of this infection may be similar to those of other diseases (salmonellosis, cholera).

Self-medication is not allowed for either children or adults. If there are primary signs of gastroenteritis, you should call an ambulance or a local doctor at home. In this case, you should not take painkillers.

Clinic of infection in adult patients

The course of the disease in adults usually manifests itself as minor digestive disorders. Sometimes symptoms of loss of appetite, weakness, loose stools and fever may be disturbing, but usually these symptoms quickly pass without taking therapeutic measures. Vomiting and nausea in adults are usually absent.

Such an inconspicuous course of viral pathology in adult patients is associated with stronger immune defense and a more adapted intestine.

Even if the symptoms of the disease in adults are quite mild, they do not cease to be infectious sources of infection throughout the entire period of the disease. If an infected person appears in a group or individual family, as a rule, after a couple of days, the rest of the family members begin to experience symptoms of the disease.

Symptomatic picture of the disease in children

In a child, this viral pathology is quite severe. It begins acutely with severe vomiting and a sharp rise in temperature. Children often show signs of diarrhea. Often the child begins to be bothered by the symptoms of a runny nose and sore throat. In the oral cavity, obvious hyperemia may appear in the pharynx. General symptoms may be supplemented by lack of appetite and severe weakness.

Practice shows that usually a viral outbreak of such pathologies coincides with an influenza epidemic. Specific symptoms also affect the patient’s organic secretions: urine may acquire a dark tint, and feces become light.

Children experience a high temperature, which is difficult to bring down and can remain at a constant level for several days. Symptoms of loose stool include its yellow color and an unpleasant, pungent odor; the child may complain of abdominal pain. Very young children, unable to explain the sensations they experience, cry uncontrollably, and a rumbling sound is clearly heard in their tummy.

When looking at a child who has been struck by a viral pathology, symptoms of exhaustion, drowsiness and lethargy are striking. If treatment is given properly, the symptoms disappear after 5 days, and the child recovers, although diarrhea may continue to bother you for several more days.

The right approach to treatment

There are no specific drugs aimed at treating orthovirus. Conservative therapy is necessary only to eliminate the symptoms of the disease. If a sick person has no appetite, then you should not force him to eat. The patient can be given chicken broth or berry jelly to drink in small proportions, so as not to provoke vomiting. At the same time, no dairy products should be consumed as food, as they are an excellent environment for the reproduction and growth of pathogenic bacteria.

In order to prevent dehydration of the body, it is worth using rehydration therapy. A sick person needs to drink more water, but it is best to replace the water with saline solution. Regidron can be purchased at a pharmacy or prepared at home; it is very simple: dilute a teaspoon of regular salt in a liter of water. In case of severe disease with increasing intoxication, intravenous fluid may be required. The patient should also take sorbents such as smecta, activated carbon and enterosgel. Treatment with these drugs allows you to remove toxins from the intestines.

The main goal of antiviral therapy is to combat dehydration and toxicosis that arises against the background of infectious exposure.

Prevention and treatment of bacterial infections is carried out using antidiarrheal drugs such as Enterol or Enterofuril. To correct digestive disorders, enzyme preparations are prescribed - Pancreatin and Mezim. If the temperature begins to rise, then wet rubbing with a vodka solution, which should be prepared in a weak concentration, will help bring it down.

With an orthoviral infection, body temperature rises in almost all cases. According to generally accepted recommendations (if the patient can tolerate it), it is not recommended to lower the temperature below 38 oC. After the viral infection is suppressed, the patient's appetite is restored. Further treatment is carried out with agents that restore the intestinal microflora: Linex, bifiform, bactisubtil and acipol.

Reducing the temperature

Temperature, which is often accompanied by viral pathology, requires special attention. Doctors recommend not lowering the temperature below 38°C if the child tolerates it satisfactorily. If the temperature reaches a higher level, then treatment with suppositories or paracetamol is indicated for children. If the temperature still does not go down, you can give the child ¼ analgin and paracetamol. But such treatment requires compliance with measures. The interval between taking paracetamol-based antipyretics should be at least 3 hours. Experts do not advise wrapping a child at a high temperature, and if antipyretic drugs do not help, you can wipe him with diluted vodka.

If there is a high temperature along with a gastrointestinal disorder, enterol or enterofuril is prescribed; these drugs eliminate the symptoms of prolonged diarrhea.

Only a doctor can diagnose an infectious disease by conducting research procedures and comparing the symptoms of the disease.

Drug treatment

The use of medications to treat gastroenteritis is considered effective. To influence the infection, it is more advisable to follow the following approach:

• use sorbents and enzymes;
• drink rehydration solution daily;
• take antiviral medications.

Treatment with antibiotics is strictly prohibited, as this will only aggravate the course of the disease and will not prevent its development. Sorbents for this disease are indicated in order to quickly remove toxins produced by this virus from the body. Drugs with a similar effect bind virus molecules and naturally remove them. The following drugs are used as sorbents:

• Liferan.
• White coal.
• Activated carbon.
• Enterosgel.

Viral infection in the acute period requires the use of antiviral drugs:

• Amiksin.
• Groprinosin.

Folk remedies for orthovirus can be taken if the disease does not have acute manifestations. If the infection affects the small intestine, which is accompanied by vomiting, then you can take the following drinks:

• tea with chamomile flowers – for preparation you should use pharmaceutical chamomile;
• drink for dehydration - to prepare it, dilute the juice of half a lemon in a liter of water and add one tablespoon of sugar and salt to the resulting solution.

To reduce temperature, you can use rectal suppositories with an anti-inflammatory and antipyretic component. If the effect of the suppositories is insufficient, then you can take paracetamol with analgin - this is the most justified remedy for this symptom.

Regular treatment of gastroenteritis

Treatment of an infectious disease depends not only on immunity, but also on how quickly the virus is eliminated from the body. In this regard, during the acute course of the disease, a sick person can induce vomiting and give enemas with warm water. This will help reduce intoxication in the body and achieve a speedy recovery.

For more effective treatment, you should also give up fruits and vegetables, and pickles. During the recovery period, you should follow a special diet for 10 days, which excludes the following foods:

• fatty and fried foods;
• spices;
• dairy products.

Probiotics such as Lactovit, Acylact, Enterozermina, Lacidofil help restore disturbed intestinal microflora.

Effective treatment of gastroenteritis must be comprehensive! Only the professional approach of doctors and compliance with all instructions by patients help to achieve a speedy recovery and prevent the development of complications.

Possible complications

The main complications of rotavirus pathology are dehydration, which develops against the background of diarrhea and vomiting. Dehydration is especially dangerous for infants under one year of age, as it can be fatal. Therefore, it is important to monitor the patient’s drinking regime and not allow a prolonged temperature above 39°C. In general, the disease has a favorable course.

Rotovirus infection (correctly called rotavirus infection or rotavirosis) is an intestinal disease caused by a virus. Young children (under 3 years of age) are most susceptible to infection, among whom this disease is becoming more common and has a more severe course.

Roto viral infection is transmitted through dirty hands, unboiled water or milk. The virus is excreted in feces, like bacteria that cause intestinal infections (salmonella, dysentery bacillus), but it also has its own characteristics: it gets into both the saliva and urine of a sick person. That is why the disease is very easily transmitted in children's groups: a sick child plays with toys, while he coughs or sneezes. The virus settles on objects. Other children also play with these toys, then forget to wash their hands and sit down at the table. Thus, as well as through the use of shared underwear or personal hygiene products, infection occurs. Oral viral infection in adults occurs when caring for a sick child, but it is usually mild and does not require special treatment (in 90% of cases).

How does an oral viral infection occur?

Outbreaks of rotavirus infection are most frequent in the winter and spring, when children spend most of their time indoors. Children under three years of age are most often affected, but all age groups are susceptible to the disease.

Incubation period - from two hours to three days

The disease usually begins with symptoms very reminiscent of a cold - coughing, sneezing. Body temperature rises. Then loose stools appear, which have the following characteristics:

It is frequent (up to 15 or more times a day);

Watery;

Often foamy;

Has an unpleasant odor.

The chair does not always have these characteristics. It can be greenish or have flakes. In addition to diarrhea, vomiting appears. Elevated body temperature is sometimes very difficult to reduce; it tends to rise frequently.

This infection is dangerous due to the following manifestations, especially in young children:

Dehydration. Children lose fluid very quickly, copious loss of which through feces and vomiting is characteristic of this infection. It is important to replenish fluid on time to prevent complications such as:

Kidney damage: when fluid is lost abundantly, the body “gets” the necessary water from all tissues. This fluid goes into the vessels to maintain vital functions. The “economy mode” is activated. As a result, less and less fluid from the vessels is filtered through the kidneys. In the beginning, introducing water into the body can help them. If this is not done in time, the kidney tissue itself may suffer. Then only the “artificial kidney” device will save (if the child is transportable at this point);

Reduced blood pressure.

2. Acetone syndrome is a frequent companion to rotavirus infection. This term means that due to stress, which is the disease, the body uses up all its carbohydrate reserves to fight it. But this energy is not enough for him. Then he switches to obtaining it from fats in the body. A by-product of this “wrong” metabolism is ketone (acetone) bodies. They are very toxic to the body. Acetonemic syndrome is manifested by profuse persistent vomiting, lethargy and weakness of the child, and abdominal pain. Vomiting makes it impossible to feed the baby. A vicious circle develops (dehydration - increase in acetone in the blood - dehydration), which can only be interrupted by intravenous fluid administration. You can check for the presence of acetone using special tests that are sold in pharmacies. Such strips can be placed in a diaper or dipped directly into urine, and their color can be used to judge the presence or absence of acetone syndrome (normally, urine acetone should be negative).

Treatment of rotavirus infection

1. Fluid administration:

a) if the child drinks and absorbs water (he does not vomit after administering 10-15 ml every 10 minutes), then the liquid is given orally. These are slightly alkaline and sweetish solutions (in an acetonemic state), water saturated with salts (solutions of rehydron, gastrolite, oralit in water);

b) if you cannot drink or part of the administered water still returns with vomiting, hospitalization and drip intravenous administration of solutions are necessary.

2. Antiviral treatment - suppositories "Laferon" ("Viferon") or bottles "Lipoferon" in

age dosage.

3. To reduce elevated temperature, the drugs “Paracetamol” (“Efferalgan”) and “Nurofen” are used. Sometimes you have to give injections to lower it.

Roto viral infection: prevention

A vaccine has been developed against the virus, but the main preventive measure is following the rules

Rotavirus infection is commonly called intestinal or stomach flu. This name is erroneous, since this disease has nothing in common with the flu. It would also be incorrect to interpret the word “rotavirus” as a way for the virus to enter the body through the mouth - the term has a completely different origin.

Rotavirus infection is called because of the external shape of the viral particles. When magnified under a microscope, they resemble a circle with short spokes, which explains their name: “rota” means “wheel” in Latin. We will talk further about this disease and how not to get infected with it and how rotavirus infection is treated in adults if prevention does not produce results.

According to statistics from recent years, rotavirus infection is one of the most common infectious diseases in both Russia and the whole world. Its symptoms are most acute in children, however, the adult population also suffers from this disease much more often and more severely than everyone would like. In general, about 25 million people manage to become infected and recover from the disease in a year. Unfortunately, deaths are often recorded: from 600 to 900 thousand annually. It is all the more important to understand what we are talking about and to take all possible measures to prevent and timely combat rotavirus.

Causes of rotavirus infection

This disease is highly seasonal. For example, up to 93 percent of cases of rotavirus infection in our country occur during the cold period: from early November to early April inclusive.

The disease in the vast majority of cases is transmitted through the fecal-oral route, that is, through unwashed hands or dirty things. Also, among the potential situations in which a person catches an infection, experts also name the aerogenic route. That is, you can get sick without actually touching, just by being close to someone who is already infected.

The peaks of outbreaks of mass infection with the so-called intestinal flu occur during periods when an epidemic of real influenza is raging in a particular area. This is partly why rotavirus infection probably received this incorrect alternative name. At the same time, the discharge that accompanies the disease is very similar in its symptoms to the symptoms of hepatitis: urine has a darker color than the urine of a healthy person, occasionally there are bloody flakes in it, and feces, on the contrary, come out lighter than usual.

In general, the most obvious symptom of infection is sudden diarrhea. Actually, it is dehydration and general weakness of the body infected with rotavirus that poses a particular danger to the lives of children and adults in the so-called third world countries, where the level of medicine and the availability of drugs necessary to treat the disease leaves much to be desired.

The most obvious symptom is sudden diarrhea

In addition to diarrhea itself, the acute onset of the disease is characterized by profuse vomiting, a rapid rise in body temperature, severe pain in the throat during swallowing, and a runny nose. Also, the sick person often begins to experience severe headaches, complaints of chills and lethargy, prolonged rumbling in the stomach and reddened whites of the eyes. Such reactions are typical for infection with rotavirus serotypes new to the body. In the case when a person has already suffered an illness caused by the same serotype, he may experience only a slight loss of strength, a slight upset of the digestive system, loss of usual appetite and a whitish coating on the tongue.

Diagnosis of rotavirus infection

Recognition of the disease is complicated by the fact that every time a person suffers this infection, his body develops immunity to a specific serotype. Therefore, all subsequent episodes of infection are much easier. Often in such cases, the infected person may not even suspect that rotavirus is multiplying in his gastrointestinal tract.

This also explains the fact that doctors tend to consider rotavirus infection a childhood disease, since the child’s gastric juice is characterized by less acidity, and his young body produces insufficient secretory immunoglobulin to effectively resist infection.

In general, rotavirus infection is a cyclic disease. Each cycle is usually divided into three stages, or periods:

• incubation, which can take from one day to five days;
• acute, which lasts from three days to a week (in case of severe disease - more than seven days);
• the recovery period takes 4-5 days.

At any of the stages described above, the disease can be diagnosed with 100% accuracy in the laboratory using electron microscopy, which allows rotavirus to be seen in blood samples submitted for analysis, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, with which it becomes possible to identify any serotype of rotavirus in the body . There are also a number of rapid tests based on the stool enzyme immunoassay method.

As a rule, the clinical course of rotavirus infection is expressed by gastroenteritis and secondary lactase deficiency. The first term refers to catarrh of the intestines or stomach, and the second term refers to hypolactasia, that is, lactose intolerance. Also, at the initial stage of the disease, a combination of respiratory and intestinal syndromes is often observed. Based on all these signs, as well as taking into account the time of year, any physician can easily determine that the patient is sick with rotavirus infection.

Rotavirus infection - how and what to treat?

To date, there are no drugs on the market that directly act on rotavirus. Taking into account this fact, as well as the cyclical nature of the disease, the main emphasis in the treatment of this infection is on minimizing the effects of the virus on the patient’s body, and not on combating the disease itself.

All measures taken are aimed at eliminating such impacts as:

• dehydration, or dehydration;
• intoxication;
• disorders of the urinary system;
• disorders of the cardiovascular system.

Delaying treatment measures or letting the disease take its course is highly discouraged. The fact is that in some cases, against the background of an advanced rotavirus infection, there is a risk that a bacterial intestinal infection may develop in an organism weakened by the virus.

Emergency hospitalization, as a rule, is practiced only in cases of illness in young children. All methods of treatment and prevention of rotavirus infection in adults can, with a certain degree of convention, be divided into several main groups.

Table 1. Treatment and prevention of rotavirus infection

Important point! The tips and recommendations presented in the “Traditional Medicine” category should be applied in practice only after consultation with a specialist at the clinic. At the slightest suspicion of infection, it is necessary to contact a therapist, and if the diagnosis is confirmed, perhaps a gastroenterologist.

One of the most frequently asked questions regarding contact precautions between infected adults and healthy children is: Should a nursing mother with rotavirus infection stop breastfeeding her newborn? Pediatricians are not inclined to answer this seemingly obvious question strictly positively. Firstly, infection with rotavirus through mother's milk is unlikely. Secondly, even if the baby gets sick, he will suffer a milder form of the infection. At the same time, during feeding, it is important to follow a few simple rules: do not kiss the child during illness and only contact him while wearing a respiratory medical mask.

We must not forget that adults tolerate rotavirus infection much more easily, but they themselves are a likely source of infection for children and adolescents. The growing body has not yet acquired immunity to various serotypes of rotavirus. Thus, an infected adult, who does not even suspect that he is already unwell, in contact with children, can start a local outbreak of the disease. In this regard, the steps described among the preventive measures become even more important.

Video - How to avoid getting rotavirus infection?

Conclusion

With timely measures taken to eliminate the adverse effects of rotavirus on the body, an adult tolerates the infection relatively comfortably. Upon recovery, the disease does not affect the general condition of the patient in the form of any long-term consequences.

As with any other infectious disease, to minimize the risk of infection, doctors recommend following daily prevention tips.

Being one of the most common infectious diseases affecting people on all continents, rotavirus infection has been thoroughly studied by virologists. Therefore, adults who care about their own health and the well-being of their family and friends need only ensure that the risk of contracting rotavirus is as low as possible, and, if necessary, actively carry out treatment in order to quickly leave the disease in the past.