Q&A! How can the public respond scientifically to the high incidence of influenza A?

Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Juan

The influenza monitoring of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the level of influenza activity has increased in many parts of my country recently. Among the circulating influenza viruses, influenza A viruses are the most common. What is influenza A? What is the difference between influenza and the common cold? How should you treat influenza? How can you prevent influenza scientifically? The reporter interviewed disease control experts and infectious disease experts to answer your questions.

What is influenza?

Yu Pengbo, director of the Viral Disease Prevention and Control Institute of Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that influenza A is the abbreviation of influenza A, an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza A virus infection. Influenza viruses can be divided into four types: A, B, C, and D according to their core proteins. The influenza viruses that are seasonally prevalent in the human population are influenza A (A H1N1 subtype and A H3N2 subtype) and B (Yamagata and Victoria strains).

Compared with influenza B virus, influenza A virus has more hosts in nature and is more prone to mutation or recombination, causing it to spread rapidly among the population. Many large-scale influenza outbreaks in history have been related to influenza A virus.

Influenza patients and latently infected people are the main sources of seasonal influenza. Influenza viruses are mainly transmitted through air droplets, and can also be transmitted through direct or indirect contact with mucous membranes such as the mouth, nose, and eyes. Contact with objects contaminated by the virus may also cause infection. In crowded, closed or poorly ventilated rooms, influenza viruses can also be transmitted in the form of aerosols.

During the peak influenza season, children and their parents at Xi'an Children's Hospital line up for testing. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Juan

What is the difference between the flu and the common cold?

Yu Pengbo introduced that, first of all, the pathogens of the two are different. Influenza is caused by influenza virus, and the common cold is caused by rhinovirus, adenovirus, etc. Second, the seasonality is different. Influenza has obvious seasonality (in northern my country, it is more common from October to March of the following year), while the common cold has no obvious seasonality. Third, the symptoms are different. The typical symptoms of influenza are fever, which can be as high as 39 to 40 degrees Celsius, accompanied by chills, severe systemic symptoms, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, etc. The common cold generally does not have a fever or has a mild or moderate fever, mainly with nasopharyngeal symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, etc., and the systemic symptoms are mild or absent. Fourth, the harmfulness is different. Influenza generally subsides in temperature 3 to 4 days after onset, and systemic symptoms improve, but high-risk groups such as the elderly, children, patients with chronic diseases, and pregnant women may have complications such as pneumonia, otitis media, and myocarditis, which may develop into severe illness or even death. Complications of the common cold are rare, and it usually takes 5 to 7 days to recover.

How should I treat the flu?

Ye Feng, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, said that it is generally recommended that patients rest at home and keep the room ventilated after symptoms appear. Get enough rest, drink plenty of water, and eat a diet that is easy to digest and nutritious. Minimize contact with others to avoid infection. The focus of treatment is to relieve flu-like symptoms such as fever and cough. The patient's condition should be closely observed. Once a persistent high fever, accompanied by severe cough, difficulty breathing, changes in consciousness, severe vomiting and diarrhea, etc., appears, seek medical attention in time.

Children under 5 years old, the elderly, patients with chronic diseases, pregnant women or obese people are more likely to develop serious complications and should seek medical attention as soon as possible and use antiviral drugs under the doctor's guidance as early as possible. Antibiotics and hormones are ineffective against influenza viruses.

It should be noted that not everyone who has the flu needs to take antiviral drugs. Most flu antiviral drugs are prescription drugs and must be evaluated by a doctor before use. Currently, the flu antiviral drugs available in China mainly include oseltamivir, zanamivir, peramivir, arbidol and mabaloxavir.

Children and their parents waiting for treatment at Xi'an Children's Hospital. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Juan

How to prevent influenza?

Ye Feng introduced that in daily life, maintaining good personal hygiene habits is an important means of preventing respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza. Wash hands frequently, keep the environment clean and ventilated; try to reduce activities in crowded places and avoid contact with patients with respiratory infections; observe etiquette when coughing; take a rest when you have flu symptoms; wear a mask when going to public places or seeking medical treatment. In addition, vaccination is the most economical and effective means of preventing influenza. The influenza vaccine can be administered 1 to 2 months before the peak of the influenza epidemic, and can also be administered during the epidemic season when the vaccine is available.