According to the monitoring data from Beijing CDC, the activity intensity of seasonal influenza epidemic in Beijing has shown an obvious upward trend. The number of influenza-like cases in recent years has increased by 78% compared with the same period in 2019, and influenza A virus has an absolute advantage.
What’s the difference between swine flu, common flu and Covid-19 infection? When should the H1N1 vaccine be vaccinated? Do you need regular medicine at home to deal with swine flu? … … On the hot issues of swine flu, listen to Shen Ning, vice president of the Third Hospital of Beijing Medical University and director of the Center for Infectious Diseases.
What’s the difference between swine flu and common cold?
Influenza A is a respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza A virus. It is highly contagious, and people are generally susceptible. The most prominent symptoms of swine flu are high fever, sore body and fatigue. In addition, as a respiratory infectious disease, the symptoms of the respiratory tract also include runny nose, sore throat and cough.
The common cold is also a common infectious disease caused by respiratory virus. Relatively speaking, the systemic symptoms will be relatively mild, mainly the symptoms of respiratory tract. The common cold may appear all year round, but the seasonal characteristics of swine flu are obvious, and the systemic symptoms of swine flu are particularly prominent.
What’s the difference between H1N1 and Covid-19 infection?
From the clinical manifestations, there are many similarities between H1N1 and Covid-19 infection. People who have been infected with Covid-19 may have experienced it. Covid-19 infection may also have some systemic symptoms and respiratory symptoms, but the systemic symptoms of influenza A may be more obvious, such as high fever and systemic aches.
In addition, generally speaking, the course of influenza A is relatively short, and most patients will be relieved in 3-5 days, while many patients with Covid-19 infection have longer symptoms.
Covid-19 infection may cause symptoms such as decreased sense of smell and taste, which are relatively rare in swine flu and generally do not occur.
Because both H1N1 and COVID-19 are viral infectious diseases of respiratory tract, the prevention strategies of the two diseases are consistent, such as washing hands frequently, wearing masks, keeping indoor ventilation and avoiding going to places where people gather.
Is it too late to get the flu vaccine?
After being infected with swine flu, the human body is a protective antibody in a short time, so you don’t have to worry too much.
Because the mutation of influenza A virus is very rapid, it is recommended that everyone be vaccinated with influenza A vaccine every year. Relevant departments give brand-new vaccination by predicting the variation of the virus every year, so it is generally recommended to vaccinate against influenza at the end of the year, that is, around November, to prevent the occurrence of influenza in the next season.
Do you need to keep antiviral drugs at home?
At present, it is in the season of high incidence of swine flu, so you can prepare some drugs to deal with swine flu at home. There are good antiviral drugs for H1N1, but actually not all patients with H1N1 need to take antiviral drugs.
Generally speaking, most swine flu is a self-limiting disease, and many patients can relieve their symptoms in 3-5 days without taking antiviral drugs.
For most patients, it is only necessary to prepare drugs for symptomatic treatment, that is, drugs that we often say will reduce fever and relieve respiratory symptoms. Everyone can relax at home and drink more water, which can be completely alleviated. However, if the course of the disease is more than 5 days, or symptoms such as dyspnea appear, you should seek medical advice in time.
High-risk groups, such as people over 65 years old, people with basic diseases or immunosuppression, and pregnant women in the middle and late pregnancy, may need to take antiviral drugs.
Text/Shen Ning (Peking University Third Hospital)
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