How to distinguish ARVI from influenza? Signs of the flu and ARVI

For many, the off-season is the most dangerous time of the year. It is during this period that most people are attacked by viruses. As a consequence - acute respiratory viral infection and influenza, which are knocked out of the usual pace of life and cause significant discomfort. To start effective treatment of ailment, it is necessary to correctly determine its etiology. Therefore, it is so important to know how to distinguish ARVI from influenza by clinical manifestations.

What is ARVI?

If the doctor diagnosed ARVI, you should know that this ailment is a generalizing concept for all respiratory diseases that have a viral etiology. These diseases include influenza.

For the diseases of this group is characterized by a rapid appearance of symptoms, such as respiratory symptoms, lacrimation, general weakness, sweating and fever. The virus infection is transmitted by airborne droplets, while it spreads rapidly and affects 75-80% of people who have been in contact with the patient. Such a sad statistics is explained by the fact that the human body is not able to develop immunity to viruses, since the latter are constantly mutating and mutating.

What you need to know about the flu?

Many people do not consider this affliction serious and make a huge mistake, exposing their bodies to danger. After all, the flu is one of the most insidious respiratory viral diseases. It annually spreads across our planet in the form of global pandemics and epidemics, which take from 300 to 500 thousand lives. Therefore, it is so important to know how to distinguish ARVI from influenza in the initial stages of pathology development in order to start effective therapy.

To date, scientists have identified more than 2,000 subspecies of the virus. The most dangerous of them are Spanish (A / H1N1), pork (H1N1) and avian influenza. Like all SARS, the disease is transmitted by airborne droplets and is characterized by high "infectiousness". The last fact is explained by the fact that the incubation period of influenza and ARVI lasts from two to four days, and during this time the patient has time to infect many other people.

The disease begins with acute manifestations of intoxication, such as headaches, vomiting, chills, dizziness, and sometimes disturbed sleep and even hallucinations. Treatment should include bed rest, symptomatic therapy and antiviral medication. It is also worth noting that the patient is always isolated from healthy family members during treatment.

Diagnosis of ailments

To determine an acute respiratory viral infection, it is enough for the therapist to examine the patient, but to determine the etiology of the disease in this way will not work, since the symptoms of influenza and SARS are very similar. For an accurate diagnosis of the disease, the doctor must send the patient to the laboratory for the delivery of a number of tests. This is the only way to detect the presence of a virus in a person's blood.

In the laboratory for the detection of a disease, the most commonly used crops are contaminated blood in conditions of specific nutrient media. To do this, a series of studies based on serological reactions, with the help of which the concentration of antibodies in the patient's blood to the virus is determined.

But if we take into account the fact that laboratory analyzes are rather complicated and expensive, not all of them are passed. And pediatricians categorically diagnose influenza only on the basis of information received about the onset of the epidemic. In exceptional cases, only the first patients go through the study, and all others until the end of the epidemic situation the ailment is put "automatic". It is for this reason that the treatment of the disease is not always effective and can lead to a mass of undesirable consequences. Therefore, those people who care about their health, you must know how to distinguish ARVI from the flu yourself.

The initial stage of the disease

Despite the fact that the two diseases are very similar in symptomatology, there are a number of differences in which a person can independently determine what exactly he is sick. So, the first thing you need to pay attention to is the speed of the disease. As a rule, the initial stage of acute respiratory distress is prolonged for 1-2 days, while the symptomatology manifests itself sluggishly, but the person feels a significant discomfort (lethargy, stuffiness of the nose, sore throat, sometimes a fever) and partially loses ability to work. A memo on ARVI and flu, which, as a rule, always, and especially during epidemics, is present on one of the bulletins in the clinic, contains a lot of useful information about the development of the disease and its prevention.

As for the flu, the person, who is still healthy in the morning, after lunch, completely loses his strength and feels bad because of the high temperature. This disease is characterized by a rapid acute onset.

The nature of the development of pathology, like other signs of influenza and SARS, allows the patient to determine independently which of these ailments is being attacked by the body.

Body temperature

As already mentioned, in many respects the symptoms of these diseases are similar, and one of the signs is an increase in body temperature. But here there is one nuance. So, the flu is characterized by a rapid (for 1-2 hours) temperature jump to 39-40 ^o C. Almost all the antipyretic agents are not very effective. And even if the temperature was lowered, after 1-2 hours it will start to rise again. In such cases, the sick doctors prescribe not only drugs for influenza and ARVI, but also several antipyretic drugs, which need to be alternated and taken every 2.5-3 hours.

As for ARVI, then, as a rule, the temperature does not exceed 37.8-38.5 ^o C. It easily decreases after taking such drugs as Paracetamol or Ibufen. If the patient's condition is stable, there is no deterioration, then you can do without antipyretic drugs to enable the immune system to cope with the disease on its own. But if the child is sick, self-medication is not worth it. After all, the organism of a crumb can not cope with the disease, which will have a detrimental effect on its health. Therefore, when the first symptoms appear, you need to go to an appointment with a pediatrician who will assess the condition of a small patient and prescribe a treatment.

General condition of the patient

It's no secret that flu, colds, ARVI are diseases that cause a decline in performance and cause significant discomfort. But even on these grounds, you can independently understand what kind of ailment has broken daily plans.

So, with the flu, patients complain of severe muscle and headaches (especially in the area of the temples), as well as body aches, chills and increased sweating. In addition, in some cases, there is pain in the movement of the eyes and photosensitivity.

If we talk about the general condition of a patient with acute respiratory viral infection, weakness and weakness are present throughout the illness. But the pain in the head and muscles is very weak.

Nasal congestion and runny nose

Viruses of influenza and ARVI are provocateurs of inflammatory processes in respiratory organs. In this case, the patient begins coughing, the body temperature rises, and a stuffy nose and a runny nose appear. However, with the flu, inflammation and swelling of the mucous nasal cavity occurs much less frequently than with ARVI. And after 2-3 days the rhinitis completely passes.

In case of acute respiratory viral infection, the nose is laid already in the first two days, then, in addition to the swelling of the nasopharyngeal mucosa, a strong runny nose and sneezing appear. This increases tear.

Throat condition

For those who do not know how to distinguish ARVI from influenza, doctors recommend paying attention to the condition of the mucous membranes of the throat and pharynx. The ailment caused by the influenza virus is characterized by severe swelling, as well as reddening of the soft palate and back of the throat. At the patient of ORVI a throat swelling and red, thus it has loose structure.

By the way, if such signs of influenza and SARS as a swelling and congestion of the throat are common, then the plaque on the mucous membranes is characteristic only for the latter.

Cough

Before you determine which ailment the body was struck with, it is worth remembering when the cough appeared. If this symptom began to disturb at the very beginning of the development of the disease, and only then the rhinitis joined and the fever rose, it is ARVI.

If the disease started with fever, body aches and headaches, and only on 2-3 days a dry cough appeared, any doctor diagnoses the flu. Confirm the diagnosis can accompany cough pain in the trachea and chest. If you do not start taking medicines against the flu and ARVI (such as Cycloferon, Viferon, Immunoflazid, Arbidol, Anaferon, Ingavirin, Rimantadine, Tamiflu, etc.) with such symptoms. , The patient's condition can significantly worsen, because the virus will continue to exert its pathogenic effect on the respiratory system and the body as a whole.

Gastrointestinal reaction

In some cases, the reaction of the body to the influenza virus may be a disruption of the gastrointestinal tract. Diarrhea and vomiting in the patient appears already on day 2-3 after infection and lasts 24-48 hours. Without symptomatic therapy, the manifestation of this symptom may last for several more days and lead to dehydration of the body.

Despite the fact that many symptoms of influenza and SARS are very similar, you can independently diagnose the disease yourself. It is enough to carefully analyze the order and nature of the main clinical manifestations.

Duration of illnesses

At observance of all recommendations of the doctor the status of the patient ARVI improves already on the third day, full recovery comes on 6-7 days. After a man has suffered ail quickly restores strength and efficiency.

Despite the fact that the incubation period of influenza and ARVI is the same, the active phase of the latter is much more complicated and longer. Only a fever in the patient can last up to 5-6 days, and the ailment begins to recede only for 10-12 days. However, this is not all "surprises" from the flu. After all, even after full recovery within 2-3 weeks a person experiences weakness, malaise and headaches.