Treatment And Prevention Of Virus Infections

It is necessary to create conditions in which fighting between virus and child ends up with child's victory. These conditions include regimen, diet and special medications.

Treatment:
1. Fighting with concrete disease symptoms. For example, treatment of eruptions on skin or cough attenuation, or particular nose drops, or action on high body temperature.
2. Improvement of functioning and lowering of natural loads on cells damaged by virus. For example, anti-inflammatory remedies or medications improving work of liver cells, or medications that activate blood supply of brain cells.

Significant complications and significant limitations that appear when choosing treatment methods of virus infections do define the fact that it is necessary to pay spacial attention on preventive measures.

How to prevent virus infections?
1. Vaccination. Injecting in the body of weakened virus leads to production of antibodies protecting from a particular virus infection (measles, rubella, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B, influenza, tick-borne encephalitis).
2. Avoiding contacts with potential source of infection. At home patient with influenza should be isolated from other members of his family. Selective sexlife to prevent AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
3. Healthy lifestyle helps to formation of a normal immune system.

Myths About Immunity

Do you think your immunity is low because you are often sick? Are you afraid to vaccinate against influenza in virulent season? Probably, you are a victim of common myths believed in society. Now let's try to reveal them!

Myth #1. If you are often sick it means you have low immunity
Cold, influenza, acute respiratory diseases show with running nose, sore throat and high body temperature. The man is sure that he got sick because he has low immunity.

Revealing the myth
It is wrong! When man feels these symptoms, it means his immunity responds to pathogenic microorganisms. Symptoms of cold are systematic and local reactions of our immunity to viral invasion. The disease is manifestation of strong immunity.

Explanation
In human body exists a group of special immune cells called T-killers. They do regularly examine all cells and analyze their receptors. Thus they recognize foreign cells or microbes and viruses and kill them. If patient has no temperature and the disease courses without symptoms common for inflammation – it means patient has low immunity.

Conclusion
If you are sick with influenza and it shows with temperature, running nose and sore throat it is good sign. It means your body fights the infection and immunity works correctly.

Myth #2. Vitamin C strengthens immunity
It is considered that taking vitamin C during outbreak protects our cells and prevents their membranes from distruction, which means it strenghtens the immunity.

Revealing the myth
During a disease viruses affect body cells, destroy their membranes and kill cells. On one hand, vitamin C normalizes cell membranes and help the immunity because it is strong antioxidant. However, vitamin C helps only in big doses – 8g or 16 pills should be taken at once. Otherwise, there will be no positive effects.

Explanation
Vitamin C is powerful antioxidant and it would help the immunity to fight influenza on condition that patient would take big doses of vitamin C which may fatal. Vitamin C is an acid, therefore its big doses may cause ulcer of stomach or kidney failure leading to death.

Conclusion
Vitamin C strenghtens the immunity only when taken in big doses, but it may lead to death.

Myth #3. Vaccine doesn't prevent from influenza
Many people beware of influenza vaccines as they believe that it doesn't prevent from influenza.

Revealing the myth
Patient cannot get sick from modern vaccines because they are safe and are created in such a way as not to infect a person, Vaccine helps human body to work out immune response to pathogenic virus.

Explanation
Vaccine has properties similar to real virus, but it is not contagious. Vaccine imitates viral infection to make immunity fight the virus. Therefore, when a real virus enters the body it faces antibodies produced by body with the help of vaccine.

Conclusion
It is necessary to vaccinate. It is most effective way to prevent influenza.

How Your Immune System Works

Human immune system nicely responses to the entering of foreign molecules (called antigens) into the body - it localizes antigens, then neutralizes them to destroy them. When immune system works normally, it is able to protect us from a great range of contagious diseases including our own pathologic cells which are formed in the body.

However, when immune system begins to work incorrectly or stops its work entirely, this may result in such severe diseases as AIDS or cancer. Normal immune reaction may occur naturally when agents of viral infection enter the body or may be activated artificially with the help of various vaccines.

Most vaccines contain dead or very weak microorganisms which cause development of particular disease (pathogens) . These microorganisms just activate immune reaction and do not cause the disease itself. Immunity acquired after vaccination is as strong as natural immunity which appears after body fight with viral infection. However, vaccination not causes in man usual disease symptoms in order to produce normal defensive reaction of immune system. Vaccination is performed gradually against viruses causing such diseases as measles, parotitis, roseola, influenza, poliomyelitis, hepatitis, and also some bacterial infections.

The effectiveness of body immune system work reduces slowly, and as a result with aging immunity becomes weak. It was found that most of cancers which appear in older people result from “aging” of immune system.

What Is Immunity?

Immunity (lat. Immanitas – liberation from duties) is an ability of body to resist infections and toxins. Immune system is most important system in human body. Immunity protects body not only from microbes that provoke infectious diseases but also from genetically foreign cells (parasites, enthetic tissues and even cancerous cells). Immunity to infectious diseases shows in several forms.

Natural immunity appears without conscious human intervention. It may be innate or adaptive.

1. Innate immunity (inherent immunity) is determined by characteristics transmitted heritably which are common to particular species. This is biological peculiarity of a specie which is resistant to particular infections. For example, humans never get infected with distempers and, instead, dogs never get infected with typhoid fever. Children in their first months of life have natural immunity to measles, scarlet fever, and diphtheria, which is connected with retention of protective antibodies that he got from mother who was diseased with them in past.

2. Adaptive immunity (acquired immunity) results from body reaction to entering of microbes in the body. It occurs after infectious disease or results from latent inflammatory process. Acquired natural immunity after ones infectious disease persists for a long time, sometimes for life (typhoid fever, chicken pox, measles, etc), and sometimes for a short time (influenza, etc). Immune system “remembers” all microorganisms which it faced before. Antibodies against them remain in the body for a long time or even for life. So when the microbe enters the body again, the immune system already knows how to fight it and as a result the disease courses in more mild form.

3. Artificial immunity appears after injecting vaccines or serum. Vaccination is performed routinely independently from morbidity rate. Serum with antibodies is used to provide rapid activation of immunity when infection has already occurred. The duration of artificial immunity is less than of natural immunity. Serum provides the duration of 2 – 3 weeks, and vaccines from several months to 5 – 8 years.

Obligatory vaccines are vaccines against tuberculosis, measles, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, etc. Routinely are made vaccines to particular population groups, for example, vaccines against intestinal infections to workers of food enterprises, child-care centres, etc. In particular terms vaccines are made again (revaccinaction).

How To Protect Your Children From Influenza?

When a man is diseased with influenza virus, almost all body systems are damaged including immune system, that is why recovered children feel weak and vulnerable to different viruses and bacterial infections. In order to lower disease incidence it is recommended to vaccinate not only children but also their parents.

In children from 6 months to 2 years with influenza virus, there is a high probability of complications influencing on cardiovascular and even nervous systems. According to research data, 40% of children of that age have complications with otitis, which often leads to deafness. New-born children diseases with influenza virus are subjected to complications.

Vaccination of children from 3 to 17 years is also necessary because children in this age often get diseased with influenza. Besides, children of that age are major spreaders of the virus which increases the risk of parents to get diseased.

The effectiveness and safety of vaccine

Vaccination practically has no contraindications but when choosing a vaccine you should consult your doctor. The effectiveness of vaccination in children is 70-100%. In children up to 6 months vaccination is less effective because of freshness of their immune system, so it is recommended to vaccinate pregnant women in second or third Trimester.

How to make a vaccine?

In order to get vaccinated you should go in one of vaccinating centers, or you can buy vaccine and use it by yourself.