Discovery of rotavirus intestine: symptoms, transmission and focus on home care
Among the “blacklists” of common diseases in infants and young children, rotavirus intestinal inflammation is well known and is one of the “behaviours” leading to diarrhoea in infants and young children, posing many challenges to the health of the child and worrying parents. An in-depth understanding of the symptoms of rotavirus enteritis, the route of transmission and the focus of home-based care is of crucial importance for safeguarding the intestinal health of the baby.
I. Understanding rotavirus enteritis
The rotavirus enteritis is a intestinal infectious disease caused by the rotavirus, which primarily attacks the epipelagic cell of the intestinal velvet, thereby undermining the normal digestive and absorption function of the intestinal tract. The virus is widespread globally, with almost every child growing up at risk of infection, especially among children between the ages of six months and two years.
The rotavirus is resilient and highly contagious. It can survive longer in the outside environment, for example on the surface of objects such as toys, desktops, doorknobs, and viruses can survive for hours or even days. This makes it very easy to spread to easy-to-attractive infants and children by various means.
II. Symptoms
Symptoms of rotavirus enteritis have certain characteristics and regularity. In the early stages of the illness, the baby tends to experience sudden fever symptoms, with the temperature usually around 38°C – 39°C, and some of the babies may have higher temperatures. At the same time, cold-like symptoms such as cough, aldicarb and nose plugs may also be associated, which makes many parents vulnerable to common respiratory infections at an early stage.
After fever, vomit usually follows. The more frequent vomiting may last 1-2 days, and the food or milk that the baby eats is often released in full, which seriously affects food intake. Diarrhoea is the main symptom as the condition progresses. Diarrhoea is characterized by a significant increase in the number of cases of defecation, with more than 10 or more per day, and by the fact that the defecation takes the form of rare water or egg soup, colours of yellow or yellow, and generally does not smell clearly. As a result of the loss of large quantities of moisture and electrolyte, the baby will soon experience dehydration symptoms. Dehydration can take the form of dry lips, skin rises, dents in the eyes, few or no tears when crying, a marked decrease in urine, arrhythmia and even serious situations such as sleep addiction and coma. In addition, chronic diarrhoea can lead to electrolytic disorders in the baby, such as low potassium haemorrhage, low sodium haemorrhage, which in turn affects the normal functioning of organs such as the heart, muscle and so forth, causing complications such as heart disorders and muscle incompetence.
III. Means of dissemination
The route of transmission of the rota virus is mainly through dung – mouth. In everyday life, the baby may be exposed to objects contaminated with rotavirus, such as toys, utensils, clothing, etc., and then bring the virus into the body through hand-to-mouth contact. For example, in places such as kindergartens, early-school centres, where babies with rota virus are infected, the toys they touch are not disinfected in time and other babies are vulnerable to infection when they play and put their hands in the entrance. In addition, the rotavirus can be transmitted by air foam, which can enter the baby ‘ s respiratory tract as a result of coughing, sneezing and then enter the intestinal tract to cause infection when the child is exposed to the disease at close range.
IV. Points for home care
When the baby unfortunately suffers from rotavirus enteritis, home-based care becomes a key component in helping the child to recover.
(i) Dietary adjustments
During the period of illness, the child ‘ s diet needs appropriate adjustment. Breastfeeding should continue to be practised for breast-feeding, as it contains a wealth of nutrients such as immuno-protein and contributes to the resilience of the baby. However, mothers should be careful about their diets and avoid eating spicy, greasy, irritating foods in order not to affect the child ‘ s digestion. For formula-fed babies, the milk powder can be diluted for the time being by reducing the amount of milk and increasing the number of times it is fed, so that the child can both feed and reduce the intestinal burden. When the diarrhea symptoms of the baby are alleviated, then the milk powder concentrations and feeding levels gradually return to normal.
For babies who have added food supplements, the diet should be light and digestive. Carbohydrates-like foods such as rice congee, noodles, buns, which are easily digestive and can provide energy to the baby. At the same time, some evaporated apple mud, which contains components such as fruit glue, can be appropriately added and has the effect of condensing. Avoiding the consumption of raw, cold, greasy, sugary foods such as fruit juice (except apple juice), fried foods, pastries, etc. for the baby can increase the burden of intestinal tracts and lead to increased symptoms of diarrhoea.
(ii) Hydraulic and electrolyte supplementation
Due to the large number of water and electrolyte losses caused by diarrhoea, timely recharge of moisture and electrolyte is essential. Parents can purchase oral rehydration salts, prepare solutions as required by the instructions and feed the baby several times in small quantities. For example, 50 – 100 ml of oral rehydration salt solution may be given to a child between the ages of 6 months and 2 years for each diarrhea. If the baby has vomiting symptoms, it can rest a little after vomiting and then slowly feed the rehydration salt solution to avoid over-feeding at a time causing further vomiting.
In the case of rehydration salt solution, a small mouth can be fed every few minutes with a small spoon, drip tube or syringe, allowing the baby to gradually replenish the moisture and electrolyte. If the baby refuses oral rehydration saline solution, or if dehydration is more severe, such as extreme dehydration, very low urine and deep infestation of the eye, the baby should be brought to the hospital in time for rehydration and electrolyte by means of an intravenous infusion to correct dehydration and electrolyte disorders.
(iii) Asscare
Frequent diarrhea tends to irritate the skin of the baby ‘ s buttocks and trigger problems such as diaper rashes. Parents are therefore required to do ass-care for the baby. Every time a baby defecates, it washes its hips with warm water, and is careful to move softly and avoid wiping the skin of the baby. After cleaning, the buttocks are slowly dried with soft towels, and an asspaint, such as Vaseline, zinc ointment, etc., is painted to protect the ass skin from the irritation of urine and faeces.
In the selection of diapers or paper diapers, the products that are well ventilated and watered are selected and replaced in a timely manner to keep their hips dry and clean. If the baby already has red ass, rashes, etc., it can, under the direction of a doctor, use some therapeutic asspaint or ointment, such as acid ointment, to promote the healing of the skin of the hip.
(iv) Observation of medical changes
During a child ‘ s illness, parents closely observe the changes in the child ‘ s condition. Attention is given to the temperature, mental state, appetite, frequency of diarrhoea and excrement. If the temperature of the baby continues to rise by more than 39°C or the heat is increased by more than three days; if the mental state is deteriorating, there are abnormal manifestations such as sleep addiction, coma and convulsions; if the number of diarrhoeas is significantly increased, there is slime in the urine, there is sepsis; or if there is no significant improvement in the symptoms of dehydration through oral rehydration, the baby should be brought to the hospital in time for the doctor to adjust the treatment programme.
Despite the vicinitis of the rotavirus, most of the babies have been able to successfully survive their illness and recover their health through careful care and proper response by their parents. At the same time, in daily life, the strengthening of preventive measures, such as personal hygiene, environmental cleanliness and timely vaccination, can effectively reduce the risk of the infection of the rotavirus and create a strong line of defence for the health of the baby ‘ s intestinal tract. Let’s go with love and science to keep the baby healthy.
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