Major Types Of ARVI

1) Influenza starts suddenly with severe intoxication, high temperature, photophobia, severe headache, body pain. By the end of first day appears dry cough. In most favorable course of the disease patient's common condition and temperature get normalized during five days.

2) Infection caused by parainfluenza virus starts gradually, with no intoxication, temperature never goes beyond 38C. Parainfluenza viruses mainly affect throat. The disease shows with symptoms of acute laryngitis (hoarseness of voice, dry cough).

3) Rhinovirus infection is characterized with nose hydrorrhea on the back of slightly frank symptoms of intoxication. Also patients suffer from tearing, frequent sneezing, no signs of affecting of trachea and bronchi. Temperature of the body is usually normal, in some cases it rises to 37-37,4°С.

4) Adenovirus infection is caused by viruses that affect not just epithelium of respiratory tract  but also lymphoid tissue. That is why besides symptoms of musous affection (nose hydrorrhea, unsymmetrical conjunctivitis, moderate cough on third day, fever on 8 – 12 day) are noticed increase of lymph glands, increased liver and spleen, abdomen pains. Despite high temperature, intoxication is not noticed.

5) Respiratory syncytial infection is characterized with affection of lower respiratory tract and has the same symptoms as bronchitis. Catarrhal syndrome is not significantly frank.

6) Coronaviral infection often affects upper respiratory tract. Clinical picture is similar to rhinovirus infection. Most frequently it affects children.

How to diagnose ARVI?
In order to make diagnosis it is necessary to make analysis of epidemical situation, symptoms, nature of cough, spit and nose mucus. To detect the agent it is necessary to make analysis that helps to detect viruses antigens due to immunofluorescence test.

ARVI (acute respiratory viral infection)

ARVI is an acute virus infection of respiratory tract that is characterized with high temperature (sometimes no temperature at all), intoxication symptoms, inflammation development. Inflammation may occur at any part of respiratory tract or at the whole respiratory tract (nose, paranasal sinuses, throat, trachea, bronchi). Also it may occur on conjunctiva.

Dramatic rise of the disease occurs in winter and in early spring. ARVI also occurs in autumn and some cases are registered all year round. Immunity after the diseases in past is strongly specific. It means that immunity is resistant to specific virus that causes ARVI. That is why one and the same adult may get diseased with ARVI up to 2 – 3 times a year and a child 6 – 8 times a year.

Agents of five virus groups cause ARVI. There are 300 viruses able to cause respiratory tract damage It is clear that each of them has its peculiarities. In summer and autumn the agents most frequently are agents of picornavirus group (rhinoviruses), in latest autumn and winter ARVI is caused by pneumotropic viruses (influenza)

Source of infection is diseased person with frank ARVI symptoms. Seldom source of infection are healthy virus carriers. Infection is transmitted via airborne. However, virus may be transmitted via contact with patient (handshake, kisses, objects). The immunity after carried virus infection usually remains resistant for a short period of time.

ARVI Symptoms

Any acute respiratory viral infection is manifested with next symptoms:
* acute onset of the disease
* body temperature increase
* symptoms of intoxication that are developed in first three days (headache, loss of appetite, weakness)
* appearing of catarrhal syndrome: stuffiness in nose, nasal discharge, sore throat, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, voice hoarseness, cough, eye conjunctiva.

Herpes Zoster

Herpes zoster is a disease resulting from the activation of the virus that stayed in the human body after chicken pox carried earlier. The disease is characterized with fever, general intoxication, pains and vesiculation along sensorial nerves,

Causes

With herpes zoster are diseased people in nervous system of which remains chicken pox virus for life. The disease usually affects older people.

How virus is activated?

Lowered with age immunity or severe diseases may activate chicken pox virus and causes nerves inflammation where the virus lives. Via sensorial nerves virus spreads into skin and mucus membranes where inflammation develops.

Symptoms

The disease starts acutely with increase of body temperature and full-blown burning pains, inch in spots of future rash. Pains appear on spots of affected nerves (often intercostal) and has one-way belting character. Sometimes pains become intolerable, they do increase when touching the skin, movements, cooling. In 3 – 4 days skin on pain spots becomes red and there appear groups with rare bladders filled with transparent liquid which soon becomes turbid. With appearing of cutaneous eruption, pains usually become less intense, but every second patient suffers from these pains for a month. In 3 – 5 days bladders dry up and turn into crusts.

The total duration of the disease is 7 – 10 days. However, in people with significantly lowered immunuty the disease courses more severe and long.

When in process get involved cranial nerves, pains and rash may appear on facial skin, mucus membranes of eyes and nose, earflap or acoustic meatus.

Complications

Almost in 10% of patients with herpes zoster pains in affected area last for more than one month. In some patients pains return back after one year of recovery.

Recognition

The appearing of one-way vesiculation with pains along intercostal space helps to make the diagnosis.

Treatment

It is necessary to start herpes zoster treatment after first disease manifestations (first days of rash appearing). All patients (especially people younger 20 years) must examine in order to find the reasons for immunity lowering.

Preventive measures

Healthy lifestyle.

Ways Of Hepatitis Diagnostication

Q: When it is necessary to make examination after unprotected sex?

A: It is necessary to undergo polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 10 days after having unprotected sex. Antibodies test will give information only in 1-3 months.

Q: Is it possible to get recovered more rapidly if PCR detected virus in blood immediately after infection?

A: Test will show if you are infected or not, and also will help your partner to vaccinate. However, for the treatment is not so important when diagnosis was made – in several days or weeks after infection. It was proved that treatment delay even for a few months never aggravates the result but it is virulent to delay treatment more than one year.

Frequently, doctors choose waiting game when they meet hepatitis B. Acute hepatitis B in adults without immune deficiencies in 95% cases ends up with autorecovery. And acute hepatitis C in 60-85% cases becomes chronic.

Q: How to know from test results whether treatment is needed or not?

A: Any type of hepatitis reqiures treatment if liver damage is significant. Biochemical test and biopsy, which detects fibrosis (when liver cells are replaced with connective tissue), will show it. In hepatitis B are taken into account viral loads – the more virus is in blood, the more probability is for the disease to progress.

When viral load is low and bioorganics indicators are normal, you may live in security and once a year undergo examination. Remember that in this period you may infect people around you via blood or sexual intercource that is why your relatives should vaccinate. The effectiveness of vaccination is 98%.

Q: What are the treatments for chronic hepatitis?

A: Hepatitis C may be treated with interferon alfa and ribavirin. Hepatitis B may be ctreated with interferon alfa or nucleoside analogues that are build into virus structure preventing it from reproduction. However, small persentage of patients get recovered from hepatitis B. Stopping virus reproduction helps to reduce significantly probability of complications.

Q: Are there any false-positive test results for hepatitis?

A: Yes, only in case of mistakes in the laboratory. In order to avoid such results, in good laboratories is made additionally check analysis.

Hepatitis Glossary

Antibodies are protective proteins which produce our immune cells in reply to contacting with virus antigenes.

Antigens are particles of the virus.

Viral hepatitis is hepatitis caused by a viral infection.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver tissue.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a high-strung test which allows to detect in the blood genetic material of the virus (its DNA or RNA). PCR detects virus in blood in 10 days after infection.

Viral load is the amount of virus in 1 ml of blood.

Additional examinations

1. Ultrasonic examination not detects hepatitis but at the stage of cirrhosis it shows first signs of changes. By the way, large liver mass is not a sign of hepatitis.
2. Genotyping is an examination of virus for the choice of treatment strategy. Different genotypes of virus C are treated with different effectiveness. Detecting of genotypes of virus B has no impact on the treatment effectiveness.
3. Liver biopsy detects the degree of inflammation. This is required when other analysis are not clear.

What Is Hepatitis?

A person may catch hepatitis and recover from it, not even knowing about it. A person may live with chronic form of hepatitis many years and discover it when the disease is on cirrhosis stage.

What viruses cause hepatitis?

Viruses A and E may cause acute hepatitis called “the disease of dirty hands” because people often get infection while traveling in the African and Asian countries. Viruses B, C, D may be agents of chronic hepatitis. Those viruses are transmitted via blood or during unprotected sex. In some cases chronic viral hepatitis after 10-30 years may lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer.

What are hepatitis symptoms?Acute hepatitis has the same symptoms as simple cold with food infection symptoms। In case yellow plague is not developed, people often recover successfully without knowing what disease they had। So acute hepatitis C in 95% of cases is unnoticed and hepatitis B is unnoticed in 70%. The main symptom showing chronic form of disease is constant fatigue.

Who and when should make tests for hepatitis?
# patients with chronic kidney failure who are on hemodialysis
# persons after operations and endoscopic procedures
# spouses and children of persons with hepatitis
# if the blood biochemical test shows liver damage
# drug addicts
# after unprotected sexual intercourse
# after making tattoo, piercing, manicure or pedicure in salon
# after visiting countries with high prevalence of hepatitis: South-East Asia, Central Africa

What tests should be made at the first suspicion?

To detect hepatitis, biochemical test of blood is made. This test is cheap, informative and available in most laboratories. The most important indicators for the diagnosis of hepatitis is the level of enzymes SPGT (alanine aminotransferase) and ACT (aspartate aminotransferase). In case they are out of normal level then it means the patient has hepatitis. Then the next step is to go to gastroenterologist and infectiologist that do specialize on hepatitis.

How to check for hepatitis B and C?

The most rational way is to do a blood test on the most important markers of chronic hepatitis B and C. In case were found HbsAg (membrane antigen of B virus) and antibodies to to hepatitis C virus, you should go to the doctor. He will say if it is necessary or not to make other tests to detect virus antigens. Such profound examinations are made in special laboratories. You may at once make blood test for RNA and DNA of viruses B and C. If they will be detected then you should anyway make antigen and antibodies test in order to find the best treatment.

How To Improve Your Immunity?

In autumn, winter and spring many of us complain on immunity lowering. We become more vulnerable to different diseases and we may catch any virus.


First of all, what is immunity?
Immunity is body resistance to everything heterogenes. Immune system protects body from penetration of dangerous for its life activity matters such as bacteria, viruses and fungi and other harmful micro organisms.

If infection enters human body, then infection starts to reproduce and human condition breaks down. Do appear first symptoms: sneeze, cough, high body temperature. If a person has good immunity then comes breaking point and in the blood start to produce antibodies – matters that destroy infection in the body.

Humans have special cells called lymphocytes. They act as soldiers protecting their state, in other words, they along with antibodies destroy infection acting as aggressors.
There exists species immunity when cats and dogs do not get infected with human diseases and vise versa.

Natural acquired immunity appears after past disease. Artificial immunity appears after flu shot. Everybody know that some people get diseased frequently and some quite rarely. That's a shame. So what to do?

The answer is quite simple – it is necessary to improve your immunity. It is not so difficult as it seems at first sight, although it requires some efforts. Alcohol, smoking, stress, poor ecology, unhealthy food and water, great mental and physical stress do lower immunity.

For most of us it is much easier to take a modern pill than to come down the sofa. Today modern human moves less and less, because civilization brings him a number of things literally on the plate. That is why those who want to iimprove their immunity should increase their physical activity. It may be gymnastics, aerobics, swimming. outdoor games, working in the garden, walking.

Quenching and yoga help in immunity strengthening. Healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, cereals, coarse bread, legumes, vegetable oils, honey, lactate products) also help to increase immunity. Vitamins should always be presented in your diet. Make your habit to drink vitaminic mineral assemblage. It is healthful to take each morning a spoon with honey when your stomach is empty.

Green tea and mate positively work on the immunity. Stress usually is resulted from overfatigue that is why you should rest good. So, you will reduce chances to get infected. And in case you get infected, you will recover from disease much easily. It is better to improve immunity in late spring, summer and early autumn.

Genital Herpes

Genital herpes is caused by the agent called herpes simplex virus (HSV). There are two types of herpes virus:

I herpes virus type affects mainly skin and mucous coat of lips, eyes, nose (HSV-1)

II herpes virus type affects mucous coat of genital organs (HSV-2)

However, genital herpes may be developed under the influence of mixed infection of type I and type II.

Ways of transmission:
1. sexual contact with someone who has a genital HSV-2 infection;
2. genital oral contact;
3. autoinfection, when diseased person carries the virus from center of infection on uninfected parts of the body, for example, from face to genital organs;
4. vertical way of transmission is possible when during pregnancy occurs infection of baby from his mother (fetal infection) or during childbirth
5. domestic mode of transmission occurs extremely rarely and is completely excluded if the virus containing the secret dries.

The main source of infection in men is the urogenital tract, and in women - cervical canal.

Course

Infection with the herpes virus does not always cause manifestation of the disease, often it may have hidden character. In this case people do not know they have this virus disease, so they become source of infection for their sexual partner. A characteristic feature of herpes infection is duration of staying of the virus in the body (herpes virus may stay in the body whole life) and predisposition to aggravation. Undercooling, stress, overfatigue, infective disease (influenza, sore throat, respiratory viral infection) may cause aggravation of herpes.

Common manifestation: high temperature, headache, muscle pain, nausea.

Local manifestations occur in vulva area, vesical cervix area, urine. Typical sign is appearing of numerous small bladders with liquid, redness and edema of affected areas. When those bladders do burst, on their spots appear sores which do heal during 2-3 weeks. Along with bladder eruption and sore appearing patient can experience itch, pain, burning, lower abdomen severity.

Diagnostics of herpes infection is based on detecting the virus and its antibodies in the blood and in swabs from affected area.

Genital Herpes Treatment

Treatment takes quite long time. Genital herpes treatment is directed on stoppage of virus reproduction in human body and elevation of body defenses. Remedies acting directly on virus are not still found. Doctors prescribe such medications as Zovirax (Aciclovir), Neovir, specific zoster immunoglobulin. Ointments are used to shorten time for sores healing on affected areas.

In order to rise immunity doctors prescribe immunostimulants and vitamin and mineral complexes.

Taking Zovirax (Aciclovir) during several months helps to prevent recurrence of genital herpes.

Complications caused by herpes virus during pregnancy:

# prematurity or premature birth
# development of fetus abnormalities
# transplacental infection