Cases of Coxsackie virus infection in Anapa are detected annually. This "heat-loving" infection is often found in resorts. However, this does not mean that this is a special virus, characteristic exclusively for southern latitudes. Infection can also occur in central Russia, especially in the summer and early autumn. Children are most often infected; in adults, the disease is less common. Cases of familial infection have been observed, when parents were infected from a sick child.
What is the Coxsackievirus?
Coxsackievirus belongs to the group of enteroviruses. The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets, through food, drink and dirty hands. You can get infected by contact with the saliva and feces of the patient. An intrauterine route of transmission from mother to fetus has also been identified.
When ingested, the virus lives andmultiplies in the intestine. Hence its name - enterovirus. But the infection primarily affects not the digestive tract, but causes general intoxication of the body, which is manifested by fever and rash.
Baby under 1 year of age is rarely infected with this virus, as mother's milk has immune properties. Most often, children from 1 to 10 years old get sick. Adults are less likely to become infected, as they have stronger body defenses.
The infection is very easily transmitted, after contact with the pathogen, 98% of people get sick. It is very easy to get infected in crowded resorts, this is the reason for the more frequent incidence of the Coxsackie virus in Anapa compared to central Russia.
There are many strains of this virus. After an illness, a person develops immunity, but only against a certain serotype of infection.
Symptoms of disease
Coxsackievirus infection is not a new disease. It is well known to pediatricians and infectious disease specialists as the "hand-foot-mouth" syndrome. The name is associated with the main manifestations of pathology: a rash on the upper and lower extremities and signs of stomatitis. Another name for the disease is enteroviral vesicular stomatitis with exanthema.
Are there any features of the manifestation of the Coxsackie virus in Anapa? Symptoms of the disease are the same for all regions. Regardless of where the infection occurred, the signs of an enterovirus infection will be no different.
The incubation period lasts from 2 to 10days. The disease begins acutely and proceeds with the following symptoms:
- The body temperature rises to 39-40 degrees. There is a general malaise, body aches, weakness.
- Diarrhea occurs. The frequency of stool reaches several times a day.
- There is redness in the throat, pain when swallowing.
- On the 2-3rd day of illness, a rash appears on the palms and feet in the form of small convex spots of red color. Then they become like vesicles (vesicles) and resemble rashes with chickenpox. Sores appear in the mouth, as with stomatitis.
- The rashes are painful, the patient is worried about severe itching. The child often refuses to eat and drink due to pain when swallowing. The rash on the feet may look like small red calluses. This can cause pain when walking.
- There is pain when pressing on the nails.
In children and adolescents, the disease can occur in the form of herpangina. It is important to know that this pathology has nothing to do with herpes and is caused by the Coxsackie virus. There are the same signs as in the hand-foot-mouth syndrome, but the inflammation of the throat is more pronounced.
Consequences of the disease
The acute period of the disease lasts 7-10 days. Then the symptoms gradually subside, the rash turns pale. After 2-3 weeks, the skin begins to peel off on the affected areas. This process should not be interfered with. The skin in the areas of the rash should be completely renewed.
After about 3-4 weeks, detachment of the nails on the fingers and toes may occur. parentssick children are often frightened by this phenomenon. However, fears are in vain, this is a natural process. Detachment is due to the fact that during illness, rashes form not only on the outer skin, but also under the nails.
After recovery, the infection persists in the intestines for 10 to 21 days. During this period, a person can become a source of infection. In some patients, the virus may remain in the body for a long time after the disappearance of all acute symptoms. In this case, the person feels he althy, but is a virus carrier.
Complications of the disease
What's scary about Coxsackie? The disease itself is not dangerous if it occurs in the form of the hand-foot-mouth syndrome. However, some strains of the virus can affect the central nervous system and lead to meningitis and polio-like manifestations. Unlike other brain infections, diseases caused by the Coxsackievirus have a more favorable prognosis and end in full recovery.
The disease can give complications to the heart and central nervous system. This leads to myocarditis and meningoencephalitis. Boys may develop inflammation of the testicles - orchitis. However, these effects are rare.
Newborn babies are rarely infected with the virus. But in infants, the disease is severe in the form of meningoencephalitis with heart failure, which poses a threat to the life of the baby.
Infection with the Coxsackie virus is dangerous for pregnant women. During the first months of gestationchild disease increases the likelihood of miscarriage. If a woman falls ill shortly before giving birth, she can pass the virus on to her baby.
Disease diagnosis
If you have been infected with the Coxsackie virus in Anapa or other resorts, you should see a doctor as soon as possible. Diagnosis of this disease is often difficult. Symptoms of enterovirus infection resemble manifestations of other pathologies: chickenpox, herpes, measles.
Sometimes Coxsackie rashes are confused with allergies. In the first days of the disease, there is still no rash, only high fever and diarrhea are observed. For this reason, an enterovirus infection is often mistaken for "stomach flu", as the people call rotavirus.
Symptoms and treatment of an infection caused by the Coxsackievirus can only be determined by an experienced doctor. The following research methods are prescribed:
- PCR diagnostics. This method helps to find the RNA of the virus in urine, feces or nasopharyngeal lavage.
- Detection of antibodies to infection in a blood test.
How to treat Coxsackie?
No specific treatment has been developed against the virus. Only symptomatic therapy is used. After 8-10 days, the body copes with the disease on its own. However, enterovirus infection has unpleasant manifestations and it is very difficult to endure fever, itching and pain for a long time. You can alleviate the patient's condition in the following ways:
- Drink as much liquid as possible. Because of the sore throat and rashes in the mouth, it is very difficult for the patient to swallow. But you need to drink it, it will help reduce intoxication.organism.
- Take activated charcoal to eliminate toxins.
- Use "Paracetamol" at high temperature. Ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do not reduce fever in enterovirus infection.
- With severe itching, you can take antihistamines: Suprastin, Tavegil, Claritin.
- If the patient is concerned about pain in the area of the rash, then the use of analgesics is indicated: analgin, baralgin, "Ketanova".
- It is useful to gargle with a decoction of chamomile or soda.
- The patient should be given pureed food at room temperature so as not to irritate the sore throat and mouth.
- The drug "Acyclovir" is effective in the treatment of herpes, but has virtually no effect on the Coxsackie virus. Antiviral drugs of the interferon series help only in the first hours of the disease.
- Antibiotics are useless for this disease.
How to treat a rash with Coxsackie?
When enterovirus infection should not treat rashes with hormonal ointments. They negatively affect the immunity that the patient's body needs to fight infection.
With severe itching, ointments "Fenistil", "Calamin", "Tsindol" will help. If the vesicles open, then apply Povidone Iodine to the affected areas.
It is very important to avoid festering rashes. When the bubbles open, it is necessary to lubricate the rash with a bactericidal ointment"Bactroban".
How to treat the consequences of the disease?
After recovery, the patient usually leaves the skin in the area of the rash. There is no need to deal with this phenomenon. You can only periodically apply emollient creams to the skin. The renewal of affected skin is a natural process.
If a child or an adult's nails fall off after suffering a Coxsackie infection, then this should not cause alarm. Doctors do not recommend cutting nails during this period to prevent them from falling off. But there is nothing dangerous in such a symptom. Within 3-6 months, new nail plates grow.
Is there a virus epidemic?
In the summer of 2017, there were reports of increased cases of the Coxsackie virus in Turkey. Treatment and features of the course of the disease frightened then many parents who want to relax with their children in this country. However, the Turkish virus is no different from a common enteroinfection that causes hand-foot-mouth syndrome. It is quite possible to get this disease even without ever leaving your hometown and without going to foreign southern resorts.
What was the reason for the relatively high incidence in Turkey in the summer of 2017? Usually in resorts, people, and especially children, become infected much faster. Many vacationers visit the pool, and in the water the infection spreads very easily.
Besides that, the crowding of people in hotels and on the beaches is quite large. Tourists contact each other by visiting animations and other recreational activities. In such conditions, the infection is transmitted very quickly. It is enough for one child to get sick, as after a while several children feel signs of a sharp malaise.
It cannot be said that there was an epidemic of the Coxsackie virus in Turkey. Such outbreaks of the disease are often observed in resort towns. Due to the high virulence of this microorganism, the disease is transmitted quickly. There are cases of Coxsackie virus infection in Sochi and other cities of the Krasnodar Territory.
Can I get the virus at Russian resorts?
Often tourists are interested in the question, how often does the Coxsackie virus occur in Anapa? The disease is usually observed in the form of isolated cases. The probability of infection with an enterovirus is the same as in other resort towns. Hot weather and high crowding of people can provoke infection.
Sometimes you can find reports that the Coxsackie virus has reached Sochi from Turkey. However, it is impossible to talk about the spread of the disease. Of course, there were cases of imported infection. For example, a sick child would come from a resort and infect other children in a kindergarten or school. But cases of infection with the Coxsackie virus in the Black Sea do not mean that the disease is spreading from Turkey to other regions. A person can become infected directly at the Black Sea resort. The outbreak of the Coxsackie virus in Turkey and cases in Russian southern cities may not be connected in any way.
It is difficult to say how widespread the infection is in southern Russia. It is possible that many cases of enterovirusremained unidentified. Sometimes even doctors find it difficult to diagnose this disease and take Coxsackie's symptoms for herpes, allergies or chickenpox.
How to protect yourself from the virus?
All parents traveling with children to the resort need to know the symptoms of the Coxsackie virus. Prevention of the disease is to prevent infection. There is currently no vaccine for the virus. To minimize the chance of infection, the following rules must be followed:
- Wash your hands regularly.
- Clean and rinse all items baby comes in contact with.
- Take vitamins to boost immunity.
- Avoid swimming in communal pools if possible.
- If there are already cases of enterovirus infection in the hotel, you should refrain from visiting animation events and game rooms.
- If a child has a fever, rash and diarrhea, it is necessary to isolate him from other children so as not to expose them to the risk of infection.
- Pregnant women should avoid contact with sick babies.
Following these recommendations will reduce the risk of infection. And then the child will remain he althy, and the rest will not be spoiled by a sudden illness.
