Autumn children have loose bowels, beware of rotavirus as a demon.

  Among children with diarrhea under 5 years old in China, about 40% of hospitalized cases are caused by rotavirus, and 30% of outpatient cases are caused by rotavirus. Li Dandi, a researcher at the Center for Virus Prevention and Control of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, recently reminded that diarrhea in autumn is not as simple as a cold stomach. Rotavirus infection is the real cause of diarrhea, and it is the most important pathogen of severe diarrhea in infants. According to the World Health Organization, in 2013, nearly 220,000 children under 5 died of rotavirus infection.

  Zhang Zhu, deputy director of the Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Hospital, also reminded that rotavirus is particularly active in autumn, and it recurs every year, usually from August to December, and the most active period in the north is October and November. Rotavirus diarrhea is highly contagious, not only through the digestive tract, but also through the respiratory tract. Therefore, children with rotavirus infection often have respiratory symptoms, such as fever and cough, accompanied by particularly severe watery diarrhea. This watery diarrhea may be like egg flower soup, but it has no abnormal odor. This is a typical rotavirus infection. Rotavirus may be accompanied by some food poisoning, including Escherichia coli, which are diseases that children are particularly susceptible to in autumn.

  What emergency treatment should parents do if the child suddenly has abdominal pain? Zhang Zhu said that taking rotavirus as an example, most viral enteritis can heal itself, and there can be a slow recovery process in about one to two weeks. However, children will lose some water and salt in the process, so it is particularly important for parents to deal with it scientifically.

  First of all, don’t eat antibiotics indiscriminately. For example, quinolones can affect children’s cartilage development, and children under 16 are not recommended to eat them, because parents’ indiscriminate use of drugs may bring more serious problems to children.

  Oral rehydration salts are more practical. It is recommended that families with babies can prepare some oral rehydration salts, which can reasonably supplement the loss of fluids in children’s bodies and supplement certain electrolytes such as potassium, sodium and chlorine. What if there is no rehydration salt at home? You can use orange juice bought in the supermarket to heat and sterilize, and then add a little salt. Because orange juice contains a lot of potassium chloride, plus a little sodium chloride, potassium, sodium, chlorine and other lost electrolytes are available; Orange juice contains high sugar and is a good calorie supplement for children with diarrhea.

  Liu Cuiying, deputy director of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Beijing Children’s Hospital, reminded that the symptoms of rotavirus infection are the most serious for the first time. Parents should not think that rotavirus infection is ordinary diarrhea. Once they find that their children have typical loose stools, or that they have no tears when crying, and their skin is relatively dry, or that they have persistent high fever, a lot of mucus or blood in their stools, acute abdominal pain, and their children are depressed or unable to feed water and food, they must go to the hospital in time.