Winter respiratory tract infection hotspots
Although, we have always said that cough is a symptom, not a disease, and there is no need to worry too much. But when the children accidentally start the "cough cough cough" mode, the poor little appearance still makes many parents worried.
When children "cough cough cough", some parents will serve their children a bowl of hot stewed pears with rock sugar to help them "moisten their lungs and relieve cough".
But will this method really work?
Yes!But that's not because of the incredible chemical reaction between rock sugar and pears simmering in a pot for a while, or that pears contain cough suppressants.
The most fundamental reason is that it is a bowl of sugar water.
The sweetness brought by a large amount of sugar can effectively suppress the sensitivity of coughing, and the moisture can moisturize the dry itch irritation of the throat, thereby reducing the number of coughs.
This also makes the child feel more comfortable in his throat and cough less after drinking a large bowl of water and sugary water
But it also means that giving your child hot water, or honey water, can achieve the same effect.
Studies have shown that honey has good analgesic effects and antioxidant properties, will reduce mucus secretion and cough in children, and help children cough and cold.
Therefore, drinking honey water may be better than drinking stewed pears with rock sugar.
In addition, in view of the time and cost of stewed pears and honey water with rock sugar, we also recommend honey water for children.
However, it should be noted that for babies under 1 year old, parents should not give their children honey to avoid botulism!
For children over 1 year old, when parents choose honey, it is best to choose pasteurized honey and not wild honey sold on the roadside, so as not to cause unnecessary harm to children.
In addition, if the child still prefers stewed pears with rock sugar to honey water, it is no problem to give your child some stewed pears with rock sugar.
1.Get vaccinated
In autumn and winter, the flu is raging. Some children have a cough because they have accidentally contracted the flu.
The most important thing to prevent this type of cough is to make your child less likely to get sick.
The most effective way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccine.
The flu vaccine can effectively prevent influenza by stimulating the child's body, allowing the child to develop immunity to the flu.
Even if your child is infected with the flu, the flu vaccine can reduce the number of episodes or reduce the severity of the illness.
In addition, the flu vaccine has long-term protective properties, and even six months after vaccination, the child's antibody level will be higher than the baseline level.
Many parents may be worried that it is already December, will it be a little late to get the flu vaccine again?
Don't worry, it's not too late!
It's the flu season, and getting the flu vaccine is still effective!Parents who have not yet brought their children to get vaccinated must bring their children to get vaccinated as soon as possible
2.Keep the air moist and fresh
In winter, when the temperature drops, the humidity in the air also drops and becomes drier, and many families will use air conditioning, heating and other heating equipment at home, which makes the home become warmer, but the air becomes drier and drier.
Dry air can easily cause children to have a dry cough. If your child is allergic to dust mites and dust, it will make the dry cough more severe and frequent.
Therefore, parents can use the following 3 methods to reduce the number of dry coughs in their children.
Use a humidifier
Using a humidifier at home can effectively increase the humidity in the air, thereby reducing the occurrence of dry coughs. However, when using it, it is best for parents to carefully check whether the humidifier at home is a cold mist humidifier (that is, a fogged humidifier) or an evaporative humidifier (that is, a non-fog humidifier).
This is because they are very different in how they are used
When in use, the evaporative humidifier can directly use tap water for humidification, while the cold mist humidifier must add distilled water or purified water when in use, otherwise it is very easy to cause humidifier pneumonia!
If you don't have a humidifier at home, you can also increase the humidity of the air by putting a basin of water directly on the floor
Use an air purifier
The Air Evolutionary can effectively remove airborne allergens such as dust mites, dust, etc.
Therefore, it is useful to use an air purifier when your child has a dry cough or a cough caused by allergies.
However, when choosing an air purifier, parents must pay attention to the suction power of the air purifier and the standard of the filter.
This is because the amount of suction power determines the effect of the air purifier in removing dust and mites. The greater the inhalation power, the better the effect of dust removal, mite removal, etc., otherwise, it will be useless.
In addition to high suction power, it is best to choose a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter) filter for air purifiers. This standard filter removes 01 μm and 03 microns of dust and other effective rates, up to 99998%。
Refuse to smoke
The pungent smell of cigarettes is also very easy to cause children to have dry cough symptoms, and second-hand smoke and third-hand smoke produced by parents when smoking are also very easy to cause respiratory tract infections in children, and even affect the normal development of children.
For parents, smoking can not only cause coughing, but also cause lung lesions, such as lung cancer.
Therefore, not only for the health of children, but also for the health of parents themselves, we must refuse to smoke!
3.Drink plenty of water
Although there is no evidence that drinking plenty of fluids is helpful for coughing, it is okay to drink plenty of water to moisten your child if the cough is caused by a dry and itchy throat.
And for children infected with RSV, as they may experience abnormal levels of antidiuretic hormone, in this case, increasing water intake too much is likely to cause problems such as hyponatremia.
So, how much water should children drink every day is the right amount?
For a child of 6 to 12 months, it is best to drink 120 240ml of water per day.
For a child aged 1 2 years, it is best to drink 240 960ml of water per day.
For a child aged 2 to 5 years, it is better to drink 240 1200ml of water per day.
1oz is about 30ml. ）
Even most coughs go away on their own after a period of time. However, if the child has any of the following conditions, parents must take the child to seek medical attention as soon as possible for targeted treatment
1.When the child has a cough that lasts 10 to 14 days or more;
2.When your child's cough worsens;
3.When your child coughs with phlegm and mucus, or when he or she produces pink sputum or blood
4.When your child coughs and has chest pain;
5.When your child is short of breath or wheezing;
6.When your child is unable to sleep at night because of a cough;
7.When your child's voice becomes hoarse due to coughing.