Coxsackie virus in Anapa: manifestations, symptoms and treatment

Cases of infection with the Coxsackie virus in Anapa are detected annually. This "heat-loving" infection is often found in resorts. However, this does not mean that it is a special virus, characteristic exclusively for the southern latitudes. Infection can occur in the middle zone of Russia, especially in the summer and early fall. Most often, children become infected, in adults, the disease is less common. Cases of family infection were observed when parents became infected from a sick child.

What is coxsackie virus?

Koksaki virus 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 of the infection from mother to fetus was also identified.

When it enters the body, the virus lives and multiplies in the intestines. Hence its name - enterovirus. But the infection does not primarily affect the digestive tract, but causes general intoxication of the body, which is manifested by fever and rash.

A baby under the age of 1 year is rarely infected with this virus, since breast milk has immune properties. Most often, children from 1 year to 10 years fall ill. Adults are less likely to become infected, since they have stronger defenses of the body.

The infection is very easily transmitted; after contact with the pathogen, 98% of people become ill. It is very easy to get infected in crowded resorts, and this is the reason for the more frequent incidence of the Koksaki virus in Anapa compared to central Russia.

There are many strains of this virus. After the illness, a person develops immunity, but only against a certain serotype of infection.

Symptoms of the disease

Coxsackie viral infection is not a new disease. It is well known to pediatricians and infectious disease specialists as hand-foot-mouth syndrome. The name is associated with the main manifestations of the 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 particular manifestations of the Coxsackie virus in Anapa? Symptoms of the disease are the same for all regions. No matter where the infection occurred, the signs of enterovirus infection will be no different.

The incubation period lasts from 2 to 10 days. The disease begins acutely and proceeds with the following symptoms:

1. Body temperature rises to 39-40 degrees. There is a general malaise, body aches, weakness.
2. Diarrhea occurs. The frequency of the stool reaches several times a day.
3. There is redness in the throat, pain when swallowing.
4. On the 2-3rd day of the disease, 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.
5. Rashes are painful, the patient is worried about severe itching. The child often refuses food and drink due to pain when swallowing. The rash on the feet may look like small red corns. This can cause pain when walking.
6. Pain is observed when pressing on the nails.

In children and adolescents, the disease can occur in the form of a herpangina. It is important to know that this pathology has nothing to do with herpes and is caused by the Coxsackie virus. The same symptoms are observed as with the hand-foot-mouth syndrome, but the sore 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 disturbed. The skin in places of rashes should be completely renewed.

After about 3-4 weeks, peeling of the nails on the fingers and toes may occur. Parents of sick children are often afraid of this phenomenon. However, fears are in vain; this is a natural process. Exfoliation is due to the fact that during the disease, 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 healthy, but is a virus carrier.

Complications of the disease

What is scary Koksaki? The disease itself is not dangerous if it occurs in the form of a hand-foot-mouth syndrome. However, some strains of the virus can infect the central nervous system and lead to meningitis and polio-like manifestations. Unlike other brain infections, diseases caused by the Coxsackie virus have a more favorable prognosis and end in complete recovery.

The disease can cause complications in the heart and central nervous system. This leads to myocarditis and meningoencephalitis. In boys, inflammation of the testicles may occur - orchitis. However, such effects are rare.

Newborns rarely become infected with the virus. But in infants, the disease proceeds severely in the form of meningoencephalitis with heart failure, which poses a threat to the baby's life.

Coxsackie virus infection is dangerous for pregnant women. In the first months of bearing a child, the disease increases the likelihood of a miscarriage. If a woman falls ill shortly before giving birth, she can transmit the virus to her baby.

Diagnosis of the disease

If there is an infection with the Koksaki virus in Anapa or other resorts, then you must consult 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 rashes with Koksaki are confused with allergies. In the early days of the disease, there is still no rash, only fever and diarrhea are observed. For this reason, enterovirus infection is often mistaken for "stomach flu," as the people call rotavirus.

Symptoms and treatment of a Coxsackie virus infection 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 the urine, feces or swab from the nasopharynx.
• Detection of antibodies to infection in a blood test.

How to treat Coxsackie?

No specific treatment for the virus has been developed. Only symptomatic therapy is used. After 8-10 days, the body independently cope with the disease. 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 condition of the patient in the following ways:

1. Drink as much fluid as possible. Due to sore throat and rashes in the mouth, it can be very difficult for a patient to swallow. But you must drink it, this will help reduce the intoxication of the body.
2. Take activated charcoal to remove toxins.
3. At high temperature, take Paracetamol. Ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do not reduce fever during enterovirus infection.
4. With severe itching, you can take antihistamines: Suprastin, Tavegil, Claritin.
5. If the patient is concerned about pain in the area of ​​rashes, then the use of analgesics is indicated: analgin, baralgin, Ketanova.
6. It is useful to rinse the throat and oral cavity with a decoction of chamomile or soda.
7. The patient needs to be given pureed food at room temperature so as not to irritate the sore throat and oral cavity.
8. The drug "Acyclovir" is effective in the treatment of herpes, but practically does not affect the Coxsackie virus. Antiviral drugs of the interferon series help only in the first hours of the disease.
9. Antibiotics for this disease are useless.

How to treat a rash with Koksaki?

With enterovirus infection, rashes should not be treated with hormonal ointments. They adversely affect the immunity, which the patient needs to fight infection.

With severe itching, ointments "Fenistil", "Calamine", "Tsindol" will help. If the vesicles are opened, then the drug "Povidone iodine" should be applied to the affected areas.

It is very important to avoid suppuration of rashes. When opening the vesicles, it is necessary to lubricate the rash with the bactericidal ointment "Bactroban".

How to treat the effects of the disease?

After recovery, the patient usually gets skin in the area of ​​rashes. It is not necessary to deal with this phenomenon. You can only periodically apply softening creams to the skin. Updating affected skin is a natural process.

If a child or an adult drops nails after a Coxsackie infection, then this should not cause anxiety. Doctors do not recommend cutting your 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 increasing cases of Coxsackie virus in Turkey. The treatment and peculiarities of the course of the disease frightened then many parents who wanted to relax with their children in this country. However, the Turkish virus is no different from ordinary enteroinfection, which causes hand-to-mouth-mouth syndrome. This disease can easily be obtained without ever leaving your hometown and without leaving for foreign southern resorts.

What was the reason for the relatively high incidence in Turkey in the summer of 2017? Usually at resorts people, and especially children, become infected much faster. Many vacationers visit the pool, and in the water the infection spreads very easily.

In addition, crowded people in hotels and beaches are quite large. Tourists contact each other, visiting animations and other recreational activities. In such conditions, the infection is transmitted very quickly. It is enough to get one child sick, as after a while some children already feel signs of a sharp malaise.

This is not to say that in Turkey there was an epidemic of the Koksaki virus. 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 infection with the Koksaki virus in Sochi and other cities of the Krasnodar Territory.

Is it possible to get a virus in Russian resorts?

Often tourists are interested in the question: is the Coxsackie virus often found in Anapa? The disease is usually observed in the form of isolated cases. The probability of infection with enterovirus is the same as in other resort cities. Hot weather and high crowding can cause infection.

Sometimes you can find reports that the Koksaki virus reached Sochi from Turkey. However, one cannot talk about the spread of the disease. Of course, there were cases of imported infection. For example, a sick child came from a resort and infected 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 spreads from Turkey to other regions. A person can be infected directly at the Black Sea resort. The Coxsackie virus outbreak in Turkey and cases in the southern southern cities of Russia may not be related.

It is difficult to say how common the infection is in southern Russia. It is possible that many cases of enterovirus have not been identified. 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 their children to the resort need to know the symptoms of the Coxsackie virus. Prevention of the disease is to prevent infection. Vaccines for the virus do not currently exist. To minimize the likelihood of infection, the following rules must be followed:

1. Wash hands regularly.
2. Clean and rinse all objects that the baby is in contact with.
3. Take vitamins to strengthen immunity.
4. If possible, avoid swimming in shared pools.
5. If the hotel already has cases of infection with Enterovirus, you should refrain from visiting animation events and games rooms.
6. 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 danger of infection.
7. Pregnant women should avoid contact with sick children.

Following these guidelines will reduce the risk of infection. And then the child will remain healthy, and rest will not be spoiled by a sudden illness.