Respiratory diseases are coming again

This menacing wave of respiratory diseases is essentially a regular high-incidence event in autumn and winter when multiple pathogens are superimposed. It is neither a "new virus" nor excessive panic. Ordinary people without underlying diseases are given priority to observe at home and receive symptomatic treatment. High-risk groups can seek medical treatment promptly if they develop warning symptoms. There is no need to blindly stock up on medicines or crowd out clinics.

I have worked as a clinical pharmacist in a community health service center for 7 years. The number of outpatient clinics in the past half month has tripled compared to usual. Half an hour after the clinic opened in the morning, the waiting area was filled with people coughing and holding their chests. There were primary school students who came with nebulizers, and retired aunts who had pneumonia last year and were so nervous that they couldn't sleep when they coughed this time. The first thing many people said when they came in was "Doctor, do I have COVID-19 again?" ”. Judging from our recent pathogen rapid test data, influenza A accounts for 40% of the positive samples, mycoplasma infection accounts for 30%, syncytial virus and adenovirus combined account for 20%, and the rest are COVID-19 cases, and more than 90% are mild and do not require hospitalization at all.

Regarding how to deal with it, there are actually different ideas in the industry: Doctors from the western medicine team of our center have repeatedly stressed to patients recently that it is better not to prescribe azithromycin or oseltamivir right away. It is better to do a fingertip blood test and rapid pathogen test to determine the type of infection before using medicine. Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria and mycoplasma, but are completely useless against viruses. Indiscriminate consumption will increase the burden on the liver and kidneys. Dr. Chen from the TCM clinic we cooperate with has a different view. He said that the dryness evil is too severe in autumn and winter this year. Nine out of ten patients he receives have lung qi deficiency and dryness evil invades the lungs. Many people do not take western medicine at all. They drink Sangju drink with pear peel and reed root boiled in water, and moxibustion on the Feishu point for 10 minutes every day can relieve the symptoms in two or three days. Several colleagues around me who have mild symptoms have tried it, and indeed the symptoms of sore throat and dry cough have disappeared very quickly.

Last week, I met a third-grade child. His mother gave him azithromycin for three days at home, and his cough became worse. When he came over and found out that it was a syncytial virus infection, he didn't need antibiotics at all. So he prescribed some atomized saline and told him to drink more warm honey water when he went home (only for people over 1 year old). This week, he has been very excited for follow-up visits. His mother also complained that he had been anxious for several days before. If he had known better, he would not have given the medicine randomly.

Oh, by the way, I was infected last week. I caught a cold with the window open while working the night shift. When I woke up the next day, my throat was as dry as sandpaper and my chest hurt from coughing. I tested negative for A and B influenza and mycoplasma, so I didn’t take any medicine. I wore two layers of N95 at work every day and soaked them in a thermos cup. I ate seaweed with Ophiopogon japonicus, boiled some radish and pear water after get off work, and drank it after four days. Of course, I was young and exercised regularly, so I had the confidence to bear it. If it were my mother who had high blood pressure and COPD, I would have urged her to go to a big hospital to take X-rays.

Recently, I have met many young people who come here to prescribe "preventive medicine". They say that half of the colleagues in the company have fallen down and they want to take some oseltamivir in advance to prevent infection. It is really unnecessary. Oseltamivir is originally a drug used to treat influenza A. Its preventive effect is very limited, and the side effects are not small. When you go out, wear an ordinary medical mask, avoid going to crowded restaurants and shopping malls, wash your hands first when you get home, and don't touch your mouth and nose after touching elevator buttons or public door handles. It is better than taking any preventive medicine. Of course, don’t believe the nonsense that “just carry it and it will pass.” If you have a fever that persists for more than 3 days, a cough that makes you unable to sleep at night, or even chest tightness, breathlessness, and blood oxygen drops below 95, especially the elderly, children, and people with underlying diseases, don’t hesitate to go to a higher-level hospital for a check-up, and don’t drag it into pneumonia.

To put it bluntly, respiratory diseases come in waves every autumn and winter, but this year just happened to have a variety of pathogens coming together, making it particularly powerful. As long as you are in normal health, don't scare yourself if you have minor symptoms, and don't randomly search for information on the Internet to get it right. You should rest and drink water. If there are high-risk people in the family, give them more snacks and ask about their status twice a day. If you really have any problems, go to the doctor in time and nothing will happen.