Parainfluenza in adults

What is parainfluenza

This viral disease is one of the varieties of SARS, spread by airborne droplets.

The causative agent of infection mainly affects the mucous membranes of the larynx and nose. In addition to preschool children, elderly citizens, pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems and military personnel are most often affected by parainfluenza (outbreaks are often recorded in organized groups).

Causes of parainfluenza in adults

The entry gate for the virus is our upper respiratory tract. The predominant route of transmission, as already mentioned, is airborne, less often contact-household. A sick person becomes a source of infection.

You can catch parainfluenza through prolonged, personal contact with an infected person, say, during a conversation. The probability of infection depends on many factors – the state of your health and immunity, the duration of communication with the patient, the phase of his illness.

Symptoms of parainfluenza in adults

From the moment the pathogen enters the body to the first manifestations of the disease, it takes from 2 to 5 days. Parainfluenza begins with a feeling of malaise, weakness, weakness, decreased performance, increased temperature (usually not more than 38 ° C). Then these symptoms are added:

• severe runny nose;
• nasal congestion;
• pain, dryness and sore throat;
• dry, barking cough, which may be accompanied by chest pain;
• hoarseness of voice up to its loss.

If a person suffers from chronic lung diseases, fever may increase with a rise in temperature to 39 ° C, confusion, delirium. There is also a wet cough with a lot of sputum, a feeling of lack of air.

Treatment of parainfluenza in adults

Most often, parainfluenza is treated on an outpatient basis, but in severe cases, if there are appropriate clinical indications, the patient may be hospitalized.

Diagnostics

In most cases, the diagnosis is made on the basis of the so-called physical examination (study of the data of the clinical picture). Examining the patient, the doctor assesses the level of his consciousness, whether there is shortness of breath, how difficult nasal breathing is, whether the skin color has changed. When examining the larynx, you can see the degree of redness, swelling of the mucosa, narrowing of the glottis. Whistling rales can be heard in the lungs.

If necessary, additional diagnostic methods can be used:

Laboratory tests. The clinical picture can be supplemented by a general blood and urine test, blood biochemistry, and microscopic examination of sputum.

detection of infectious agents. PCR diagnostics makes it possible to find the parainfluenza virus in nasopharyngeal swabs and sputum. The patient may be prescribed a respiratory express test, enzyme immunoassay, bacteriological examination of sputum. We emphasize that these methods are relatively expensive, they are used only in rare cases when it is necessary to identify the exact cause of the disease.

Instrumental diagnostics. If pneumonia is suspected, your doctor will send you for a chest x-ray. Less commonly prescribed multislice computed or magnetic resonance imaging. Patients over 40 years of age with symptoms of heart failure are advised to do an ECG.

Modern treatments

As with any SARS, the patient is prescribed complex therapy. There is no specific treatment regimen for parainfluenza, so symptomatic treatment is used until the virus is completely out of the body.

The patient is prescribed:

Bed rest. In the first two or three days of illness, you should try to move and talk less.

Antipyretics. Remember that it is recommended for an adult to bring down the temperature if it rises above 38 ° C and continues to grow.

Expectorant, antitussive drugs. If the larynx and bronchi are affected, Mukaltin or Bromhexine should be used. When a patient complains of a severe cough, inhalations with saline are additionally recommended.

Antihistamines. They are necessary to eliminate swelling of the larynx. If you find it difficult to exhale or inhale, you can take Suprastin, Loratadin, Pipolfen.

Sprays and drops from the common cold. In addition to them, to relieve a runny nose, you can rinse your nose with a weak solution of salt.

Gargling. The most commonly used solutions are Chlorhexidine, Furacilin.

Diet. You need to eat foods that are easily digestible and contain a large amount of vitamins. You need to drink a lot – up to two liters of fluid per day (water, fruit tea, fruit drinks). You should abandon fatty and fried foods, smoked meats, fast food.

If a bacterial infection joins a viral infection, it is prescribed course of antibiotics.

Prevention of parainfluenza in adults at home

To avoid infection, it is enough to follow elementary measures of non-specific prevention:

• limit contact with sick people;
• do not attend mass events during the epidemic season;
• regularly ventilate the room in which you are, daily carry out wet cleaning with antiseptics;
• observe the rules of personal hygiene: wash your hands, wear a mask;
• eat well, take vitamins, get enough sleep;
• in case of visiting public places, lubricate the nose with antiviral ointments, for example, oxolinic;
• harden an organism.

Popular questions and answers

The questions about parainfluenza, which are most often asked by patients, we asked to answer general practitioner, cardiologist Alexei Zhito.