What is better for children to prevent colds. Prevention of colds (ORI, ARVI, ARI and influenza)

Colds are familiar to almost every person. More precisely - to everyone! It is as easy as shelling pears to catch a banal cold, especially in the autumn-winter-spring period. It is worth overcooling in the wind or freezing at a bus stop, and literally the next day, or even earlier, the infection will manifest itself in the form of a headache, runny nose, fever. Also to the main symptoms this disease includes coughing, sore throat, stuffy reddened nose, weakness, etc. Sometimes it is not necessary to overcool: viral infection can "lie in wait" in transport, shopping centers and other public places. It is very easy to catch a cold in the so-called risk group: young children, people with low immunity, especially those suffering from chronic diseases, the elderly, and people who have recently had a disease.

Ideally, any cold goes away without complications, provided that the correct methods of treatment were applied to it on time. However, it is worth agreeing that it is much more important and more expedient to carry out prevention, prevention colds... There is an indisputable truth: the best prevention of colds is a set of measures aimed at limiting the number of contacts and at activating the immune system and strengthening the body's defenses.

Prevention of colds

Prevention of colds (ARVI, ARI and influenza) it is extremely necessary in the cold season, when the risk of catching an infection increases several times. There are two types of prevention of diseases: specific prevention (aimed at counteracting a SPECIFIC pathogen), which includes vaccination, and non-specific prevention, a set of measures to increase the body's defenses in general.

Non-specific prevention of colds includes measures to improve and strengthen the body, such as hardening, proper nutrition, regular physical activity, walking in the fresh air, hiking in nature, drinking clean water (1-2 liters per day), vitamins, special medicines, air and sun baths, healthy sleep, wipes with cool water and so on.

For all that, experts advise to take care of yourself not only during dangerous seasons (autumn-winter), but all year round.

Healthy eating

Prevention of colds in children and adults begins with adjusting the daily regimen and diet. In the diet of children, according to age, you should add fresh vegetables and fruits, rosehip broth, which is rich in vitamin C, nuts, seeds, vegetable oils, cereals, sea fish, and, of course, garlic and onions. To prevent a cold, as well as at the first sign of it, you need to eat 1-2 cloves of raw garlic 2-3 times a day. Also, you can grate onion or garlic, put the resulting gruel on a saucer and put it at the head of the bed. Such inhalation (especially at night) will help to quickly get rid of unpleasant symptoms and, possibly, avoid complications.

As a preventive measure, you need to use herbal teas, for which you can use sage, chamomile, mint, lemon balm, hawthorn fruits, as well as dried fruit compote, brewed ginger with honey and lemon, or just honey and lemon, mashed and mixed like jam. Such teas are suitable for those who cannot stand the smell of onions and garlic, and do not suffer from allergies. You need enough time to walk, devote time to outdoor games and sports.

Healthy hardening

Prevention of lung diseases should be based on hardening - rubdown cold water, aerotherapy (air baths) and heliotherapy (sunbathing). Hardening is the training of the body's thermoregulatory reactions, that is, the body's ability to respond correctly to hypothermia and overheating. Sunbathing in reasonable amounts is very useful, but the main thing here is not to overdo it, so as not to overcool and not get heat and sunburn. Also, the simplest and most affordable method of hardening is walking barefoot on sand, grass, not sharp stones (sea pebbles, expanded clay). This method is especially indicated for children who often suffer from sinusitis.

Fresh air and exercise

Thirdly, physical exercise will help in the prevention of colds: jogging, walking long distances, daily exercises, breathing exercises (especially in the fresh air, in the forest, park), swimming, going to the sauna. For the prevention of lung diseases, it is necessary to ventilate living and working areas more often - this helps to reduce the infectious load. And it is also believed that indoor air is usually more polluted than outside.

Prevention of intestinal flu is based on personal hygiene - you should take a shower every day, wash your hands before each meal. If you are not allergic to essential oils, you can redecorate the room. For the aroma lamp, use thuja oil, juniper oil, tea tree oil, orange or lemon oil.

If you adhere to these simple rules, you can not only become resistant to various colds, but also feel much better, full of energy and always have a good mood!

Prevention of colds in children

prevention of colds (ARVI, acute respiratory infections and flu) in children is the number one task for any mother. However, any preventive measure should be carried out subject to the main rule: the child must be healthy. This implies that such active measures as rubbing and dousing with water, walking barefoot on the grass, jogging, walking in the forest should be carried out if the baby does not have a runny nose, cough and temperature.

Hardening and prevention of colds includes the task of training the body's thermoregulatory reactions, strengthening respiratory system and activation of the body's defenses. As a result of such measures, air exchange in the lungs improves, the walls of the bronchi become more elastic, the body's defenses are activated, and bronchial permeability increases.

Another important rule for the prevention of airborne diseases is that all hardening measures will be effective if they are constantly carried out. Do not postpone walks in the fresh air only for the weekend: to strengthen the child's body, it is important to take a shower every day and walk in the fresh air.

Prevention of colds (ARVI, ARI and influenza) in children involves the use of fresh vegetables and fruits, sea fish, cereals, nuts, clean water, natural milk, garlic, onions and rose hips. You should definitely consult with a specialist about the use of vitamins and minerals, honey, fish oil and various immunomodulatory drugs. It must be remembered that the baby's immunity is a very delicate system under development, which cannot be thoughtlessly interfered with, therefore, immunomodulators and immunocorrectors can only be prescribed by the attending physician.

The development of influenza is due to the effect of the virus on the nasopharyngeal mucosa, which gets there by airborne droplets. In the case of a cold, the cause of the development of symptoms is the activation of the conditionally pathogenic flora of the body under the influence of a provoking factor, hypothermia. Most often, it is the bacterial pathogen that participates in the mechanism of development of the common cold.

Boost immunity

Due to the fact that not all patients after hypothermia note the development of cold symptoms, the state of the immune system also plays an important role. Patients with strong immunity feel healthy, despite the action of the pathogenic factor. Those with weak immunity notice the development of pathological symptoms.

Preventive measures for colds are aimed at avoiding hypothermia and increasing immunity.

Appropriate clothing and footwear is essential to prevent the development of colds. In the event that the body is overcooled, it is urgently necessary to take measures aimed at warming it: changing clothes to warm and dry, warming drinks.

Measures aimed at strengthening the immune system should be carried out starting with early age child. An important preventive measure in children is hardening. It should be carried out during a period when the child is absolutely healthy, after consulting a doctor. It is these children, faced with hypothermia, are more likely to stay healthy. Adults suffering from frequent colds, it is recommended to use a contrast shower to strengthen the vascular system.

The general set of measures necessary for the prevention of flu and colds and aimed at strengthening the immune system is as follows:

Compliance with these conditions contributes to an increase in immunity, both for colds and infections caused by any pathogen.

Measures against influenza virus

As for the flu, with weak immunity, it is more difficult for the body to cope with the pathogen. The disease has a more severe course, prone to complications.

Strong immunity is the key to a successful fight against the influenza virus.

However, the role of measures directed directly against the virus is also significant.

These activities include the following:

regular ventilation of the premises, since it is the airspace that contributes to the transmission of infection from an infected patient to a healthy person;
constant hand washing;
regular wet cleaning of premises;
installation of additional air humidifiers;
compliance with the temperature regime in the room at a level not higher than 19 degrees;
ignoring public events and other crowded places;
in a situation with an increasingly complex epidemiological situation, vaccination is possible.

The influenza virus is extremely virulent. This property leads to the fact that vaccination may be ineffective, despite the vaccination.

It should be borne in mind that strong immunity will develop only after 2-3 weeks. Vaccination must be carried out in a timely manner. Even after the vaccination, the complex of other preventive measures should be carried out in full.

In kindergartens and educational institutions, the timely introduction of quarantine plays an important role, measures aimed at avoiding contact of infected children with healthy ones, thereby preventing the spread of infection. The correct measure is to admit to work only healthy employees who do not have catarrhal manifestations or fever. In cases where this cannot be avoided, it is necessary to observe the mask regime.

Use of medicines

On the eve of influenza, antiviral drugs can also be used as prophylactic agents. It is quite logical to use during this period funds that increase the production of their own protective factor against viruses, interferon. However, most doctors treat antiviral drugs as drugs with unproven effectiveness. The pharmaceutical industry still has a lot to do along the way.

For the prevention of flu and colds, the use of immunostimulating agents is not excluded. These can be drugs in the form

dragee (echinacea);
tinctures (ginseng, eleutherococcus);
tablets (bronchomunal, imunal);
injections (glutoxim, derinat, imunofan, polyoxidonium).

Products such as honey, ginger, onion, and garlic also have immunostimulating properties. Regular consumption of them, as well as fruits, nuts, is the key to not only good health, but also the prevention of colds and various infections.

Essential oils such as fir, eucalyptus, tea tree also have immunostimulating properties. In the autumn-winter period, characterized by low temperature indicators, deterioration of the epidemiological situation, it is not superfluous to use these funds in the form of candles or other aromatic preparations.

A positive attitude and a good mood is an important measure in preventing colds and flu. Positive emotions contribute to the activation of the endocrine and cardiovascular systems, which are very important in the development of defense mechanisms against disease-causing factors.

(2 votes: 5 out of 5)

Viruses are especially aggressive in the fall and spring seasons. It is worth getting nervous, falling into sadness, overcooling or, oddly enough, disdaining a person sneezing nearby in public transport, as unpleasant symptoms begin. Every year, influenza viruses mutate, new symptomatic features appear. This year, for example, one has to hear that those who fell ill with the "cold" had bronchitis, sore throat, runny nose, heat, otitis media and even diarrhea with vomiting. And this is all for one person at once! Prevention of influenza with antiviral and immunomodulatory drugs, as evidenced by cases in this outbreak, has been ineffective. But we know from that, unfortunately, prevention antiviral drugs often leads to a weakening of its own immunity, the inability of our body to cope with the viruses-aggressors on its own. And here they come to the rescue folk methods prevention. With the help of them, a person, as it were, returns to nature, actively stimulating his own forces to fight.

Take care of your immunity from a young age

It is easier to go through an outbreak with strong immunity than to start working on your own defenses during a period of increasing incidence.

For this:

1. Keep calm

Doctors speak with one voice: stress reduces immunity. What's the conclusion? - do not be nervous. It is very easy to say, but how to do it? Each person has his own "keys" to his own nervous system, based on the life experience that he received. Scientists have proven, for example, that the brain of believers copes with stress better (in comparison with atheists). The desire to keep everything under your control, to be "on top", to defend your point of view, "not to fall face down in the mud" - all this will certainly lead to stress. If you cannot cope with anxiety yourself, you can help in the fight against such conditions.

This does not mean that you need to immediately start pouring a bucket of ice water over yourself. Although with gradual getting used to such a procedure, there are many positive results. You need to start by creating such a microclimatic environment around yourself so as not to overheat your body: the ambient temperature is from 18 to 22 degrees, the air humidity is 40-60%. Maintain it as such constantly. What happens when overheating: the vessels expand, their walls become easily passable for many pathogens. Avoiding overheating, we keep the walls of our vessels in good shape, which do not allow new residents to come to us. For this, you can use ascorbic acid with rutin (the drug ascorutin - it strengthens the walls of the capillaries). You can use a contrast shower, or dousing with cool water (at first, slightly warm, so that the skin is pleasant, day after day, lowering the temperature). A person applying these tips is not afraid of accidental hypothermia.

3. Water and drinking regime

Water is the main substrate of our body. To maintain the body in a healthy state, you need to follow the drinking regimen: drink about 2-2.5 liters of fluids per day. Basically, it should be clean, unboiled water. When asked why not tea or juice, you can ask a counter question: do you wash windows with tea or juice? ... The answer is obvious. So our body also needs washing, incl. from harmful microorganisms. Failure to comply with the drinking regime creates a risk of intestinal blockage (appendicitis may develop), the formation of kidney stones, impaired blood supply (this may cause headaches, dizziness), etc. The list is very long. Here is such a free medicine in our house in a decanter, but we neglect it.

4. Everyone for a walk!

Walking in the fresh air helps to enrich the body with oxygen. Oxygen nourishes all organs and tissues of the body, it is necessary for the normal functioning of organs and systems. Oxygen cocktails can be used, but there is no substitute for walking in the fresh air. After all, this is moral rest after a hard day, and interaction with nature (it is better to walk in the park), and gentle physical activity.

5. Doing exercises

Sports people get sick less. This is due to the fact that they strengthen their muscles, blood vessels, drink more water. It has also been noticed that physical activity helps fight stress. We do not urge readers to immediately take up running, dumbbells or lifting with a coup on the horizontal bar. A simple 5-10 minute exercise in the morning with pleasure can work wonders. Choose the kind of exercise that you like to reach the maximum amount of muscles. But watch out for reboots, it's useless. It is useful to do self-massage.

We arm ourselves with these simple tips that you probably knew, but everyone put them off. And we begin to act to strengthen our defenses.

What to do and eat so as not to get sick

During the outbreak of colds, without ceasing to carry out all the previous ones, we use the advice of traditional medicine.

We breathe in pairs from the kettle. During an epidemic, a little trick will help. Every day, when you come home from work, the first thing to do is wash your hands, put the kettle on a boil and chop the garlic or onion finely. Rinse the specially designated teapot with boiling water. Put the garlic / onion in there, close the lid. Preheat the kettle a little in the microwave (for a second) or over low heat on the stove. Inhale the fumes through the spout of the kettle with your mouth and nose. Such inhalation will help to neutralize pathogenic microbes in respiratory tract and protects against infection.
We eat onions and garlic. And we are not ashamed of the smell.
We drink fruit drinks from frozen berries (cranberries, currants, sea buckthorn), add lemon juice to the tea.
We drink chamomile in milk. It is very good for throat diseases, especially for those who have to talk a lot (lecturers, educators, teachers, etc.). Boil milk and put 2 filter bags of chamomile flowers there, mash well with a teaspoon. Add butter and honey (if not allergic). Let it cool down, drink in small sips warm.
Aromatherapy will protect against microorganisms ... or baths with antiseptic essential oils (avoid perfumed, synthetically processed oils).
We wash out the nose and eyes. Washing is done with a solution sea \u200b\u200bsalt (You can take 1/3 teaspoon simple salt in a glass of water and add 1 drop of iodine). Pathogenic microorganisms enter our body through the nasal passages and the mucous membrane of the eyes. They need 4-8 hours to penetrate deeper. Therefore, it is advisable to perform flushing every 4 hours in order to wash off pathogens from the mucous membrane.
We drink herbal infusions instead of tea.

Renata Ravich: (from the book "Ambulance by natural means")

Strengthening immunity

In recent years, scientists have proven that only a slagged, toxin-polluted body loses its defenses, its immunity is weakened. If a person is not hardened, then the nasal mucosa ceases to resist viruses and bacteria, and since the body is polluted, an infection begins. In no way can one deny the infection, because it is not for nothing that there are nosocomial diseases; with diseases in the family, for example, a runny nose in the mother, a small child immediately becomes infected. This can be explained by the fact that there is an infection, but there is no body defense. There is only one control measure - this is the development of non-specific immunity. If the body is clean and hardened, then meeting with patients is not terrible. It is also important to develop local immunity, especially by hardening the legs, throat, nasopharynx.

Strengthening immunity - this is

a natural diet maximally saturated with vitamins (especially vitamin C), macro- and microelements, as well as enzymes.
restoration of healthy intestinal flora and treatment of dysbiosis,
constant hardening, prevention of influenza and colds,
minimizing potent drugs that undermine the body's own defenses and using non-drug methods to help the patient.

In recent years, the existence of several types of lymphocytes has been proved in works on immunology: 1) suppressors that suppress the reproduction of microbes; 2) cells - sweepers, helping to cleanse the body of them. Most likely, with severe pollution of the body, all these lymphocytes cannot cope with their task of cleansing the body, hence the drop in immunity and, as a result, the disease.

Tempered like steel!

Let's try to start with some naturopathic recommendations that will allow us not to catch a cold in any draft and not get sick with any sneeze, namely, we will start to temper.

Skin care includes water procedures for hardening, water procedures for cleansing, dry rubbing and self-massage to improve capillary circulation, air baths, sunbathing, home baths, sauna. One of the main ways to overcome the tendency to colds is constant general and local hardening.Water treatments for hardening can be very diverse. Rule one: no drastic changes in your life habits... You should not dive into the ice hole for the first time at minus 20 degrees Celsius in winter if you at all have never been tempered before and sneeze in any breeze.

You can start hardening in the mildest, most neutral ways:

in the morning wash the neck, back of the head and ears with warm water and do not wipe them off.Water, gradually cooling down, cools important thermoregulatory receptors, accustoming them to temperature fluctuations;
wipe the whole body with a wet sponge, with a damp washcloth followed by rubbing hard terry towel. At first, you need to take warm water for wiping, and then gradually reduce the temperature of the water to cool. For more seasoned people, you can use very cold water. Wet wiping is best done in the morning, just getting out of bed while the body is still warmed up;
every time you wash your hands, try gargle with warm watergradually lowering the temperature to cold;
good to start and end the day with warm shower followed by (very fast) dousing cool water (starting with the legs) of the whole body: just put your feet under cold water for literally a few seconds, then rub yourself thoroughly.
after a warm shower, try pour cold water neck, ears, legs to the ankle;
if you do not have the skill of dousing with cold water, but have a fear of cold water, let the water be warm first... Keep the flexible hose away so that the water jet is strong and massages the skin at the same time. At the end, pour over the whole body with cooler water, and the neck, back of the head, ears, arms and legs - very cold;
you can do cold and hot shower: warm water first, then cold water for a short time. But you should not get carried away with too sharp temperature contrasts if you have a weak heart or if you are pregnant.
To temper a small child, it is good to pour warm water up to the ankle into the bathtub, throw a toy or a ball and let the baby jump and sprinkle naked for pleasure, frolic in the bathtub, “play” football, mom stands nearby and rejoices in childish joy; most importantly, no comments! At the same time, hardening occurs: the skin breathes, and the water gradually cools down. In the end, do not forget to grind the baby properly.
It is extremely useful in summer to walk (better, run!) Barefoot in dew, wet grass - also starting literally from seconds, then put on woolen socks on wet feet. In winter, hardening can be continued by literally running barefoot in the snow for literally seconds or jumping in a basin with snow on the balcony. Be sure to rub your feet later.

Do not forget that short-term exposure to cold water has a stimulating effect, while long-term exposure to hot water relaxes, relieves spasms and nervous tension. True, one must always remember that hot water is strongly discouragedhypertensive patients, heart patients , pregnant women, especially with a tendency to bleeding and miscarriage.

The following rules must be observed in hardening:

gradualness and continuity;
if you have a cold or do not feel well, you can raise the temperature of the water, but most importantly - in no case do not stop caring for your skin;
never you should not bring yourself to chills. Dthe main effect of dry or wet rubbing, any measures of hardening up to dousing (short-term!) with cold water is a feeling of vigor, a surge of energy and warmth throughout the body. If there is no reaction, you feel chills, and the skin remains cold, despite rubbing with a massage towel, then this hardening measure does not suit you personally, and it is necessary to select another.

Important pick up your individual methods of hardening, taking into account the peculiarities of age and health. The main thing is that in one way or another, the water washes the skin daily.

If there is little time in the morning, then it is quite enough to carry out dry rubbing or self-massage, wash the upper half of the body with cool water, and in the evening before going to bed take a warm bath or warm shower.

Better yet, take a shower at onceafter work, to wash off not only dirt, but also fatigue. It is especially important to shower and change clothes immediately after work for those who works with people: doctors, teachers, sellers.

Understand: viruses only act on a weakened organism with reduced resistance, with insufficiently strong immunity. For the supporters of the viral theory, a person is a helpless victim, trying in vain to escape from the pursuit of countless disease-causing microbes that bloodthirsty attack him. However, scientific research shows that the mere presence of microbes and viruses in the body does not always and does not necessarily automatically guarantee the disease of the bacillus carrier. The result - a disease, including a cold - is ultimately determined by the state of health and the immune system of the human body.

In general, it is better to start any hardening in the summer. And try not to take any drastic measures.

Throat hardening

Highly effective remedy local hardening and prevention of influenza, especially during an epidemic, is gargling. Use warm tap water at first, but gradually reduce the temperature to cold water. The most effective rinsing with disinfectants: sage, eucalyptus, calendula, yarrow, pine buds. You can add 10-15 drops of alcoholic tincture to warm water for rinsing: propolis, or eucalyptus or calendula - which is in your home medicine cabinet. You can, so as not to waste time on the count, just pour into the lid: how many drops will go in, this is enough for rinsing. You can rinse with menthol, fir, or eucalyptus aromatic oils - just a few drops at a time.

You can also gargle with sea salt, a favorite of Chinese traditional medicine. Brew 1 - 2 teaspoons of sea salt with boiling water in the evening, rinse in the morning. If you are relaxing on the sea with your child in the summer and the water there is clean, you can gargle with just sea water. I remember how we were vacationing in Pärnu (in Soviet times it was a popular children's resort) and so that my daughter agreed to gargle, we organized children's competitions on the beach, who would gurgle the longest. And I also dragged sea water from the beach in cans, warmed it on the stove and wiped the baby. I dosed her up to the point that we swam with her when adults were afraid to be close to cold water come up. The main thing is desire and ... patience.

Try traditional gargles such as cranberry juice, lemon juice, natural apple cider vinegar, and more.) Honey gargle helps well for the prevention of influenza: honey has a remarkable antiviral and antibacterial effect. You can rinse your mouth with a disinfectant oak bark extract. For children, the broth can be sweetened with honey.

In order to remove pathogenic bacteria from the nasopharynx, inhalation with fir or menthol oil or oil-alkaline ones can be done. Children can buy menthol, eucalyptus, and vitamin C lozenges or chewing gum.

It is very good to put in the refrigerator and regularly drink (literally sip) cold juices, fruit drinks, compotes, jelly, etc. Use toothpastes with strong antiviral properties (forest balm, propolis) to clean your teeth. You can add literally 1-2 drops of tea tree oil, which has powerful bactericidal properties, to the toothbrush in the paste. Use of disinfectant soaps is especially important during influenza epidemics. If, when you come home from work, you immediately wash your hands (and do it as often as possible at work), and those who work among a large crowd of people (for example, doctors, sellers, transport workers) immediately take a shower and change their clothes, then the probability flu disease during an epidemic will decrease tenfold.

Healthy food hardening

The first: it is necessary, as far as possible, to minimize the use of products harmful to the body: refined sugar and other refined foods, pickles, smoked meats, canned foods, fried meat, etc. - leaving temptations and goodies for the holidays.
Second: give preference to natural products: honey, dried fruits, nuts, increase the consumption of natural fruits and vegetables, with a high content of vitamin C, add onions, garlic, fresh or dry table herbs, spices and other products containing phytoncides to food,
Third: Reduce the intake of cow's milk, which produces a large amount of mucus, in favor of lactic acid foods fermented with bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and other lactic acid bacteria, which provide a healthy intestinal flora. This is especially important for people with chronic rhinitis, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, hay fever, etc. diseases of the bronchi and lungs.
Fourth: Reduce the consumption of white bread and refined flour products, which also contribute to the formation of excess amount of mucus in the body in favor of products made from whole flour, with the addition of bran, as well as black bread.

Vitamin hardening

Add Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)! This is one of the most effective ways to harden the body. Doses should be at least two grams (2000 mg) -in a day for a healthy person, especially in the autumn, winter and spring periods, moreover, the intake should be fractional: at least 0.5 grams at a time. Smaller doses have no hardening effect. Remember that in order for the body to assimilate vitamin C, it must be combined with enzymes - biocatalysts: bioflavonoids (read the labels carefully). Soluble or powdered vitamin C is better absorbed.
It is also necessary to connect natural biologically active multivitamins (supradin, etc.), especially in the autumn-winter period, which significantly reduces the susceptibility to colds; this is especially necessary for children attending kindergartens and schools.
Along with the addition of vitamin C and multivitamins, it is necessary to connect natural products containing natural biologically active substances that help prevent influenza: sauerkraut, cranberry juice or jelly, fortified herbal teas, rosehip infusion, fresh and dry herbs, lemons, garlic, onions, spices, honey, pollen, royal jelly.
Traditional for Russia, where there is little sun in winter, is the use of fish oil during this period as a source of vitamins A and D for the prevention of rickets in children. Read labels carefully: give preference natural fish oil as opposed to artificial vitamin D, and check if the fish oil has been cold processed (hot processing destroys enzymes or enzymes that make up the biologically active value of the drug). Fish oil from river fish (for example, salmon) is of higher quality than from cod, since ocean water is now more environmentally dangerous and toxic due to excessive radiation). Naturally, you need to choose fish oil in gelatin capsules, without color, taste and smell. Fish oil is especially necessary in winter for small children, pregnant and lactating women. The specialists of the Institute of Influenza strongly recommend the use of fat-soluble vitamins A and D (and this is fish oil) for the prevention of influenza; at the same time it is emphasized that these vitamins are well absorbed by the body only with a full natural diet.

By the way, the practice of canceling such widely attended events as Christmas trees in Luzhniki, where tens of thousands of people congregate at the same time, has shown that it is possible to achieve a sharp decline in influenza diseases if the duration of school holidays is regulated and children are separated during the flu epidemic.

For children attending kindergarten or school, during a flu epidemic, for prevention, in the morning and evening, aloe juice mixed with sterile vegetable oil (1-2 drops in each nostril) can be instilled into the nose. I always put my little son a peeled clove of garlic in a pocket when he went to school, he told the children that this was his talisman.

Children must be given O, 5 grams of ascorbic acid in the morning and evening, fish oil and high-quality natural children's multivitamins. Directly during an epidemic, you can give an alcoholic infusion of propolis (at the rate of 1 drop per year of life). Propolis is one of the most powerful natural antibiotics, it belongs to a number of the most powerful biostimulants and improves immunity. You can dilute propolis tincture in juice or milk. You can drip some tincture: propolis or eucalyptus or calendula on a piece of sugar and let the child suck (1 - 2 times a day).

Try using a mixture with a tendency to colds: 100 gr. honey + juice of 1 lemon, if you are not allergic to honey, and take 1 - 2 teaspoons in the morning and before bedtime. Aloe juice (agave) also has biostimulating properties. It is given to a child with honey, just don’t do it at the same time as propolis, eucalyptus or calendula. Now sold lozenges and sweets with eucalyptus, sage and other herbs (Dr. Mom and others). During a flu epidemic, you can offer them to the child, and suck it yourself, without waiting for the illness. You can also use the homeopathic remedy antigrippin during this period.

To be continued

There are few people who do not face certain colds - runny nose, sore throat, cough, elevated temperature body. Most often this happens with the onset of autumn. The so-called "cold season": the air temperature is dropping, cold winds and rains are frequent, and sometimes we are not in a hurry to warm up, as if we hope that the heat will return. And it seems we know everything about the prevention of colds by teeth, but sometimes it is impossible to avoid a cold.

There are still many cold days ahead of us and, I think, hardly anyone will disagree with the statement:

It is better to prevent disease than to cure it.

So let's remind ourselves of the measures that need to be taken to protect ourselves and our loved ones from colds. And maybe the "cold season" will not become such for us.

How to avoid colds

Before we start talking about measures to prevent colds, let's understand the main thing for ourselves.

We often consider a cold a "harmless disease" that simply becomes a hindrance and disrupts our usual way of life. There is even such an expression - "If you treat a runny nose, it will go away in seven days, if not treated, then in a week."

Yes, sometimes it happens - a few uncomfortable days and a complete restoration of working capacity.

But, unfortunately, it does not always go so harmlessly, sometimes a banal cold turns into a more serious disease.

Therefore, let's treat a cold not as some kind of discomfort. This is a disease and it must be treated, but this is a topic for another conversation, today we are talking about prevention.

Prevention of colds

Measures to prevent colds can be divided into two groups:

specific prophylaxis is a vaccination aimed at counteracting a specific pathogen, as a rule, is carried out to protect the population from influenza.
non-specific prevention - this is the topic of our conversation - increasing the defenses of our body.

And who is on guard of the body's defenses is our immunity. And, naturally, we need to think about immunity not when the cold season begins, but constantly. This is an integrated approach, which includes proper nutrition and hardening procedures, exercise, and other methods that are useful for maintaining immunity.

I have an article on the blog about that, where I considered everything in detail, I recommend reading it.

But there are preventive measures that directly relate to the autumn-winter period, let's remember them:

In autumn, as a rule, they worsen chronic diseases and this reduces the protective functions of our body, increasing the risk of catching a cold. Knowing about your illnesses, worry in advance and take a number of measures to make this autumn aggravation more comfortable. It is best to do this under the supervision of your doctor.
Dress for the weather and consider how much time you will be outdoors. Hypothermia is often the cause of our colds. But you don't need to be reinsured in this matter either, you should be comfortable in your clothes.
Humidify the air. The dry air of heated rooms dries out the nasal mucosa, and this makes it easier for viruses to enter the lungs from the nasal cavity.
Ventilate the room. Air change is useful in any case, but if there are people in the room who have a cold, then by airing, you will reduce the concentration of viruses in the air.
Aromatherapy is actively used for preventive purposes, as some oils have antiviral effect. This oil of geranium, lavender, lemon, lemon balm, tea tree oil, eucalyptus. To process the room, it is enough to pour 3-4 drops of oil into the aroma lamp and leave for a couple of hours. If there is no aroma lamp, then you can add a few drops of oil to the water and spray it around the room with a spray bottle. There are no essential oils, there is an affordable remedy - chop the garlic, put it in a saucer and place it in the room - the evaporating essential oils and phytoncides of garlic do an excellent job with viral microbes.
Wet cleaning also refers to measures to prevent colds. You can use essential oils when cleaning by adding a few drops to a bucket of water.

You can often hear the rule:

During an exacerbation of colds, and especially during a flu epidemic, be less likely to be in crowded places.

Yes, the advice is correct, but not always feasible, since we use public transport, are at work, visit supermarkets and can easily catch a viral infection.

How to protect yourself in this case? It is necessary to create a barrier for viruses:

We are used to the fact that if we are talking about a cold, then we immediately remember about vitamin C. Yes, indeed, it strengthens the body's defenses, but now scientists have become not so unambiguous about this vitamin. Studies have determined that an excess of vitamin C can lead to the opposite effect.

Everything should be in moderation and the presence of other vitamins is equally important for the prevention of colds.

For example, vitamin D reduces the risk of getting the flu and other colds. B vitamins play an important role in maintaining the immune system. Vitamin A, by strengthening the mucous membrane, enhances the protective functions of our body. Vitamin E can also help fight off colds.

Other nutrients are also important. In order to have strength and the immune system to work without failures, the body needs proteins - primarily animals, because all the essential amino acids important for immune cells are contained in them. A trace mineral such as zinc helps to resist bacteria. Iron strengthens the body's resistance.

Conclusion - a varied and balanced diet is necessary at any time of the year, but in the autumn-winter period, pay special attention to this, thereby you will help your body to increase its protective functions. What foods contain this or that vitamin and trace element can be read and.

Don't forget about the gifts of nature - honey, herbs, berries (rose hips, cranberries, lingonberries, ginger, chamomile, mint). Make vitamin teas from them - these are not only delicious drinks, but an excellent prophylactic remedy for colds. Take note of the useful one, and also watch the video.

There are ready-made vitamins and other preparations for the prevention of colds, maintaining immunity, but it is not recommended to take them without consulting specialists.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones and be healthy.

Elena Kasatova. See you by the fireplace.