Respiratory disease health education content

The core logic of respiratory disease health education is very straightforward - understand what situations are likely to cause illness, how to effectively protect yourself on a daily basis, and how to scientifically deal with symptoms when symptoms occur. There are not so many fancy health gimmicks, but they are all practical operations that can be implemented.

I have been in the respiratory clinic for almost 8 years and have seen too many completely avoidable cases. Last week, there was a child in the second grade of junior high school. He only wore a thin coat to cool off the weather. On the way home from school, he and his classmates took off their masks and ate kebabs. The fever reached 39.8°C that night when they got home. It was found that it was influenza combined with tonsil suppuration. This is a problem for both adults and children. In fact, the "cold" that everyone often talks about is just an inducement. Basically, the resistance of the respiratory mucosa collapses first, and then viruses and bacteria dare to take advantage of it. Staying up late at night, eating spicy food for several days in a row, smoking including long-term second-hand smoke, and hanging out for a long time in smog days are all behaviors that are essentially drilling holes in the protective wall of the respiratory tract. Don’t think you are young enough to handle it. I have seen too many young men in their 20s endure a cough for three days, and finally a CT scan revealed lobar pneumonia. Oh, by the way, there is another trigger that many people ignore: if the home has just been renovated, volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde and benzene will continue to irritate the respiratory mucosa. There was a patient who coughed repeatedly for two months after moving to a new house and could not find the reason. The indoor formaldehyde was twice as high as the standard. After moving out for a week, the cough was mostly cured.

There has been a lot of quarrel online recently about "should we always wear a mask in winter and spring?" In fact, there is no need to be black and white at all. Most experts in the public health field support that it is best to wear it in closed places with dense crowds (such as subways, hospitals, shopping malls), as it can block more than 90% of droplets from spreading the virus. ； However, some allergists have pointed out that if young children with allergies are exposed to a completely sterile and allergen-free environment for a long time, it is not conducive to the establishment of autoimmune tolerance, and they will be more likely to suffer from allergic rhinitis, asthma and other diseases when they grow up. The advice I usually give to patients is to make flexible adjustments: just wear it when going to crowded places. You can take it off when there is no one around in the open air. If you don't go out, you can either never wear it or wear it at home. Oh, by the way, there is another detail that many people make mistakes: when taking off the mask, do not touch the outer layer, which is full of viruses. It is best to wash your hands after taking off the mask. Many people eat directly after taking off the mask, which means that the mask is worn in vain.

Don’t think that hand washing is a trivial matter. A kindergarten teacher told me that there were three outbreaks of herpetic angina in the first half of the semester, and half of the children were infected each time. Later, children were strictly required to wash their hands according to the seven-step hand washing method for 20 seconds before eating, using the toilet, and playing with toys. There was no case of collective infection in the next six months. Such a simple action is more effective than any number of immunity-boosting tonics taken. There is also the humidifier that everyone loves to use in winter. I see several patients with "humidifier pneumonia" every year. That is, if the humidifier is left on for a whole month and is not washed, the mold spots and bacteria accumulated in it float in the air with the mist. Breathing it in can directly cause infection. Really, change the humidifier with purified water every day, and soak it with disinfectant tablets for half an hour every week to wipe it clean. This action is really important.

Many people are confused about "how high should the fever be before taking antipyretics?" Most of the previous guidelines recommended taking antipyretics when the temperature is above 38.5°C. However, many clinical doctors now also recommend that if you have underlying diseases such as coronary heart disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or you have a fever that hurts all over your body and you can't lift your head, you can take it even if the temperature is only 37.8°C. You don't need to freeze the temperature. Relieving discomfort is the first priority. There are also many people who take antibiotics such as cephalosporins and amoxicillin when they cough. I really have to say it again: more than 90% of acute respiratory infections are caused by viruses. Antibiotics are completely useless against viruses. Indiscriminate consumption will destroy your intestinal flora and even develop drug resistance. There was an aunt who had a cough for three weeks. She took four boxes of cephalosporin at home but nothing improved. She came to check that it was a mycoplasma infection. She changed it to azithromycin and got better after three days. You said that the medicine she took before this was unfair.

Oh, by the way, there is also the most frequently asked question about vaccines: Are influenza vaccines, pneumococcal vaccines, and COVID-19 vaccines necessary? It is definitely recommended, especially for the elderly, children, and people with underlying diseases, but don’t have too high expectations - for example, you may still get the common cold after getting a flu vaccine. After all, there are hundreds of common cold viruses. The core function of the vaccine is to reduce the risk of severe illness and complications, not to prevent you from getting sick at all. This should be adjusted accordingly.

My usual habit is to always carry an individually packaged mask in my bag when I go out in winter and spring. I wear it when I go to the hospital or take the subway. I try not to stay up after 12 o'clock and run 3 kilometers two or three times a week. In fact, to put it bluntly, respiratory protection is like closing the windows in your house. If you close the windows and clean the house regularly, it will be difficult for "thieves" like viruses to get in. If you accidentally get in, don't search for folk remedies and take medicine randomly. See a professional doctor, which is better than anything else.