Cough, sore throat and fever are some of the most common complaints people go to the doctor for. In this case, most often you can get one of two diagnoses - ARI or SARS. Although these diseases have similar abbreviations and symbols, the treatment approach differs between these diseases.
What is ARI and ARVI
ARI (acute respiratory disease) is a name that unites all respiratory tract infections, regardless of the reasons they were caused. The causative agents of infection in this case can be viruses, bacteria and mycoplasmas. It happens that the source of the infection cannot be determined.
CHWs include:
- rhinitis;
- pharyngitis;
- laryngitis;
- tonsillitis;
- bronchitis;
- bronchiolitis;
- nasopharyngitis.
SARS (acute respiratory viral infection) - is a common case of acute respiratory infections. The group of causative agents of the disease includes influenza viruses, parainfluenza, rhinoviruses, adenoviruses, reoviruses and more than 300 of their subtypes.
How the diagnosis is made
The external symptoms of these diseases are very similar. For viral infections, the characteristic features are:
- general weakness;
- formation of clear mucus in the nasopharynx;
- sneezing, coughing;
- throat redness;
- temperature increase up to 38° on the second or third day of illness.
With acute respiratory infections, the temperature rises from the first days, which lasts longer than with ARVI. The throat is red and inflamed, and may be covered with a white coating. There is a cough that is dry at first and then becomes wet. A clear, yellow, or greenish liquid may come out of the nose.
At the initial stage, determining the symptoms of SARS is quite problematic. In addition, after a few days, a bacterial infection may also join the viral infection. For this reason, physicians usually make a general diagnosis of ARI in all patients with respiratory symptoms. In order to accurately determine the causative agent of the infection, the patient would have to take several laboratory tests for the presence of the virus in the blood. It takes a considerable amount of time to decipher the tests, so the need for them will disappear, since 90% of patients recover in a week.
Testing is appropriate only if the patient has chronic nasopharyngeal diseases.
Peculiarities of treatment
The main difference between acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections is that in the first case, the doctor will most likely prescribe antibiotics for you. If such drugs were prescribed by a doctor, then he suspects that a bacterial infection has occurred or a complication of SARS. By the way, children most often suffer from bacterial complications of a viral infection (pneumonia, otitis media).
In the case of SARS, antibiotics will not be able to help, for the reason that such drugs are not able to cope with viruses. Otherwise, in the treatment of diseases such as acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections, the same methods are used.
The general rules for patients are:
- drinking warm drinks in large quantities;
- regular ventilation of the room in which the patient is located;
- compliance with bed rest.
Doctor will prescribe medications to relieve symptoms (antipyretics, anti-inflammatory, sore throat spray, gargles, etc.), as well as vitamins, immunostimulants and antivirals.
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