सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. Cold weather has increased across the country. People of all age groups and those with weak physical conditions fall ill and feel unwell in the cold. In some cases, it is a common cold and recovers in two/three days.
Some reach a point where they have to go to the hospital for treatment. There is a dilemma about which symptoms to treat at home and which symptoms to go to the hospital for examination. We get stuck in this dilemma.
Dr. Subash Pant, a physician working at Kathmandu Medical College Sinamangal, said that it leads to complex situations when viral fever and influenza fever cannot be distinguished. He said that it is necessary to understand that influenza fever cannot be treated with viral fever.
In an interview with News Agency Nepal, Dr. Pant suggested going to the hospital for treatment if you feel unwell, have a headache, or difficulty breathing along with a cold.
Here is an edited excerpt from an interview with Kathmandu Medical College physician Dr. Subash Papant.
The cold has increased across the country, has pollution also increased with the cold?
Pollution is usually higher in the cold months. The cold keeps the smoke a little trapped. Since there is less chance of rain in the winter months, pollution is also high.
Pollution tends to be high in the morning during the cold months. The amount of pollution increases even though there is less water. Secondly, pollution tends to increase in the morning due to the system that traps dust.
What kind of infection is there during this time?
Answer: Almost everyone knows about infections. This is the time when the number of colds increases slightly. Many people are confused about which colds are normal and which are serious. In medical terms, there is a common cold, which we call the rhinovirus.
Another cold is a little sore throat and red eyes. We call it the adenovirus. The third cold is a little more complicated. We call it influenza. It also causes a cold, high fever, headache, and some people even have pneumonia.
All of these things tend to be a little more common in the winter months. In the winter months, blood pressure increases, heart rate increases, and the rate of stroke increases. One infectious disease and another chronic disease also increase during this time.
What types of patients are most crowded in hospitals during the cold season?
The common cold is the most common cold in the winter months. And the rate of hospital admissions for asthma and respiratory patients is higher. Among those who do not have asthma, the rate of hospital admissions is higher in patients who have a cold that worsens, a cold that turns into a fever, a cough after a fever, and a cold that turns into pneumonia.
How to distinguish cold infections?
The common cold is called the rhinovirus. After this infection, there is a loss of appetite, a runny nose, and sneezing. The other is the adenovirus. This is most common among students. In this, students’ eyes become red, their throats hurt, and some people have a very high fever. The third is influenza.
When it comes to the difference between the common cold and influenza, it is that it causes high fever, headache after fever, loss of appetite, cough, and pneumonia when the cough increases. We need to distinguish between these two. What is the common cold?
There are different types of influenza. People should understand that if they do not feel like eating, have a headache, or have difficulty breathing when they have a cold, they should consult a doctor and go to the hospital for necessary tests.
Are they victims of major health problems because they cannot recognize the cold?
There are many types of influenza. What we need to distinguish is common viral fever and influenza fever. Other problems are also added to influenza fever. For example, in a cold, the person feels like eating. Even though he or she has a cough, the person remains active. There are no headaches.
In influenza, all these things are added. The head also hurts. The mouth becomes sour. You don’t feel like eating either. As it gets complicated, pneumonia occurs in influenza. It also depends on what kind of patient it is.
For example, heart patients, kidney patients, and asthma patients, even simple things become complicated. Others can wait at home even if they have a fever and cough. But for patients in that group, sometimes it becomes difficult from one day to the next.
What kind of cold do you have? What kind of fever do you have? It also depends on what kind of patient you are. If you have a cold and you have trouble breathing, or your asthma is getting worse, then you should not wait. You should go to the hospital.
If a patient has nothing else, just a common cold, then you can wait for two or three days. What kind of cold do you have? Do you feel like eating? How many days have you had a fever? Has the fever and cough increased? Has it affected you? All of this can be separated and you can decide whether to go to the hospital or stay home.
We do our regular work even when we have a cold infection. What kind of risk does it pose, how to be aware?
The common cold is usually transmitted. The means of transmission is coughing and sneezing. When a mask is worn, the rate of transmission is reduced. If hands are sanitized when they are applied to the nose and mouth, the infection does not spread to each other. Otherwise, the possibility of transmission is high.
You may have noticed that even at home, when one person gets a cold, everyone usually gets it. The same thing happens at school, but we are careful. We wash our hands. Even at school, everyone usually gets a cold due to carelessness. If we can avoid it a little, the risk of this is also reduced and the possibility of transmission is also reduced.
To avoid this, wash your hands, or if you can’t wash your hands, use sanitizer. It’s not possible to wear a mask in schools. Even if we can’t wear a mask, if we can maintain distance, the risk of spreading this thing will also be reduced.
Other chronic patients can also be saved. Since the immunity power of the elderly and sick people is low, if they have a cold, they should not be limited to a cold. That’s what makes things complicated.
In the winter, the elderly, pregnant women, and children get sick more often, right?
People with low immunity are more susceptible to infection. There is also a fear of bacteria being added to a common cold and developing pneumonia again. Even if other people have a common cough, people in these groups have a higher chance of getting infected.
What are the treatment methods that people with a cold can do at home?
I advise you not to resort to home treatment for any disease. You should consult a doctor as soon as it becomes difficult or the fever increases. If we consult a doctor in time, that thing will not increase.
That thing will not turn into pneumonia. I would say that we should seek advice and consultation to avoid such dangers. We have a tradition. If we get a common cold, we go to the nearest medical center and take medicines. In such a situation, if there is only a cold and fever, there is no problem. If it has increased, then we must consult a doctor at once.
What should we pay attention to in our habits and diet during the cold season? What is your advice?
It is very important to pay attention to two things during the cold season. In cold weather, people with high blood pressure and chronic diseases should be careful.
Health problems mainly increase during this time in patients with stroke, heart disease, and asthma. It is very cold in the morning. I also advise patients not to walk because of the pollution problem at that time.
If possible, I would like to advise you to walk for about an hour in a place where there is less pollution when it is a little sunny. Since it is very cold and pollution is high in the morning, patients with complex problems will have more complex problems. And there is also a possibility of a cold and cough increasing at that time.
In terms of diet, avoid eating cold foods as much as possible. Eating fruits will help you recover from the disease a little faster and gain some strength. In the winter months, fruits should be eaten in the sun.
It is also beneficial to eat fruits rich in vitamin C. Eating foods like bananas and fruits is beneficial. But it can also be done by observing the patient. In general, whatever fruits you eat, you should eat them in the sun and eat fruits rich in vitamin C.
When you have a sore throat, you immediately understand that tonsils are there, but how do you tell whether it is due to a cold or tonsils?
Tonsils are also a cause of sore throat. It is important to distinguish between fever caused by tonsillitis and other fevers. Even with tonsillitis, the throat hurts. The tonsils cause a very high fever. Food cannot be swallowed. Other throat pain problems are called fire enjatis.
It is difficult to swallow. A very high fever does not occur. Any sore throat is not tonsillitis. If you have a high fever, sore throat, and do not feel like eating, then the fever will also occur somewhere, but if you feel like eating, it should be considered a normal sore throat. The main difference between this is viral fever and normal fever.
What is your advice to citizens to avoid colds?
When I had to give the message, I had to distinguish between cold and cough in the cold season. There is only one way to distinguish it. If you don’t feel like eating and have a high fever, it is influenza. If the fever has also subsided and you feel like eating, then it should be understood as a viral cough.
And another thing, especially those who do morning walks, please do not do morning walks in the morning. Do morning walks only when there is a little sunshine and there is less traffic on the road. There is a concept that you have to get up in the morning and walk.
I urge you not to do it in the cold months. Morning walks can also be done at home. Recreational activities can also be done at home. For this, the mind should also be fresh. The main thing used in the morning walk is to keep the mind fresh.
It is more suitable to do it outside. At home, the same things are seen. Therefore, freshness is also necessary in the morning walk. Some people say that they walk at home and in the office. That walk will not make a difference in the morning walk. The walk that is fresh, without work, is important.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्