According to the National Health Supervision Commission, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 8,655 new local infections, including 1,565 local cases and asymptomatic infections from 0-24:00 on March 29. 7090 cases.
There have been a large number of asymptomatic infections in this round of the epidemic. Is Omicron really a “big flu”?
On March 29, Lu Hongzhou, leader of the first Shenzhen epidemic prevention and control public health expert group, deputy secretary of the Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital Party Committee, and president “Introduced in the live broadcast, this round of epidemics is mainly a mutant strain of Omicron, which is characterized by very strong contagion and weakened toxicity. Some European and American countries think that the Ormicon strain is a “big flu”, but it is not. In many countries, after more than two years of repeated infection of a large number of people and widespread vaccination, the pathogenicity has weakened. If not vaccinated, the Omicron strain can still cause a lot of severe illness and death.
In addition, many people believe that the trend of new coronavirus mutation is that the toxicity gradually weakens. In this regard, Dean Lu Hongzhou said that this statement is not comprehensive. For example, the delta strain is mutated from the original strain, but the pathogenicity and infectivity of the delta strain are higher than the original strain in early 2020. Strong; there is also the Ebola virus discovered in 1976, and the virulence of the Ebola virus has not weakened so far. Therefore, controlling the widespread spread of the virus in the population is an important means to prevent the virus from continuing to mutate.
Most of the patients diagnosed in this round of epidemic have mild symptoms. Why are there more symptoms of nasopharyngeal discomfort?
On March 29, Yin Yong, director of the Department of Respiratory Medicine of the National Children’s Medical Center and Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, introduced in the live broadcast of People’s Daily Health Client “Normalization of the Epidemic and Strengthening Protection”. Rong replicated much faster in bronchial cells than previous variants, but slower in cells in the lower part of the lung. Other strains started multiplying in the bronchi after about 72 hours. Breeding has begun, which also means that this variant is more likely to be expelled into the air in the form of droplets and spread to more people. In terms of symptoms, the damage caused by the infection caused by Omicron is limited to the upper respiratory tract, such as the nose, throat and respiratory tract.
Zhu Dongdong, member of the Standing Committee of the Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and vice president of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital of Jilin University, introduced in the live broadcast of the People’s Daily Health Client “Normalization of the Epidemic and Strengthening Protection” on March 29 that the mutant virus The strains produced higher concentrations of virus in the nasal cavity, and we found higher viral loads in nasal swabs compared to throat swabs. Therefore, the infected person exhales more virus each time they exhale, so safe, effective and comprehensive protection is very important. Therefore, most of this wave of epidemics are mild or asymptomatic infections, as is the case with the recent epidemics in Jilin and Shanghai.
Experts remind: In addition to daily protection, we should also pay attention to nasal cleaning
Daily protection for the normalization of the new crown epidemic. Professor Zhu Dongdong reminded that no matter how the new coronavirus mutates, it is still spread through droplets, direct contact and indirect contact. To prevent virus infection, it is necessary to standardize wearing masks, wash hands, wash nose, pay attention to hand disinfection, and keep it in public places. 1 meter social distance to minimize crowd gathering. Because the Omicron variant basically invades the nasal cavity and nasopharyngeal mucosa, and replicates in the upper airway, more attention should be paid to the cleaning and care of the nasal cavity. Before nasal irrigation, it has been widely used in the treatment of various diseases such as nasal cavity and sinus, including colds, rhinitis, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, etc. Nasal irrigation can effectively physically remove common pathogens such as bacteria and dust in the nasal cavity.
In addition, virus transmission mainly starts from the respiratory tract, and the nasal cavity is the starting end of the entire airway, which not only functions to regulate breathing, smell, and assist pronunciation, but also fight against virus, bacteria, and particle pollution. Therefore, the nasal cavity is our first line of defense. Therefore, in the new crown cases, the viral load of nasal swabs is higher than that of throat swabs. Many individuals of the new crown show symptoms of the upper respiratory tract. If the virus adheres to our respiratory tract for a long time, invades the mucosa, or even integrates into the human mucosal cells, people are easily infected with the virus.
In terms of clinical application, Professor Lu Hongzhou introduced that at present, our Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital mainly uses nasal irrigation as one of the treatment methods in the treatment of new crown patients, which can reduce mucosal virus adhesion and accelerate virus transfer. Yin, speed up recovery. For ordinary people, it is recommended to flush the nasal cavity with sea salt water/normal saline daily to reduce the residence time of the virus in the nasal mucosa.
Finally, Professor Yin Yong also said that nasal irrigation is a more effective protective measure during the epidemic. It can not only strengthen protection with measures such as wearing a mask, but also restore the inherent self-cleaning ability of the nasal cavity and strengthen the human body. To prevent the occurrence of rhinitis and upper respiratory tract infection, it can also reduce the inconvenience and risk of getting sick and seek medical treatment during special periods, occupy as little medical resources as possible, protect yourself and indirectly contribute to the fight against the epidemic. (Lu Yang)