Safest ways to fight cold and flu

This is the season of cold and flu and its treatment need not include the use of antibiotics and cough mixtures, reports Sade Oguntola.

Hammattan is here. The whole atmosphere is full of dust and many people are already complaining of runny nose. Some are sneezing and experiencing blocked noses. While some of these are mere cough and catarrh, some are reactions by the body to the dust in the air. In some cases, they are due to sinusitis, a situation that could arise if the cold has become complicated.

Just as a person suffering from facial pain and a runny nose with greenish or yellowish mucus may take it as a mere cold, these symptoms could also be indicative of sinusitis, an infection that affects air spaces called sinuses. This is an area around the nose and in the lower forehead.

Presence of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungal infections, including allergies in this air space, makes it to become irritated and so the excess mucus that is then produced cause nose congestion, headaches, eye and face pains.

This makes many people turn to home remedies, cough mixtures and antibiotics without even consulting medical experts. Even though inhaling steam and squirting salt water into the nose to flush out thick mucus are among other methods that sometimes provide relief, experts warn that the use of antibiotics and other medicines that are often prescribed may not really be necessary.

Despite a long-held notion that a person with such facial pains and whose nose is bringing out thick yellowish mucus may have developed an infection, recent studies on the health problem found that such symptoms do not always mean the problem is due to a bacterial infection. Just as it could be due to a virus, it was said that at times, it might be an allergic reaction to dust.

Going by the British study, whether or not they take the standard antibiotic nose spray or other drugs, the infection would go away within about two weeks, it was discovered.

The study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, had the researchers randomly assigning 240 adults to receive one of four treatments with: 500 milligrammes of amoxicillin three times daily for seven days and 400 units of steroid spray for 10 days; only amoxicillin; only steroid spray; or fake medicine.

From this study, led by Dr. Ian Williamson of the University of Southampton in England, it was found that patients on the drugs did not get better faster than those using the placebo (fake medicine).

Dr. Williamson said the result of the study should lead to a “reconsideration of antibiotic use for acute (short-lived) sinusitis. The current view that antibiotics are effective can now be challenged, particularly for the routine cases which physicians treat.”

He said: “Physicians can focus on effective remedies that improve symptom control,” which include the use of over-the-counter painkillers, inhaling steam and squirting salt water into the nose to flush out thick mucus among other methods to provide relief.

Even Dr. Vincenza Snow, a Philadelphia internist and director of clinical programmes and quality of care at the American College of Physician was of the opinion that though antibiotics are designed to treat bacteria, these drugs were not always very effective at treating bacterial sinus infections because the medicine has a tough time reaching the sinuses.

The whole idea of taking over-the-counter cold medicines is not helpful either. In fact, it is discouraged in children under two. Prof Segun Akinyinka, a pediatrician at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, talking recently at a meeting on “Tips for raising healthy families” at Jogor Centre, said cough medication is no more prescribed for children with cough. He said cough medication is of no use in treating cough in children and may even have some bad side effects. Since, most colds are viral infections, he said situation would get better in three to five days and go away completely within two weeks, even without any drug.

According to him, even prescribing antibiotics to such children may not be necessary because antibiotics do not treat viral infections, such as flu or common cold, but only bacterial ones such as sinus and ear infections, and bacterial pneumonia. Though a viral infection can make a child more susceptible to bacterial invaders, he said only the doctor can say when it will be necessary to have the child take antibiotics.

Meanwhile, a new study by a Penn State College of Medicine research team found that honey might offer parents an effective and safe alternative than over-the- counter medicines for cough in children.

The study found that a teaspoon of buckwheat honey given before bedtime provided better relief of nighttime cough and sleep difficulty in children than no treatment or dextromethorphan (DM), a cough suppressant found in many over-the-counter cold medications.

However, honey has been in use for centuries in some cultures to treat upper respiratory infection symptoms like cough, and is considered safe for children over 12 months old. It also soothes on contact, which may help explain its effect on cough as suggested by the World Health Organisation. The word of caution on honey is that it should not be given to children under one year of age because of a rare but serious risk of botulism.

Speaking with Dr. Tony Oni, a medical microbiologist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, flu and cold should not be treated with antibiotics because they are not caused by bacterial, but rather appropriate antiviral drugs.

However, when the individual developing another bacterial infection simultaneously complicates a viral infection, the doctor can prescribe appropriate antibiotics.

However, Dr. Oni pointed out that it may be difficult to differentiate between an infection like cough and catarrh that may have viral origin, and so the need to seek medical advice, rather than assume any cough or cold will go after it has run its course.

Also, Professor .F. D. Adu, a virologist at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, said given that mostly virus causes cold, treating it with antibiotics is useless. “The only means of treating any viral infection is to use nucleoside analgesics (antiviral drugs). But even then, this group of drugs are still in there infancy of development”, he said.

Explaining that nucleoside drugs as a whole has been found to be as efficient as antibiotics used for bacteria, he declared that antiviral drugs are only for specific families of virus and not all viruses can be treated with the antiviral drugs currently available as of today.

“The number of antiviral drugs we have are few and even the virus can become resistant to it”.

Prof. Adu said however that on some instances, the cold could have been due to a bacterial infection or may have even spread to other parts of the respiratory system, thus requiring that the medical doctor to take care of the situation prescribe appropriate antibiotics.

According to him, with viral infections like cough and cold, “more or less you treat the symptom, not that you try to kill the virus”. He added, “only antiviral drugs can kill viruses and that is why in viral diseases, prophylaxis prevention through the use of vaccines is better than treatment.”

Dr. Akin Sodipo, chairman, Association of General Medical and Private Practitioners of Nigeria, Oyo State, then suggested sticking to resting in cases of cold and flu.

He said resting would help the body build its immunity to fight the virus responsible for cold better. Also, the use of menthol and lozenges, he declared will help to relieve the symptoms of the cold.

Dr. Sodipo stated that taking Vitamin C might also be helpful. According to him, “Vitamin C is not a cure for cold, but it helps to support faster healing of the lining of the respiratory walls”.