The deep socio-economic changes, taking place in different countries, lead not only to changes in the quality of life, but also cause adverse trends in the growing number of diseases. This makes the assessment of the viral infections incidence particularly important.
Despite the undoubted achievements in the fight against infectious diseases, their importance in the overall incidence structure does not only decrease, but also shows an increasing trend, according to various estimates. Due to this, the timely diagnosis and detection of viral infection symptoms play a special role.
Microscopic organisms evolve with the development of humanity and expand the number of diseases. New methods for the treatment and prevention of diseases do not reduce the number of affected persons in developed and developing countries (such as USA, India, Australia, Canada and the UK).
The viral infection symptoms can vary depending on the type of infection, duration of infection, age of people, and many other factors. This review will address some of the most common viral infections symptoms.
Viral hepatitis
This disease is characterized by hepatic inflammation and can have acute or chronic forms. Viral hepatitis is a common intestinal infection with fecal-oral mechanism of transmission. The causes of infection are eating a variety of foods, not exposed to heat treatment, drinking raw water, and dirty hands.
Children or toddlers are most commonly infected with viral hepatitis. This viral infection symptoms are fever, dizziness, muscle aches, fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting and frequent bowel movements.
One of the first viral hepatitis symptoms is fever, which often persists within 1-2 days. Rare disease signs are low blood pressure and tachycardia.
HIV infection
The disease progresses slowly, affecting the cells of the immune system and causing the body loose its ability of defending itself against microorganisms. HIV infection can significantly reduce the life expectancy of the patient, so timely detection of the viral infection symptoms is essential.
Adults and especially older people have an increased risk of rapid disease progression. Obvious viral infection symptoms are rash, fever, swollen lymph nodes and weight loss. Less commonly observed are nausea, diarrhea and enlargement of the liver or spleen.
The second phase of HIV infection is called asymptomatic and may last for several years. During this time, people lead normal lifestyle and feel well, so the efforts of many international medical organizations are aimed at identifying the first symptoms.
Influenza virus infection
Influenza is an acute infectious disease that spreads around the world in the form of an annual outbreak. Influenza agent is characterized by unusual volatility, adaptability and the formation of totally new strains.
Influenza is a disease with a short incubation period. Its common viral infection symptoms are sore throat, lethargy, drowsiness, muscle weakness, low blood pressure, chills, fever, headache and cough.
Diagnosis of the flu is not difficult, and domiciliary treatment is usually enough for fighting it. However, hospitalization may be required in severe influenza symptoms, such as high fever, combined with high temperature, frequent vomiting and meningeal syndrome.
Herpes virus infections
This is a group of widespread infections, which are often characterized by the ability of pathogens to the life-long survival in human bodies. Viruses can stay in the patient’s body for a long time without the active reproduction, metabolism, and symptoms onset.
Herpesviruses are combined into the vast Herpesviridae family, consisting of more than 100 representatives. Only 8 of them are pathogens for humans. They are divided into three subfamilies, depending on the type of genome, immunological characteristics and cells they affect.
Herpes viral infection symptoms can vary, depending on many factors. Common signs are irritability, problematic food intake, lesions of mouth mucosa, genital tract, skin, and nervous system.
Other types of viral infections
There are many types of viral infections, which often cause diseases. These may include polio, infectious mononucleosis, measles, rubella, smallpox, tick-borne encephalitis, and many others.
Viral infection symptoms and bacterial infection symptoms can be similar, so it is first necessary to identify the type of the protozoa and then prescribe treatment. Duration of treatment with antiviral drugs depends on the severity of symptoms, forms of the disease, age, affected cells or tissues.