Basic therapy for viral diseases of the upper respiratory tract

Abstract

The high prevalence of inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract brings this pathology to the forefront, occupying up to 90% of cases of contacting specialists among all infectious diseases. The main etiological factor in the occurrence of acute inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract, such as rhinitis, rhinosinusitis, pharyngitis, is the defeat of a viral agent. At the same time, the damaging viral agents are extremely diverse. In turn, an incorrectly selected initial therapy can lead to a weakening of local nonspecific immunity, which in turn forms a starting point for the attachment of a bacterial infection and the development of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis. Due to the high prevalence of infections of the upper respiratory tract and unreasonable systemic antibiotic therapy, it is the main factor contributing to the growth of antibacterial resistance, and taking into account the wide range of infectious microbiota that contributes to the development of chronic pathology, the selection of adequate drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract remains relevant. If it is inappropriate to use antibacterial therapy, homeopathic preparations can be used both as monotherapy for uncomplicated forms of a viral disease, and in combination in cases where the safety of prescribed drugs is important to the patient. This is especially true in childhood, when the doctor is limited in the use of medicines. The purpose of this work is to familiarize physicians with the epidemiology, symptoms and modern principles of treatment of inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract with an emphasis on risk factors. The analysis of Russian-language and English-language publications was carried out using the databases: eLibrary, PubMed, Russian Science Citation Index, Springer, Scopus, Scientific Research, Crossref.