Infectious diseases can occur at any time of the year, including during the spring season. However, some infectious diseases may be more common during spring season. Some infectious diseases are common in spring season, such as influenza, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, chickenpox, norovirus, measles, rubella and mumps. Here are the introduction of these infectious disease.
Influenza
Influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza virus, which is highly contagious. The incubation period is 1~3 days, and the main symptoms are fever, headache, runny nose, sore throat, dry cough, general muscle and joint aches and discomfort, etc. The fever usually lasts 3~4 days, and also manifests as a more severe pneumonia or gastrointestinal type of influenza.
Hand-foot-mouth disease
Hand-foot-mouth disease is an infectious disease caused by an enterovirus and is characterized by fever and a rash or herpes on the hands, feet and mouth. A small number of children may develop central nervous system and respiratory system damage, and individual children with severe disease progress rapidly and are prone to death.
Chickenpox
Chickenpox is an acute infectious disease caused by the initial infection with varicella-zoster virus. It occurs mainly in young children and preschoolers. It is highly prevalent in winter and spring and is highly contagious from 1 to 2 days before the onset of the disease until the rash is dry and crusty, and can be transmitted by contact or droplet inhalation.
Norovirus
Norovirus is a virus that causes non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis, mainly causing acute gastroenteritis, manifested as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, headache, fever, chills, and muscle aches, with vomiting predominating in children and diarrhea in adults. Most cases of norovirus infection are mild, with a short course of illness, usually 1-3 days to improve symptoms. In addition to food and water transmission, it can also be transmitted through the fecal-oral route or indirect contact with the environment contaminated by vomit and excrement and aerosols.
Measles
Measles is an acute respiratory infection caused by the measles virus, and the seasonal peak of measles occurs from March to May each year. Measles patients are the only source of infection, and the virus can be spread by droplet transmission or direct contact with nasopharyngeal secretions of infected persons, making the population generally susceptible. It is more likely to spread in crowded, airless places of study and living. The main symptoms include fever, red papular rash, cough, runny nose, lacrimation, photophobia, sore throat, general malaise, and in some cases, serious complications such as pneumonia. Anyone who has not been vaccinated against measles will develop the disease after more than 90% of exposure, with the highest incidence in children aged 1-5 years.
Rubella
Rubella is a respiratory disease caused by the rubella virus, with a high incidence in spring and a general susceptibility of the population. The source of infection is rubella patients, including those with latent infection (those who have not developed the disease after infection with the virus), and it can be transmitted through respiratory and close contact, as well as through mother-to-child transmission. After infection, symptoms such as fever and cough appear early, followed by a light red papular rash that first appears on the face and quickly spreads throughout the body. In children, the disease is usually mild, but in pregnant women, rubella may lead to fetal death or congenital defects such as congenital heart disease, cataracts, and deafness, known as congenital rubella syndrome.
Mumps
Mumps is an acute, systemic infection caused by the mumps virus and is usually curable in about 2 weeks. The typical clinical symptoms are fever, painful subauricular swelling of the cheek and jaw, and swelling of the parotid gland, which is characterized by the spread of the earlobe to the front, back and bottom, and can be complicated by meningoencephalitis and acute pancreatitis. The source of infection is the mumps patient or the latent infected person, and the virus infects healthy people through droplets. It is mostly seen in children and adolescents and has a good prognosis with long-lasting immunity after the disease.