“Our pediatrician told us last week that they are assuming all cases are swine flu at this point. A friend was told in the ER that her son has Influenza Type A but that they have been forbidden by the Feds from testing to see if the flu is the swine flu unless the patient is admitted or dead. So our friend’s son could have the swine flu, but we don’t know. The ER doctor also told the friend that her son should have the flu shot and the swine flu vaccine as soon as he’s better.
Hubby’s coworker got his flu shot a little over a week ago and now has the flu. He claims it is the swine flu, but we know no one is testing for that unless a patient is admitted to the hospital or is dead.
Son’s teammate was admitted to the hospital last week due to the flu. No word on whether it is the swine flu or not. At least 6 players missed practice on Friday due to the flu.”
My children are both recovering from the flu, and we were told basically the same thing that you were. They tested positive for type A, which is the type that the swine flu is. Our ped. told us that because 100% of the type A flu samples that had been sent this season to the CDC were identified as H1N1, they are assuming that all type A presenting right now are H1N1, and treating them as such. My son developed a 104.4 on the night of his visit to the dr., so I took him to the ER, where the ER doctor told us the same thing. They both said that most of the cases have been mild, and that the only problem they’ve encountered is when patients develop a secondary infection, most commonly pneumonia.
Another note I would add is that the flu may (at least here in GA, I am not familiar with what is happening elsewhere) be far more widespread than is “officially” believed to be. I say this because of personal observation of our circle of friends/teammates/schoolmates, so take that as you will.
What I have seen over the past three weeks or so is that of the hundreds of people we interact with between sports, school, church groups, etc., approximately a third to 2/3 of those people(depending on which group of people it is - the worst being my daughter’s cheer team, 20 out of 32 kids sick) have been ill with, or are currently ill with flu symptoms, all following the exact same basic pattern, give or take the vomiting and diarrhea (which does not affect near as many people as the rest of the symptoms do). Of those who are or have been ill, most have just treated the symptoms at home until they were better, and only an average of 10% of them have made a trip to the doctor or ER, usually as a precaution because of health issues the child already had, or as a result of a secondary infection (for instance, one friend developed pneumonia and that is when she discovered she had H1N1, and my son, who had already been diagnosed, developed bronchitis and so went to the dr twice, and the ER once).
If the same pattern is occuring over other areas of the country, then the vaccines are too little too late, and will be unnecessary for most people soon, as they will have already either had it or been exposed to it and successfully fought it off. Just thought that was interesting! I would love to hear if others are seeing the same thing.
The same thing is happening here in SoCal as well. I know so many people who have it, and possibly someone in my house coming down with it tonight. It’s not fun but it’s not that bad.
With about 1000 mg of Vitamic C and 2000 units of Vitamin D a day, plus some zinc lozenges daily, the flu’s duration will be shortened, without the nausea of Tamiflu.
There can be a couple of bad nights with coughing and breathing plagued, and fever is not fun, but during the day, rest mixed with TV watching gets them through.
Everyone I talk to all day long either just had it, has a kid who has it, or is talking about someone else who has it. It’s ALL OVER here. No one is deathly ill. Most people seem well but weak after 3 days.