<p>I just got a call from my son that he was diagnosed with the swine flu. The Health Center apparently is only dispensing Tamiflu to those with other underlying conditions (asthma, diabetes, etc.). I have a call in to his physician to see if it’s something he should have regardless.</p>
<p>Any advice, inspiration, words on what to expect, etc. that others can share? It’s difficult to deal with this thousands of miles away. My husband and I are flying up to see him at the end of next week for Parent’s Weekend. I don’t know if he’ll be fully recovered by then, but I think the visit will be different than we had expected (as at the very least, I imagine he’ll be having a lot of work to catch up on)! Sigh… Being a parent doesn’t get any easier, does it?</p>
<p>Fluids, rest, treat fever aggressively, rest, hot showers a couple of times a day, rest…serious about all that - that was the advice we all got from our pediatrician and the ER doc.</p>
<p>Some kids do pretty well with the swine flu while others have more trouble. Have him keep well-hydrated & get lots of rest (like any time any one is sick). Have him get checked out if he doesn’t improve or shows any signs mentioned on the CDC website.</p>
<p>Yup, swine flu, or seasonal flu or just a cold, it doesn’t matter. It is time for everyone to get worried and panicky. All of us in the healthcare industry plan to talk it up as much as possible - just short of the point of causing widespread panic. Last year my worksite made millions of dollars on near useless testing and we plan on doing the same this year. We are already stocked up on people, facilities and supplies. If the concern fizzles out, we will lose a lot of money. Public health officials will also be talking up swine flu concerns. Last year, the State coffers were empty, but somehow public health got a lot more money anyway.</p>
<p>D2 (a freshman) has it too. She missed several days of class last week and still sounds terrible over the phone. I hope she feels a lot better by Monday. She has two midterms coming up on Wednesday.</p>
<p>My daughter was diagnosed with Swine Flu on a Tuesday; the campus Health Center recommended that she go to an ER, as her temperature was 103. The ER did not dispense Tamiflu since she had no underlying conditions. That Tuesday and the next day, my daughter felt terrible. On Thursday she still sounded terrible, but said she felt as though she had a terrible cold rather than feeling as she had the previous two days. The improvement was so incremental as to be almost non-existent, but at least it was an increment in the right direction. She stayed room-bound Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, gradually getting better each day. Monday she returned to class and Thursday evening attended a dance class. This weekend she’s back to doing exactly what she did before getting sick.</p>
<p>D did take care of herself while sick:</p>
<p>Plenty of sleep - 16 to 18 hours a day, and I’m not kidding. Fatigue was a major issue.</p>
<p>Lots of liquids whenever awake. </p>
<p>Cleanliness whenever awake - showering, etc., helps. (My daughter showered twice each day when she got up and a bit before she went to bed; it helped with the fever and the congestion. She also put her extra set of sheets on the bed after the first days. She still didn’t feel up to the laundry room, but needed not to climb back into sheets she’d lived in for four days.)</p>
<p>Though her appetite was down, she did make sure to eat at least a little something - liquid form (soup, etc.) is an easy choice.</p>
<p>Good luck. Watch for that turning point toward feeling better. If it’s a downward turn instead, your son needs to go back to the Health Center.</p>
<p>BTW I made my daughter call each day when she woke and then later in the day also. Told her if I didn’t hear from her that I would assume she was too ill to call and I would really worry. She called :)</p>
<p>edad, don’t be so quick to judge this a non-event. D2 and I both had it. D2 (a healthy 14 year old) progressed to bacterial pneumonia within 3 days of the first symptoms. Luckily we caught it quickly, and she had a successful round of antibiotics to treat it. I caught it from her - - no pneumonia, but I didn’t really feel well until almost a month after the first symptoms (persistent cough and exhaustion). All in all, D2 missed a week of school (and longer for athletics), and I missed 2 (home with her and then I was sick). We have had regular flu; this was comparable to a bad case of that EXCEPT for the rapid progression to pneumonia for her. </p>
<p>I don’t object to my tax dollars being spent on public health; just saw mortality rates from 1918 in an exhibit on infectious disease at the National Acadmy of Sciences museum in DC yesterday, and I’d MUCH rather that we were over prepared instead of unprepared even if this does not not turn out to be as serious.</p>
<p>Son had it about 3-4 weeks ago. First 7 seven were rough with fever, aches, nausea and cough. The cough lasted a little more than 2 weeks. </p>
<p>I think what eadad is trying to get across is that there really isn’t much you can for it. In fact testing for it is really a wasted of money as the treatment is symptomatic. Of course if fever doesn’t respond to tylenol and motrin or cough becomes worse, lasts too long …seek further treatment as a secondary infection may have occurred that will require antibiotics.</p>
<p>Can someone please explain to me why Tamiflu is being dispensed only to people with underlying conditions? I thought it helped reduce symptons in everyone, and that part of the reason people were so panicked about H1N1 is that a high proportion of the child fatalities don’t have underlying conditions. Is there a downside to taking Tamiflu? Or are medical facilities just afraid that they’ll run out? Or what?</p>
<p>I think it is more correct to say that swine flu was the presumptive diagnosis. Private practices, clinics and even state health departments do not routinely send nasal swabs to the CDC. In my state (NY) the health department will not send samples to the CDC or process them in state unless a patient is admitted to the hospital and is in the ICU. There are currently no FDA approved in-office tests for doctors or clinics to use. It could have been the “regular” flu, although the CDC is reporting that since September, most cases of influenza have been H1N1.</p>
<p>blackeyedsusan - I know you must be worried and feel pretty helpless right now. Just make sure that if he feels he is having any problem at all breathing or catching his breath, he should go to the ER right away. The dangerous cases seem to be the ones that involve a secondary infection/ pneumonia.</p>
<p>D started feeling better on Day 5 of the flu. After that, it’s just a slow recovery. Many of the kids who have run into trouble get a secondary bacterial pneumonia that produces toxins that can lead to respiratory failure. We held our breath as she suffered through the first 4 days.</p>
<p>Now we just remind her to not mess around if she has trouble breathing. Go to the ER immediately.</p>
<p>We parents received a nice letter from the Health Services director about how the school was going to handle the H1N1 flu. Kids were to call the Health Services number before just showing up at the health center. If your symptoms sounded like the flu, then the Health Services would not have you come in, but would call you daily and check on you to make sure that the course of the disease didn’t turn into something fatal.</p>
<p>Well, D called, had to leave a message, and the Health Services never called back. So much for this fabulous plan…looks good in print, though.</p>
<p>DD called me half an hour ago, concerned she might have H1N1. She graduated from college so has a doctor, not a health center. She’s wondering if it’s possible to start the flu with no fever – she doesn’t get fevers easily. Out of nowhere, her asthma kicked up and she started coughing, her throat started hurting and she is having stomach problems and says symptoms don’t seem like a cold. That’s today. Because she has asthma and because she has another chronic illness for which she takes medication that suppresses her immune system, I’m concerned. She is a candidate for Tamiflu. Does anyone know if the fever is an early sign or a later one? She was vaccinated against seasonal flu and pneumonia some weeks ago, so if it’s a flu, it’s probably H1N1. Wish they’d had the H1N1 shot out earlier. It’s still not available here except as a live vaccine. I hope I am overreacting and/or that the other vaccines give some protection.</p>
<p>Apparently, although fever is common, there are a number of cases of documented H1N1 flu in which the patient did not have fever–or in which fever was a late symptom. This included some cases in which the illness was severe, requiring hospitalization. Therefore, if your daughter is at high risk (which is sounds like she is) and has symptoms such as cough, malaise and nausea or vomiting, I would strongly encourage her to get seen by a physician today. They will probably not test her for H1N1 (although they may do a rapid test for type A flu – but even that can be falsely negative) but will evaluate her signs and symptoms and decide whether she needs treatment with Tamiflu and/or additional evaluation. I hope she feels better soon.</p>