<p>JAM4 - Thanks for the link - Another PA resident here.</p>
<p>I am convinced the H1N1 has made its way thru our household, but my 13 yr old believes I am paranoid. Just very unusual for all 5 of us to have been sick with fever (albeit not very high for all of us), fatigue, etc over the course of 20 days.</p>
<p>Dr didn’t want to see us unless any of us got worse.</p>
<p>Since I “think” we all had H1N1 I don’t think we should get vacinated. I figuered we’ll cross that bridge if the vacine becaomes available for us.</p>
<p>Ballet mom, interesting questions, that I wish I could answer. Molliebatmit? She seems to know more of the details of immune response. I was addressing the more ardently anti vaccination lobby, as exemplified by members. </p>
<p>As H1N1 can be lethal for the young, just as standard flu can be for the old, I do think those populations need to be targeted appropriately. The data from Canada on H1N1 being less effective following standard flu immunization bears watching, though is not yet published or being taken into consideration in this country. </p>
<p>Notnim, is there only H1N1 in your community, or are other viruses making the rounds as well? I actually have the same question for myself, as I had mild flu like symptoms in August, though the medical line is that they are unconcerned about temps below 100 degrees F. Regardless, will get the H1N1 vaccine.</p>
<p>I’ll be getting the H1N1 vaccine also as soon as it’s available here. I’ve already gotten the seasonal flu shot and supplies here in my part of the South are reportedly dwindling.</p>
<p>I must admit we were all a little nervous at work this morning when one of our coworkers called in sick after being diagnosed at a walk in clinic over the weekend - he’s the second in our office over the last few weeks. Our boss is continually stating strongly that he expects anyone who gets sick to stay home to protect the rest of us.</p>
<p>As for all the anti vaccine posters, I’d be more concerned about the toxins you’re breathing in from our wonderful air quality than vaccines.</p>
<p>I know this is getting a little off topic, but I WISH the schools would develop a plan so that students staying home to better themselves and to protect others from getting the flu would not be penalized from missing so many days and have to spend DAYS catching up when they return. In my younger D’s school (K-8) they sent a letter home saying that more kids are getting sick because kids are coming back to school before they are ready - yet parents I think are freaking out (and kids) because the kids have to make up every stinkin workpaper, etc. they missed. There must be someway to consolidate and streamline the make-up work. Same for high school. The current conditions with these illnesses is out of the ordinary and I would like to see some better “working together” plan so that it doesn’t feel like a penalty to stay home when you are sick and often still contagious.</p>
<p>My son has missed 2 days and will hopefully go back tomorrow - he will have been fever free for an appropriate length of time - will he feel all better? No. But 2 days off will have him set back in extra work/make-ups for a week. :(</p>
<p>I share your concerns abasket. My daughter is a graduating senior in college with dual degrees working on research with kids with disabilities for her senior honors thesis. If she got the flu it would set her back signifcantly, not only with coursework but with her thesis. Then there’s the danger she could transmit the virus to the kids she’s working with if she was sick and didn’t stay out long enough.</p>
<p>I actually heard a grad student on campus say that the person sitting next to them in class had been out with the flu but then was back for the next class because she said she couldn’t afford to be out. Dangerous for her health and others. All the more reason I feel it’s important to get the vaccine.</p>
Hopefully there is enough vaccine so everyone can be immunized. That is the ideal situation. Immunization programs are designed to protect the individual AND the general population. When people like “member” reject science and refuse vaccination they actually benefit from an immunization program. They enjoy “herd immunity” which is why they can sometimes claim they “never get sick”.
You are exposed to the same antigens in the vaccine as if you got the flu. Getting the vaccine doesn’t make you “less immune”.
The deal with influenza is that it rapidly mutates into different strains. That is why a new vaccine is developed every year.<br>
Getting the vaccine every single year protects you the most - as you are exposed to that strain each year. If left to nature you might or might not be exposed.</p>
<p>Off topic here - I think we have a swine flu case in our house right now. Kid with classic fly symptoms - very tired, muscle aches, fever, cough, headache. Just served her home made chicken soup, fresh lemons with sugar, tea with honey. Hope she gets better soon. H1N1 has been in area schools for a few weeks now. The vaccine is not available yet. Why would I vaccinate a child that most likely already had the flu?</p>
It is, as JustAMomof4 says, just because the flu virus is so good at mutating. (Alas, we all do what we have to in order to survive… the flu virus does it really well!)</p>
<p>Vaccines can have lasting immunity as well – I read a study a few weeks ago that suggested a significant number of people who were vaccinated against swine flu in '78 will be immune to this round of swine flu, no extra vaccination needed. But vaccines are often not as potent at stimulating the immune system as actually having a disease is, largely because having a disease causes other, more primitive, components of the immune system to go into high alert.</p>
This is partly because the ethylmercury found in thimerosal is chemically different from the methylmercury with which most people are familiar – thimerosal’s ethylmercury is metabolized and excreted much more quickly than methylmercury, and so is not in the body as long.</p>
<p>Although most of the articles are written for scientists, it can be really useful to go to [url=<a href=“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed]PubMed[/url”>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed]PubMed[/url</a>], the science article search engine, to find health information. Review articles are often particularly accessible for non-scientists, and you can look at those specifically by clicking the “review” tab at the top of the list of search results.</p>
<p>My husband had the swine a few weeks ago. He was home from work for over a week: fever, weakness, nausea, diarrhea, coughing. This is a nasty, nasty flu. I <em>don’t</em> want to get it. I’m getting the vax as soon as I can.</p>
<p>personally, living in the “petri dish” of the dorms at school here, i have found the flu shot to be extremely helpful. kids get sick multiple times bc it goes like a boomerang thru the dorms, and it really throws you off to get sick not once, not twice, but three times just from SEASONAL flu. i was one of the only ones who got the shot last year and i credit it for sparing me from a good two rounds of illness.</p>
<p>so, to try and spare myself the agony of losing a good 24+ hours that i really can’t afford to lose in the first place, i have wholeheartedly gotten the seasonal flu shot already and am on the lookout for h1n1.</p>
<p>p.s. i dont recall ever getting a flu shot before going to college…</p>
<p>That article above with the student interviews describes the going-ons in my house the last week to a tee!!! The fever, chills, sweats, cough, achiness, nausea - the whole ball of wax! One of the worst things about it is that it’s not the usual 24-48 hours and you’re better…seems to go on for DAYS…</p>
<p>There are two things we call flu: “stomach flu,” a short but unpleasant illness usually involving gastrointestinal symptoms; and “flu” or influenza, a disease that attacks suddenly with high fever, aches and other symptoms and usually lasts a week or more.</p>
<p>What cutieflutie is talking about above is what my mother calls a 24-hour bug, not influenza at all, and flu shots would, unfortunately, provide no protection against it. The flu shot is for influenza. Neither the seasonal flu shot nor the swine flu shot protects against stomach flu, but they do protect against influenza, which is generally nasty. For most college students, flu is not life-threatening, but it is hugely inconvenient to be sick in bed for a week or more.</p>
<p>^^^^^Cardinal, quite right. The “stomach flu” is actually a misnomer.</p>
<p>Additionally, there are many other viral illnesses which can cause fever, sore throat, etc., and people often ASSUME they have influenza, when in fact they have a different viral illness.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang is correct that the “stomach flu” is a misnomer, that illness is usually a Norwalk virus (norovirus) or rotavirus, or sometimes plain old food poisoning.
BUT, nausea and vomiting is a relatively uncommon symptom of influenza, and has been reported more often with H1N1 than with the typical seasonal flu. Real, measured fever is an important sign, as is fatigue and body aches. So people reporting N&V, particularly those with cold symptoms and fever, too, may well have H1N1.</p>
<p>Both my daughter and my friend’s daughter had nausea and vomiting along with the high fever, sore throat/cough/congestion, FATIGUE (a major symptom for my daughter), and body aches during their recent bout with H1N1. My daughter was surprised by the out-of-nowhere punch she took at the onset, and then just the sheer number of days for recovery - and she had an uncomplicated bout. (My friend’s daughter started out less ill, but for whatever reason had a slower recovery.) My daughter had had colds and a bout or two of “stomach flu” over the years, but nothing quite like this.</p>
<p>cangel, my daughter had all of those symptoms this summer while she was away in Costa Rica for a mission trip. I kept asking if this could be H1N1 and they kept telling me no, but never could state what exactly they thought she had. It was very frustrating here at home trying to ascertain what was causing her symptoms. She was very sick and we were very amazed that the authorities let her get on a plane to come home in her state. When I finally got her home and took her to her pediatrician, he said the same thing, stating that her nausea and vomiting excluded that diagnosis. I had read that H1N1 did have a gastrointestinal component, but no one would listen to me. She slept about 18 hours a day for 3 days after I got her home. I’ve wondered since then if there is some kind of antibody test that could be done to see if she indeed had H1N1 so that I could feel okay with not having her vaccinated against it, but that may be more trouble than it’s worth.</p>
<p>Ignatius, that out-of-nowhere punch is characteristic of influenza. At noon, you’re fine, say, then suddenly the flu hits like a bag of hammers and at one o’clock you’re down for the count. The lingering fatigue is also characteristic of influenza. I had a bad flu (sadly, not the swine) last winter, was flat on my back and too tired to even watch TV for days, and I had lingering issues for <em>six weeks</em>. And I’m a very healthy person. A regular uncomplicated bout of the flu is no picnic.</p>