<p>My daughter and I are discussing the pros and cons of going abroad in the spring in the event H1N1 turns into a full blown epidemic. Luckily she’s thinking of programs in the UK and France and we’re sure she will get great care if she should need it. We’re just concerned that if she is hospitalized for treatment, we won’t be able to visit her as easily as we could if she were in the U.S.</p>
<p>Any other parents out there who have the same concerns?</p>
<p>One of my kids studied in England and one in France. The one in England needed care once and it was excellent. I would not stop kids from studying abroad because of H1N1. Albeit uncomfortable, it is a flu that is going to last a few days and should not warrant a visit, especially because it is contagious.
Keep in mind that many kids who study abroad travel extensively. My son was traveling through Spain last spring when it was all over that country. I reminded him to carry Purrell and wash as often as possible which he did.
My kids and I found their study abroad experiences to be extremely rewarding and valuable parts of their college experiences.</p>
<p>The epidemic will probably be over by spring anyhow.</p>
<p>H1N1 is really not that bad (besides sucking just as bad as regular flu). Chances are, she’ll get it this winter with the other 50% of the US that’s projected to get infected. Hundreds of kids on my campus have gotten it and all they have to do is be quarantined for about a week.</p>
<p>Now I had a friend who studied abroad in China over the summer, and when a girl in their group contracted the virus they quarantined them all in a govt bunker which wasn’t so fun…so I wouldn’t suggest going to China. Other than that, there’s not much to worry about. We may even have a mass produced vaccine by then.</p>
<p>Daughter arrived today for her semester program abroad. She got the normal seasonal flu vaccine. Hope it was in time. For the new H1N1, colleges and camps around here seem to be being swamped. So far, so good as far as seriousness.</p>
<p>I too would recommend avoiding China and any other countries that have draconian quarantine methods. In China, you can be quarantined if they suspect you have been exposed and the quarantine conditions are pretty horrid.</p>
<p>My neighbor’ s 12 old is just getting over H1N1. My neighbor picked him up from school on Friday with a fever of about 102, went to the doctor (because she has a new baby at home) and then home. He felt crummy on Friday and Saturday. Fever broke around noon on Sunday and he has been fever free (without medicine) since then. So, it was pretty short lived.</p>
<p>FYI: many parents in Asia are worried about sending their kids TO the United States because there are so many cases of H1N1 there.</p>
<p>Same rules apply wherever you are in the world. Wash your hands. A lot.
Stay home if you are sick. Cover your mouth when you cough. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your mouth, eyes, and nose if you are out and about and touching stuff that everyone in the city has touched or coughed on. Most important-- wash your hands.</p>
<p>Are they in high school or college?</p>
<p>As my daughter mentioned to me, when I was concerned that 2,000 students attending a university in our state apparently contracted the flu, while she was abroad earlier this year from Feb till June- she had been exposed to * much worse things* :rolleyes:, than the flu.</p>
<p>Oh well thanks for setting my mind at ease dear.</p>
<p>Everytime school starts again, people get sick. Been that way forerver.</p>
<p>There is such an overreaction to this flu, its laughable. Its the flu. Millions get the flu every year. All kinds of flu. And many cases that they say are h1n1 turn out to not be that strain. And if you put a bunch of tired college kids together and freak them out about the flu, voila symptoms “appear”. What would probablly be treated like a commom flu or cold is seen as some sort of death sentence, when it is nothing of the kind.</p>
<p>The H1N1 vaccine is not yet available. Whatever vaccines students have already gotten do not protect against H1N1.</p>
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<p>Yeah. So was the Spanish flu of 1918. Started in the spring, infectious but not serious. Mutated over the summer to a more deadly virus. Killed about 5% of the worlds population. Wiped out entire villages in Alaska. Killed more American troops than enemy action (and this was during WWI).</p>
<p>This isn’t the Spanish flu. And new studies have shown that many of the death from that pandemic may have been from strep. And “regular flu” kills hundreds of thousands a year, so this new flu so far is much less dangerous than the everyday flu.</p>
<p>As well, a large number of “death by flu” are actually deaths from secondary infections, which we now can treat.</p>
<p>H5N1 has infected people a relatively small number of people resulting in 254 deaths since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.
Every year seasonal influenza kills between 250,000
1000000 die from maleria, yet we are all freaked out of h1n1.</p>
<p>Now that I’ve had H1N1, IF I had children (since I’m 17…) I would have no worries at all and wouldn’t stop them from doing anything because of the disease.</p>
<p>Like many of the posters here, I thought there was much overreaction to H1N1…until my brother ended up in the hospital this weekend with H1N1 and then pneumonia. Anyone who enters his hospital room is required to wear a mask, gown, and gloves. I heard on the news this morning that the people who are suffering the most with H1N1 is presenting as a 1-2 punch, first the virus then a secondary bacterial infection. Two college aged girls in our community have died from it within the last month.</p>
<p>There’s no way to protect yourself completely from the flu, but I don’t call the precautions overreacting any longer.</p>
<p>I still call it over reacting. Every year people get the flu, hundreds of thousands, and end up in the hispital. Seems every year we are told to be scared for this or that flu. </p>
<p>Yet, we encourage smoknig, which kills how many more people in much worse ways, we presribe drugs with horrible side effects.</p>
<p>The real causes of death from the 1918 flu is just starting to get researched, and yet we are using that as the basis for the “coming pandemic”.</p>
<p>Two college aged girls died from the flu in the last month in one community?
I found a few deaths of college students</p>
<p>One had Muscular dystorphy and another had serious health issues before contracting the flu. So reports of “death by h1n1 flu” need to be taken with a more skeptical eye.</p>
<p>Yes its dangerous. Yes we need to be cautious, but do we stop our lives out of fear? Don’t think so</p>
<p>Like anything else, I guess this is relative to the perspective from which you’re looking. But just for the record, yes, two girls died in the same community. I read this morning an email written by one of the girl’s family members and she had no previously diagnosed health issues. I think if it hits closer to home, you look at it a bit differently.</p>
<p>“There is such an overreaction to this flu, its laughable.”</p>
<p>Not quite. My DH was sick last month, missed an entire week of work and 2 weekends. I doubt he’s missed 10 days in the last 25 years. He was really sick.</p>
<p>My DD’s classmate was hospitalized in intensive care for a week. Obviously, she was quite ill. There have been quite a few deaths here in NJ.</p>
<p>My DS, a junior, is currently studying abroad. He is one of those “high risk” kids due to chronic medical issues. Even at college here in the states, he’s been hospitalized. Unfortunately, a cold often results in pneumonia so I AM very concerned but the risk is here as well as abroad. Since his dad was sick in the days leading up to his departure and my son was leaving with a sore throat, his doctor prescribed Tamiflu? to take with him. He was instructed to wait to see if symptoms escalated and if so, to see a doctor. He has the meds in case he is instructed to take them. His European program advised students to bring 4 months of medications, including over the counter meds as they are harder to get abroad. I doubt his doctor would have prescribed the Tamiflu (if that’s what it’s called) if his dad wasn’t sick - but I’m glad he has it if it’s needed.</p>
<p>I just emailed my son last night and told him to stock up on supplies (liquids, soups, applesauce, etc) and to make a dorm plan for checking on sick kids. Maybe someone can leave food/drinks outside the door. Luckily, students have singles so isolation won’t be a problem - except they need a fellow student to check on them.</p>
<p>“There is such an overreaction to this flu, its laughable.”</p>
<p>I got H1N1 and missed two days of school, nothing else. Thank you.</p>