Am I the only person who is completely over hearing about H1N1 Virus? I would like to know where the media is getting their information about the H1N1 virus. We have been battling a virus at our house this week. Bill came home from work Monday feeling fine and we went out to eat before going to Lauren's open House. By the time we got home and got the girls to bed Bill was coughing his poor head off and started feeling bad. He didn't work Tuesday and got an appointment to see the doctor (Physician's Assistant) that afternoon. I was shocked when he called from the exam room saying that they were testing him for the flu! His flu test came back negative, but the PA said his symptoms were the same as the flu, so he prescribed Tamiflu and also gave Bill a prescription for me (we see the same doctor). The invoice on Bill's doctor visit said in the diagnosis box, Influenza. Bill started taking the Tamiflu Tuesday and by Tuesday night I was achy, had a sore throat, and felt horrible. The prescription for me said to take the Tamiflu for preventative measures, so I thought I would start taking it just to be safe. After waking up Wednesday and not being able to get out of bed, I started taking the Tamiflu twice a day instead of the one time a day prescribed for prevention of the flu symptoms.
On Thursday Allison woke up with a fever so I called the pediatrician and made an appointment for her and Lauren to both be checked out. Allison's fever was 101.9. I explained that Bill had gone to the doctor and did not test positive for the flu, but was taking Tamiflu. Lauren didn't have a fever, so they didn't test her for the flu. They did test Allison for the flu. I asked the nurse if they would test her for both H1N1 and seasonal flu and she said there was only one test and it would not differentiate between the H1N1 or Seasonal flu, just if they had the flu. I thought that was strange considering how much you hear about H1N1 these days. She also said that they were treating all positive flu tests as H1N1!? I wish I had asked her why? Well, fortunately Allison tested negative for the flu. The Nurse Practitioner said it was just one of many different types of viruses and just treat the symptoms. She said she would prescribe Tamiflu and I could wait to get it filled if Allison's symptoms seemed to worsen. I told her that I would not feel comfortable giving her Tamiflu if her symptoms did worsen because how would I know if it indeed was the flu causing the symptoms to worsen, or just the other virus.
I have found myself really angry about how much we hear about the H1N1 virus and how it seems very deceptive. When I first started hearing about Swine flu, I thought, well it's just a different strand of the flu, no big deal, what's all the hype, but as I continue to hear it every single day, I find myself really mad because from my experience at the doctor's offices this week, they can't even tell if you have Season flu or H1N1. Why not just report about the flu rather than a Swine Flu pandemic??!!! If anyone out there has any more information about the testing for seasonal or H1N1 let me know.
This was a really long winded soap box that I felt I needed to speak on today.
Fortunately we are feeling better in our house. Lauren has continued to evade the worst of the symptoms of this virus. She hasn't had any fever, just coughing, sneezing, and runny nose. Bill felt better Wednesday and was able to take care of the girls while I was in bed for most of the day. He went back to work Thursday and seems to be feeling pretty good. Allison had the worst of the fever. Her temperature spiked Thursday evening and night. She slept in her big girl twin bed for the first time Thursday night, but I slept with her to keep an eye on her. Her fever finally broke around 1:30 a.m. but we had a very restless night. I put her in her crib to nap today because she was tired and still had a fever of 101 so I wanted her to nap well. But tonight her temperature had dropped to around 99 and she is sleeping in her big girl bed again. I told her Mommy would not be sleeping with her tonight because she was feeling better. We'll see how she does!
The past two days Lauren has been riding her bike down the road. I didn't get to go with her yesterday because I stayed in with Allison, but today we all went and I was amazed at how well Lauren was doing riding. She really has not ridden all that much so she still is not that good at steering and braking. But I was happy to see the progress she is making. The thing that scares me to death is that she really does not watch where she is going. Today some of her friends down the street were out riding. A couple of the girls were bigger and rode without training wheels. Lauren was so happy to follow them along. I can't believe my baby is getting so big.
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3 comments:
I too am tired of hearing about the H1N1 stuff. I realize that it is dangerous but so is the regular flu. It seems like people who have really gotten sick and died were people that had compromised immunity or were sick and didn't get treated right away. But this happens with the regular flu too. I hate to give my kids any medicine not really needed. We all got flu shots this year...the kids always do but I haven't had one since I worked in the hospital over 10 yrs ago but since I am working with kids I thought it would be best...we have had some kids out at Madison's preschool with the flu. Our dr told us the flu test is only 60% accurate....you can test negative and still have it. Also a lot of dr are prescribing it for whole families if 1 person has it so that if someone else gets it you don't have to come back to the dr for a prescription. We have seen 1 person in a family get it and then everyone else get it over a course of a week or so since you are contagious for 7-10 days and can pass it to others even before you are feeling bad. Glad everyone is better and praying that Lauren doesn't end up with it.
LOL! I'm so sorry you guys have been so sick. I got it this week, too. I know it's no fun.
The difference between seasonal flu and H1N1 is the origin (human strain only vs human/pig/bird combo). The big scare was simply based on lack of data initially, as to how a human body would respond to a flu strain that was mixed species. Current data shows that while H1N1 tends to affect healthy adults and children (rather than elderly) it is actually MILDER than the seasonal flu and has caused much FEWER deaths than the seasonal flu. Why are we hearing about it? It is new and the unknown caused fears and concerns. In actuality, the elder have some immunity from H1N1 if they were exposed to the last outbreak of "swine" flu in the 60's or 70's...this is why those of us not alive during that outbreak have no immunity whatsoever and are being hit the hardest by H1N1. That said, even for healthy adults, H1N1 is much milder than the seasonal flu.
Their are 2 types of Influenza, A and B. The doctor's offices are able to test for the flu and to see which type it is. Current CDC guidelines state that if you are positive for Flu A, you assume it is H1N1. The only way to see for sure if it is H1N1 is by sending it off to state labs (too hard and costly for MD offices). So, if you have flu B, it is not H1N1. If you have flu A, it is likely H1N1 because the seasonal strains are not in our area yet! By tracking the strains as they mutate and seeing whether they are A or B, they are pretty accurate when they assume it is H1N1. Seasonal flu is just arriving in our area which has been hit incredibly hard by H1N1 already. I hope that helps!
Holly is right, you can easily test negative for the flu when, in fact, you may be positive for it! Depends largely on how your doctor's office tests for it (nasal swab vs nasal wash) and even then there is room for error in false negatives. Don't know why. If symptoms fit with fever, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, cough, headache, generalized aches, and tiredness/weakness, you assume it is the flu. :)
Clear as mud, right?! Seriously, sorry you're over it. Hope you feel better soon. If you have any more questions I'm happy to try to answer! (I've had to stay on top of this stuff while rounding at ETCH the past couple weeks.) ;)
The crazy thing is that if you are going to have the flu, having "swine" flu is much shorter and safer than the seasonal flu after all!
Don't you just love knowing April! :) I do! She is a WEALTH of information just about every time I ever have a medical question.
I'm so sorry you guys have been sick. Sam told me that Lauren wasn't at school Thursday and had missed the Fun Walk...so I knew something was up. Sorry I didn't call to check on you...I should've done that! Hope it's gone soon!
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