Flu is starting again

[AU Farmgirl]

We are planning a trip to Disney on December 31-January 7. My only worry is the flu. At my sons school this week, the children are dropping out like flies. The flu has hit us really bad. We live in the Southeast corner of Alabama. What about other places? Everybody but my DH has had the flu shot. Should I worry? or am I a worry wart? Does anybody have a good remedy if we should get it. This is the first time DS12 and DS6 have ever been to Disney. I don't want anything to ruin our trip.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Flu shots are your best frontline defense! See if you can get your husband to get one too. They take at least 2 weeks to be effective so he should get it now. Otherwise, frequent hand washing, sanitizer, keep hands away from face, etc. can help reduce chances of getting sick. Our area hasn't been hit hard yet, but we seem to get a lot of cases around February. We're leaving for our trip on Friday and our whole family had our shots in November. I'm hoping we can all stay healthy. Hope your family stays healthy too!

 

[pbharris4]

We've had it already. Me, DD10 and DD3 all had it at the same time. We were all sick for a week. It took me longer because I have asthma. It moves fast from person to person..there were alot of kids out of school. We were supposed to get our flu shot that week. Don't need it now. I suggest taking Purell and Lysol to your hotel room. Purell does kill germs. Dr.s use it before entering patients rooms. We'll be carrying it with us when we go to WDW over Xmas.

 

[kaysmommie]

We live in East Tennessee and there are alot of kids out of DD's school the past 2 weeks. My kids have not had a flu shot but now I'm considering getting them one. Ususally we get it every year but after so much bad stuff about vaccines I had trouble deciding on getting and a shot that was unnecessary. If I were going to Dsieny I would have gotten the shots last month. We use a ton of hand sanitizer and are constantly washing our hands too. Hope everyone stays healthy onyour trip.

 

[Vickie46]

its a virus going on here in Middle TN... its awful.

 

[kissy]

Hi there! I'm in Pascagoula, MS. We just got over the flu here. Bad stuff! If you guys haven't gotten a flu shot I wouold recommend taking one or two airbornes a day. I gave it to my older daughter once a day and other than a little runny nose she's good to go!

 

[dodukes]

According to the news,we (florida) are way up on the list of the most cases....

 

[AU Farmgirl]

So far we are still doing okay. I am trying to get my DH to get the shot this week. I am also constantly using hand sanitizer and I started by DS 6 on airborne twice a day, and my DS12 and myself are taking Echinacea with Vitamin C every day. Maybe this will help. We only have three days left in school. I told everybody I am going to quarentine us after Christmas so maybe we won't get anything before we leave for Disney on December 31. Thanks for all the replies. Does anybody know if Echinacea really works or other rememdies to prevent or shorten colds? Thanks everybody.

 

[2poohbears]

We haven't had huge Flu outbreaks here yet, but my boys' pediatrician said he's been getting a lot of respiratory illness complaints this fall, and is expecting flu cases in JAN/FEB. Both kids got the flu shot, but my doc's office hasn't received any doses yet, so I'm out of luck. We head to WDW on JAN 28th, so I'm crossing my fingers we stay away from flu. I'm going to quarantine myself and the kids the week before our trip. Hope dh doesn't catch anything at work. We take airborne - hopefully, that will help. I've also heard that Coldeeze is good to shorten a cold (has zinc in it), but I've never tried it so can't personally vouch for it. My hairdresser swears by Echinacea, but I haven't tried that yet either. Good luck!

 

[Feralpeg]

I just saw a map on TWC today that showed incidence of flu in the country. The entire southeastern US was in red (widespread incidence). That being said, I'm glad I got my shot. Let's hope it will be over in the southeast soon!

 

[earthyfamily]

We're in east TN and just recently got over being sick. Lasted about a week and was not fun at all. I always have trouble telling a flu from a cold. But we did echinacea and goldenseal with zinc and our regular multi-vitamin and it never really got too severe. The sore throat was really bad and so was the fever, but the fever didn't last too long and once it broke it didn't come back. We only do tylenol or cold meds as a last resort after all other options have been tried and we don't do vaccinations or flu shots. We did Zicam in the chewable cinnamon tablets as the zinc supplement and it seemed to help keep it from getting too severe and keep it rather short overall. And especially during this time of year, when sickness is so widespread, try to give your body the advantage it needs and consume really healthy foods and foods that will keep your defenses up....and really try to cut out all processed sugar. Hope that helps.

 

[disneyfan6301]

We live in Southeast Tennessee, and the flu/strep throat/stomach bug are all spreading like wildfire here. The school where I teach has had between 125-140 students out per day for the past week to week and a half (school system has had between 13-15% absentee rate). We still have two days before break, so I am hoping we make it through. DS and I both got flu shots, but this could be a different strain. Lots of hand washing going on here.

 

[kaysmommie]

Update! DD6 has the flu confirmed yesterday. I thought we were in the clear since last day of school was Friday but I was wrong. Hoping DS2 doesn't catch it. He already has a double ear infection. I'm cleaning and sanitizing and doing laundry like crazy. My kids eat healthy most of the time and take vitamins but with the schools contaminated it didn't help much. They should close school when it gets this bad. They didn't get a flu shot but last year they did and DD still got the flu and DS was sick alot too. I'm hoping she recovers quickly.

 

[Tiger926]

This is so scary for us as I am pregnant and my daughter is 3 - we both have weaker immune systems with allergies/asthma (she has been hospitalized before while in Florida). According to the CDC map for the week ending Dec. 9th, Florida has the highest amounts of flu - since we've all been sick while in FL, I have to imagine it's because everyone is traveling to Florida from all over the world and is passing their germs around as they don't want to cancel trips or quarantine themselves. We are petrified to go at this time of year, but promised our daughter to see the Christmas decorations.

We are beyond vigilant about our health, but we know not everyone else is, and at this point, I am really scared about going at this point as I constantly see more and more sick people (adults and kids included) in the parks and it makes me very angry. The other problem is that so many people are harboring germs and don't even know it and they then infect everyone else.

I so hope that all of us (especially those who have sick kids already) take care and have healthy holiday seasons.

Tiger

 

[chip91]

At least where I live, it's been going around our school from family - family for a good month know (only it's not respiratory flu) it's rotovirus & intestinal flu, which to my knowledge the flu shot doesn't really help?? They have closed 2 schools in the Oshkosh, WI area to sanitize them due to illness, let's just say I can't wait for Christmas break, hopefully people will lay low so it's contained once and for all!!!

Good luck OP I sure hope you guys don't get sick before your vaca!
Chip

 

[crazelion]

its a virus going on here in Middle TN... its awful.

Yes it's hitting middle TN and Southeast TN hard to.

I have had flu shot and still got the flu. I am going on day 5 and still not feeling like I have energy at all. I'm a hypre active person.

 

[sgmom]

We just returned on Saturday and DD2.5 got hit in the middle of our vacation! We woke one night to find her sick - she was out for 2 days and is still trying to recoup; I got hit the next day for 1 1/2 days; DH was hit the next day for a day. DD and I missed 2 park days and DH missed 1 - for him to miss a day, meant he was sick! DS6 never got sick - thank goodness!

There were 9 of us in our group and 2 others had a touch of it, while DMIL stayed home from work today because she is now sick!

On our second day of illness, I saw the map on TV that showed the outbreak in FL and surrounding states. Someone advised me to get a flu shot before we left, but sounds like even if we would have the few days before, it still would not have worked!

Once we started feeling better, I did have a sanitizing spray that I went around the room and sprayed everything that could have been touched - didn't want DS to come in contact with it!

Take Care and Stay Healthy!!!