H1N1- symptom question..

[luvestodizz]

My 3 kids were all at my SIL's house 2 weeks ago when my 12 yo DN got a fever. It was sudden and he was coughing too. He was put in bed and my SIL gave him the nebulizer. Monday he tested positive for flu. He was on Tamiflu and stayed home for a week. His 2 sisters got sick that same week too but one had an ear infection, one a sinus infection.
Now my 3 have been sick. My 4yo had a croupy cough. He used the nebulizer. He never had a fever and the cough is more sporadic now. My 7 yo was also coughing and sneezing. She ended up with a fever for 2 days, was put on an antibiotic and also used the nebulizer. She got the fever a week after being near my nephew. Her DR did not test her for flu because her fever was not very high.We told him about Dnephew.

Wednesday my 11 yo starts complaining of a stomachache and sore throat. No fever until Friday. Dr on Wednesday said it was a virus. DH took him in this morning due to the fever and a cough that sounded wheezy too. Now he has bronchitis- given antibiotic, and using the nebulizer.

So my gist is fever coughing no fever coughing sneezing- how the heck do we know if it was H1N1?

 

[DisnyMama]

I took DS (18) to the doc today because yesterday morning he woke with a sore throat and by evening it hit him like a ton of bricks. Sneezing, achy, headache, fever, cough with green yuk, still sore throat, just felt like crap. So this morning I called his doctor and got really lucky and they were able to see him in the afternoon. The doc took one look and listen and said Tamiflu for you, stay home and away from people and oh, by the way mom, it's highly contagious (most probably H1N1). He had his seasonal flu shot well over a month ago and she said that they weren't even bothering to test for Swine Flu anymore because it takes "3" days to get the test results back and for Tamiflu to work it has to be started within 48 hours of onset of when the symptoms first start to be effective. He has an inhaler just in case he starts to wheeze and if it gets bad then we have to go into urgent care for a breathing treatment. I got a great surprise when I went to Costco to pu his Tamiflu and a new inhaler.....DS medical insurance has been cancelled and my Costco membership is cancelled! For some reason his doctors office had not been notified yet but I'm sure to get a bill. DS dad and I are divorced and he works (as of this evening we found out he lost his job) for Costco and carries or carried DS on his insurance and had me listed as a family member so I could have a card to shop and get prescriptions. Surprise, Surprise! $88.00 later for the Tamilu and luckily we already had an inhaler at home so we skipped that. Would have been nice if he had called and told me!

As far as your question as how do you know, most doctors aren't even bothering to test for it as like ours said, by the time they get back the results it's too late for Tamiflu to due their thing. My guess is, and only a consumer guess is that if you had the seasonal vaccine, even though you can still get the flu only a milder case, that it might very well me the H1N1, just because this thing seems to be more easily contagious from what I have heard. This is only my opinion and I am not a doctor so always refer to your family physician if you are truly concerned.

I wish you and your family all the best and that everyone feels better very soon. Take care,

Shannon

 

[Christine]

You won't know and just may as well give up trying. It could have been H1N1, it could have been the many other things that go around this time of year. I know lots of people that have been sick with other things.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Who knows?

The test is not 100% accurate so even if they test negative it still could be the flu.

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I'm glad to hear it sounds like they are getting better. Please do still keep an eye on them. I've heard where it can re-occur after going away and that secondary infections can set in. If they start running a fever now, get them to the doctor ASAP.

You won't ever know. H1N1 is not the only virus causing illness out there. It is truly the main influenza virus, but there are lots of others that cause similar symptoms.

If you are thinking about vaccinations, and not everyone is, I totally respect that, do not NOT get them because they have been sick. When they are well and the vax is available, go get it.

 

[kilee]

You won't know 100% for sure. Many viruses produce the same exact symptoms. I was diagnosed w/ "presumed H1N1" 2 weeks ago.

I can tell you that it was the worst I've ever been. I was in bed for 5 days, I could not do anything. Colds have made me miserable, BUT w/ whatever I had I missed 5 days of work (never been out sick for 5 days before) had to go to the doctors twice and the ER once for trouble breathing. Had a fever off and on for several days, also have only had a fever one other time in the last 10 years (w/ a strep infection). I was also exposed at least 20 times to people who had positive rapid flu tests in the week leading up to getting sick. So most likely it was defintely a flu virus, but I'll never know 100% for sure if it was and if it was in fact swine flu.

 

[npmommie]

I'm glad to hear it sounds like they are getting better. Please do still keep an eye on them. I've heard where it can re-occur after going away and that secondary infections can set in. If they start running a fever now, get them to the doctor ASAP.

You won't ever know. H1N1 is not the only virus causing illness out there. It is truly the main influenza virus, but there are lots of others that cause similar symptoms.

If you are thinking about vaccinations, and not everyone is, I totally respect that, do not NOT get them because they have been sick. When they are well and the vax is available, go get it.

my kids have been sick all week, fever, sore throat, cough, its hard to say whether its flu or not,
i did call the pedi and they said the same thing, and said they are only using tamilfu for kids with preexisting health conditions.
since my kids symptoms were mildish........i didn't push for it.

we are supposed to be getting h1n1 mist on monday but i need to cancel the appt. they won't be 100% by then. so we will wait another week til getting it.

i wish i knew though if this was swine flu, i wouldn't bother doing the vax if i knew it was.