H1N1 virus in Kids School!

[silmarg]

Just found out that the first case of H1N1 (swine flu) has been confirmed at my DDs school. Child was in school on Friday and tested positive on Saturday.

Looks like they are not closing the school.

Given the facts should I send the kids to school tomorrow?

 

[holycow]

Have they cleaned the school down? I don't really know what I would do in that situation!

good luck whatever you decide!

 

[silmarg]

Have they cleaned the school down? I don't really know what I would do in that situation!

good luck whatever you decide!

An email we got said they have cleaned the school all weekend. But we saw the head janitor at his second job (at a gas station) on Saturday.

He was at the school on Sunday.

But is one or two days of cleaning enough?

 

[MizTink]

i thought the virus doesn't live on surfaces for more than a few hours?
if the sick child was in school on friday, he was contagious then anyways...

 

[robinb]

Would you keep your child home if it was the "normal" flu? You probably wouldn't even KNOW that some kid in her school had the flu during the regular flu season. This is really no different IMO since it appears that this flu is not as virulent as we thought it would be. I would send her to school. If they cleaned the school it's fine. If she came in contact with the child with the flu on Friday it's too late anyway. Just keep a close eye on her and keep her home if she's sick.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

The CDC is no longer recommending the closing of schools. As others have pointed out, the virus can only live for a few hours on a hard surface. Your child was much more likely to have caught it from being in contact with the infected student than from touching a surface several days later. I would send my child to school. Even if they do get sick, the virus is not as bad as expected (certainly no worse than the regular flu). It responds to Tamiflu and the only people who have died in the US are those who had pre existing conditions. The only circumstance that would prevent me from sending my child to school would be a large number of kids (not just one) infected or if my child had a compromised immune system.

 

[disykat]

I'm guessing this flu is all over the place in places we don't know. I have the flu right now, but won't go to the doctor unless I develop a secondary infection. My friend had it last week, went to the doctor and wasn't tested.

I'm a teacher and have had a lot of kids absent with the flu. This is actually my second round with a flu (I was also sick the end of April) and that time I did go to the doctor and wasn't tested. There are confirmed cases in my area, but they still aren't testing people.

I had my flu shot, but this year has been nasty!

That said, I would not keep her home.

 

[Nie0214]

If it comes to it, it'd probably be better to get it now instead of later anyway.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I feel very confident that even though this version is mild, future versions (and there most likely will be future versions) will not be mild. This flu is following the exact same pattern as the 1918 flu did, government downplayed it back then, just as they are now. Mild version is the spring, deadly one in the fall. I have a child with severe asthma so none of my kids will be going to school if there is a known case in their schools. I feel that it will be too little too late come fall. I personally am very scared for the fall.

One district refuses to reveal which building the swine flu is in, in order to protect the child. This is ludicrous.

 

[PatsMom]

It is the flu, not the black plague. My DD would be in school. The current swine flu virus is probably one of the more minor diseases she is exposed to every day.

 

[Jennasis]

I feel very confident that even though this version is mild, future versions (and there most likely will be future versions) will not be mild. This flu is following the exact same pattern as the 1918 flu did, government downplayed it back then, just as they are now. Mild version is the spring, deadly one in the fall. I have a child with severe asthma so none of my kids will be going to school if there is a known case in their schools. I feel that it will be too little too late come fall. I personally am very scared for the fall.

One district refuses to reveal which building the swine flu is in, in order to protect the child. This is ludicrous.

Correct me if I am wrong, but MEDICAL SCIENCE has come a long way since 1918. Don't think we even had penicillin back then. I understand your concerns for your child with asthma, I really do. But as the pp said, this ain't the plague.

 

[Tantor]

Would you keep your child home if it was the "normal" flu? You probably wouldn't even KNOW that some kid in her school had the flu during the regular flu season. This is really no different IMO since it appears that this flu is not as virulent as we thought it would be. I would send her to school. If they cleaned the school it's fine. If she came in contact with the child with the flu on Friday it's too late anyway. Just keep a close eye on her and keep her home if she's sick.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Correct me if I am wrong, but MEDICAL SCIENCE has come a long way since 1918. Don't think we even had penicillin back then. I understand your concerns for your child with asthma, I really do. But as the pp said, this ain't the plague.

Medical science has come a long way, but if the virus mutates and becomes resistant to Tamiflu, there won't be other ways to fight it (unless they can vaccinate the entire world--and they won't be able to do that). Antibiotics don't help with viruses.

 

[Jennasis]

Medical science has come a long way, but if the virus mutates and becomes resistant to Tamiflu, there won't be other ways to fight it (unless they can vaccinate the entire world--and they won't be able to do that). Antibiotics don't help with viruses.

I made the penicillin comment to illustrate the vast difference between modern medicine in 1918 and now...

 

[robinb]

I feel very confident that even though this version is mild, future versions (and there most likely will be future versions) will not be mild. This flu is following the exact same pattern as the 1918 flu did, government downplayed it back then, just as they are now. Mild version is the spring, deadly one in the fall. I have a child with severe asthma so none of my kids will be going to school if there is a known case in their schools. I feel that it will be too little too late come fall. I personally am very scared for the fall.

Exactly how is the government "downplaying" the virus? There is a very comprehensive CDC website and the government is moving forward in developing a vaccine for the fall. What do you want them to do? Run around like Chicken Little? Even if you are right about the flu getting worse, it is mild NOW and those people who get it NOW may be the luckiest of all of us.

One district refuses to reveal which building the swine flu is in, in order to protect the child. This is ludicrous.

No. Why should that child be singled out and why should the district feed into the public's paranoia?

 

[Robinrs]

It is the flu, not the black plague. My DD would be in school. The current swine flu virus is probably one of the more minor diseases she is exposed to every day.

Correct me if I am wrong, but MEDICAL SCIENCE has come a long way since 1918. Don't think we even had penicillin back then. I understand your concerns for your child with asthma, I really do. But as the pp said, this ain't the plague.

Everytime I hear the comparison I crack up! I'm convinced most people are looking for things to be afraid of...

 

[Pennykay]

I think the OP question is a valid one. There are over 600 swine flu cases in NY and about 130 New Yorkers have been hospitalized with it. Not to mention 5 deaths. I would be nervous if it was my child. The swine flu is very contagious and although it can be mild, it can also be serious. Good luck with your decision OP.

 

[merekc]

H1N1 was found in my son's school two weeks before school let out. I sent him to school. If he had other health issues, I probably wouldn't have. If half the kids in school got sick, I probably wouldn't have.

As it was we got daily updates from the principal and it never seemed to become a big problem. I have heard through the grapevine that the doctors around here are no longer even testing to confirm H1N1. They are just diagnosing the flu.

I think the media blew this one out of proportion. Which is not to say that come fall we won't have a bigger flu problem.

 

[Golf4food]

If you send your kid to school during regular flu season there is no reason not to send them now. H1N1 is mild and much less of a problem than "normal" seasonal flu and far less deadly.

It's like being ok with a yard full of rattlesnakes but freaking out over a lizard.

 

[Tinijocaro]

It is the flu, not the black plague. My DD would be in school. The current swine flu virus is probably one of the more minor diseases she is exposed to every day.

Correct me if I am wrong, but MEDICAL SCIENCE has come a long way since 1918. Don't think we even had penicillin back then. I understand your concerns for your child with asthma, I really do. But as the pp said, this ain't the plague.

Right, this is a flu, not the plague. Although percentage wiswe the plague in the 1300's killed a larger proportion of the population, influenza in 1918 killed more people than any other outbreak of disease in human history. In raw numbers, influenza of 1918 killed more than plague, and more than AIDS today.

As it stands now, it is mild for healthy people. Influenza ALWAYS mutates. That's why new vaccines are developed each year. Because this is such a highly contagious flu, if it mutates to something deadly or if god-forbid, it combines with another flu such as bird flu, we're in huge trouble.

Medical science has come a long way-that is true. If they make a vaccine now, for THIS virus, there is no way of knowing if it will be effective for a mutated virus if that happens in the fall. A virus traveled MUCH slower in 1918, nowadays a virus can get all over the world in no time flat with air travel.