swine flu concern

[teruterubouzu]

I understand your worries, but wouldn't let them stop you from enjoying Walt Disney World. As everyone has said, follow normal precautions like frequent handwashing and avoiding touching your face.

My last trip to WDW was shortly after the swine flu epidemic started. Disney left a letter in the rooms to give guests more information about their precautions. You can click here to see a copy. The letter recommended that guests visit the Orange County Health Department website to get the latest updates.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...It would be nice if the world was germ free though, ...

Then it would only take one little germ to kill us all. I'm glad we have lots of germs and virii. Helps us build up immunities.

 

[newfiegirl]

just wondering can I put a dab of hand sanitizer on my 20 month olds hands, or should I just use a baby wipe before he eats?

 

[Deb & Bill]

You'll need alcohol based hand sanitizer to kill any H1N1 virus. Do you want that in your child's mouth?

 

[newfiegirl]

no i dont want alcohol in his mouth, but can the swine flu be deadly to a child? suggestions welcomed

 

[Deb & Bill]

no i dont want alcohol in his mouth, but can the swine flu be deadly to a child? suggestions welcomed

It can be deadly for anyone. Many have already died from the flu, but far more have recovered and even more have not gotten the flu.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I live in Williamsburg, VA and it is also quite a Tourist Town. We have now finally had H1N1 invade our area. One local High School has 1 confirmed case, and DDs middle school has 6 confirmed cases. My DD wasn't feeling well Friday and went to nurse, she was told to go and clean out her locker while wearing a mask (but we only have 2 days left of school) and to wait in her quarantined room until I could get there. Once I arrived I was told she was not allowed back in school until it was confirmed by a Dr. that she did not have H1N1 flu. Needless to say, she has bronchitis and sinusitis and has been on antibiotics since Friday, but I think that it was a bit of an overkill by the school staff.

 

[JeanfromBNA]

Besides the precautions of frequent hand washing and not touching things unnecessarily, don't forget that medicine is state of the art in the US. Should you become ill with anything, an emergency room is obligated to treat you whether you are a citizen of the US or not.

 

[StuckInKS]

just wondering can I put a dab of hand sanitizer on my 20 month olds hands, or should I just use a baby wipe before he eats?

We use SaniHands Antibacterial Wipes for Kids. I don't know if it will kill H1N1, but it is better than nothing. We were there in late May and no one caught anything.

Vicks also had a hand sanitizer than is *supposed* to kill germs for up to 3 hours, but I don't really use it on the kids. I use it alot myself though. I wish I knew if it was safe for them, as that would be perfect for WDW.

I also like the Lysol hand sanitizer. I do let my 4 and 6 year old use that, as they are pretty good about keeping their hands out of their mouth. I try to keep my 1 and 2 year old in the stroller and wipe their hands with the SaniHands if they ride something.

Realistically, I can't run to the bathroom and wash 4 kids hands after every ride, so I just hope the SaniHands kills some of the germs!

 

[buzz5985]

It can be deadly for anyone. Many have already died from the flu, but far more have recovered and even more have not gotten the flu.

No, it was deadly for people with underlying health conditions. The same as any other flu. Actually what we consider flu in this country kills over 3600 people per year. My pediatrician told my sister last week when she called to see if she should bring her DS in after he was sent home with a headache and low grade fever - the CDC is no longer testing for swine flu in this country. We are in MA.

 

[Uncleromulus]

It's still around for sure, but notice that the media barely mentions it now. The media induced "hype" and hysteria seems to be over for the moment.

And in any case I wouldn't even consider letting it stop me from going to WDW.

 

[MattDisney]

I work in healthcare and one of my areas is infection control. This flu is very serious and still a problem in the United States. People are dying each and every day. The typical age range is 20-50 and about 50% of those have other health issues. Of course that means the other 50% were healthy before contracting the flu.

This virus is mutating fast and there are approximately 30 variations of this flu worldwide. The death rate of this flu is higher than typical flu. You haven’t seen large numbers at this point due to the low infection rate.

I would recommend your typical precautions for you trip to Disney—hand washing, anti-bacterial gels, etc. This fall (our usual flu season) is the time we will either see this flu mutate into something more deadly or become weaker.

The majority of my job is watching this and getting information hourly from the CDC. I expect this will be my main focus for the next 18 months or more.

 

[StuckInKS]

Actually what we consider flu in this country kills over 3600 people per year.

That may have been a typo in your post, but it is 36,000 people. I just thought that may be important for readers of this thread to know, when trying to compare that to compare flu/swine flu statistics.

To the OP. I think the major concern for H1N1, besides the fact that it is new, is that it seemed to be killing so many healthy people between in the ages of 20-50 in the beginning (in Mexico). I don't know how true that is now that the virus has seemed to 'weaken' (if it really has, idk. Could just be because of the end of regular flu season).

It would be really hard to steer completely clear of it, WDW or not. In KS we had two confirmed cases before many other more populous states and tourist destinations had any. So, I wouldn't cancel my trip or anything, especially if it is before next flu season begins.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We use SaniHands Antibacterial Wipes for Kids. I don't know if it will kill H1N1, but it is better than nothing. We were there in late May and no one caught anything. ...

Antibacterials will not kill a virus. Only a bacteria.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

I work in healthcare and one of my areas is infection control. This flu is very serious and still a problem in the United States. People are dying each and every day. The typical age range is 20-50 and about 50% of those have other health issues. Of course that means the other 50% were healthy before contracting the flu.

This virus is mutating fast and there are approximately 30 variations of this flu worldwide. The death rate of this flu is higher than typical flu. You haven’t seen large numbers at this point due to the low infection rate.

I would recommend your typical precautions for you trip to Disney—hand washing, anti-bacterial gels, etc. This fall (our usual flu season) is the time we will either see this flu mutate into something more deadly or become weaker.

The majority of my job is watching this and getting information hourly from the CDC. I expect this will be my main focus for the next 18 months or more.

I'd love to see where your information is coming from, if you can scan a document it would be great, considering the CDC & WHO officials are saying the complete opposite of what you are reporting.

The strains have been the same, and the death rate has been much lower than seasonal flu. In fact the death rate seems to be less than, or close to 1%. And, on top of that, the infection rate is actually high due to not having natural immunity, whereas you state it is low. There was an article a month or so ago showing how easily people are getting this.

I do agree, though, that the Fall will be the time when we get a good look at this virus.

 

[drcandon]

Okay if you want to get technical and really confuse people - here we go..

If you look specifically at the protein base, the gene responsible for the major flu pandemics in the past... a research team found the H1 gene, which codes for a protein called hemagglutinin, for molecular features that help a flu virus spread from person to person and make its victims sick ....this team did not find any of the usual "signatures" associated with notoriously pathogenic strains. So in that way the pp is quite correct in this... the "infection" code or rate for serious deadly illness this is low (right now)...however that does not mean that this flu is not "contagious"..these terms are often used interchangeable and confused constantly...now that it has been fully confirmed that this virus has totally "jumped" species ...and person to person infection is a reality the virus is highly contagious..but right now not a highly infectious disease(or capable of causing deadly/mortality disease like the H5 variants)..

For example the constant threat of a mutated anthrax being used as "germ warfare" considered a threat but not a extreme threat because the disease is very infectious but not very contagious...it has to be introduced via an air borne transmission method - like a water droplet or dust(in large amounts)...now if they ever figure out how to keep a person alive with mutated anthrax and get a cough and then walk into a crowded office building and then cough a lot - we are in trouble...

Also... doing a bit more research online will show that this virus has a very mutateable gene structure - complared to the H5 genome..however it is mutating quickly within its H1 protein base and if it stays in that base then a single gene specific vaccine is possible and likely..so the pp is also right that this disease mutates quickly (most viruses do - this is how they survive), but we are lucky so far that this nasty little "bug" has not managed to pick up any extra little proteins along the way that allow different survival routines..

And if you READ the WHO official prepared statement that she was reading she stated very clearly that at we are in the "early stage of its development...and they have no idea what will happen when it reaches the more underdeveloped areas of the world ..and this virus is writing its own rules as this is a completely new human infection.."

please read here ..

XXXX://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/h1n1_pandemic_phase6_20090611/en/index.html..

No, there is no sense going "Goofy" right now about this..no-one really knows..and I don't like being a fear monger but...a few facts...

Viruses - even though they are technically not alive (though some researchers will differ on that point) - these little characters will do anything they have to, to survive..if that means swapping some protein structures with more potent, resistant and potentially deadlly variants of their "species" they will do it..

So far the little meanies have not jumped back to another species like pigs or birds (at least not that I am aware of - if they have I stand corrected) ..if they do they could and probably would pick up a variance that makes them more deadly...so they can survive

They - so far - have not seriously hit the areas of the world where health care is poor - when they do - and it will - eventually - no-one can even slightly predict what will happen..no-one can predict what will happen if say a person infected with some tropical flu then gets in contact with the H1N1 variant - what will result is just pure simple speculation - if anyone says they know for sure they are not based in scientific fact...however CHANCES are nothing- the person will probably die befire they have a chance to reinfect someone with a new mutated stain - but who knows..

Am I fear mongering - NO...viruses exist for only one reason to make surivable copies of themselves by the millions - notice I said survivable ( not exact) - they do this by basically destroying the host cell they infect..thats is all they do, they don't eat, sleep, extrude waste, respire..nothing...they have been doing so for a long long time and by their very survival strategy continue to do so - no matter what effect it has on the host...

hope this information helps..but please read and research for yourself...

 

[MattDisney]

I'd love to see where your information is coming from, if you can scan a document it would be great, considering the CDC & WHO officials are saying the complete opposite of what you are reporting.

The strains have been the same, and the death rate has been much lower than seasonal flu. In fact the death rate seems to be less than, or close to 1%. And, on top of that, the infection rate is actually high due to not having natural immunity, whereas you state it is low. There was an article a month or so ago showing how easily people are getting this.

I do agree, though, that the Fall will be the time when we get a good look at this virus.

My information comes to me from the Deparment of Health who gets their information directly from the CDC. All memos are noted to be confidential in nature and for offical use only. We have been conducting drills with the national guard preparing for a full pandemic. They are all realted to preparing the hospital for the influx of expected patients.
At a stage 5 and 6, the information that is stated by the media and to the general public is limited to prevent panic. And no, I'm not saying there is any reason to panic, because there is not. You are correct in this virus does transmit easily, however, being new, the number of infected is low. The 1918 flu took a full 18 months to complete its pandemic period. By the end of this period the infection rate will be very high.
I'm not here to debate the facts. I was stating a few things I have learned about this flu and I haven't changed anything that I'm doing with my famliy. In fact, we traveled to Disney during the stage 5 period and I would do it again now.
Just take typical precautions and that is all anyone can do.
Take care!

 

[moon]

We use SaniHands Antibacterial Wipes for Kids. I don't know if it will kill H1N1, but it is better than nothing. We were there in late May and no one caught anything.

Vicks also had a hand sanitizer than is *supposed* to kill germs for up to 3 hours, but I don't really use it on the kids. I use it alot myself though. I wish I knew if it was safe for them, as that would be perfect for WDW.

I also like the Lysol hand sanitizer. I do let my 4 and 6 year old use that, as they are pretty good about keeping their hands out of their mouth. I try to keep my 1 and 2 year old in the stroller and wipe their hands with the SaniHands if they ride something.

Realistically, I can't run to the bathroom and wash 4 kids hands after every ride, so I just hope the SaniHands kills some of the germs!

Hand sanitizers are defenetely better than nothing. Acually, they are an excellent alterantive to hand-washing -as long as they are alcohol based

This is from the Mayo clinic site:

Proper use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers — which don't require water — are an excellent alternative to hand washing, particularly when soap and water aren't available. They're actually more effective than soap and water in killing bacteria and viruses that cause disease. Commercially prepared hand sanitizers contain ingredients that help prevent skin dryness. Using these products can result in less skin dryness and irritation than hand washing.

Not all hand sanitizers are created equal, though. Some "waterless" hand sanitizers don't contain alcohol. Use only the alcohol-based products. The CDC recommends choosing products that contain at least 60 percent alcohol.

To use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:

Apply about 1/2 teaspoon of the product to the palm of your hand.
Rub your hands together, covering all surfaces of your hands, until they're dry.
If your hands are visibly dirty, however, wash with soap and water, if available, rather than a sanitizer.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hand-washing/HQ00407

 

[JeanfromBNA]

Do hand sanitizers have an expiration date?

 

[moon]

Do hand sanitizers have an expiration date?

I'm not sure, but I think they do.