The swine flu is here

[nkjzmom]

My 5th grader came home with a fever yesterday. She tested + for Flu A today and is now taking Tamiflu.

So far her symptoms are just the fever, which is controlled with Motrin/Tylenol, and a minor cough and scratchy throat.

I've heard such varying degrees of illness that come along with this flu. My mom had it last year and only felt like she had a bad cold along with a fever.

How do we really know what to expect? It's crazy!

 

[Terry36]

My 5th grader came home with a fever yesterday. She tested + for Flu A today and is now taking Tamiflu.

So far her symptoms are just the fever, which is controlled with Motrin/Tylenol, and a minor cough and scratchy throat.

I've heard such varying degrees of illness that come along with this flu. My mom had it last year and only felt like she had a bad cold along with a fever.

How do we really know what to expect? It's crazy!

My 5th grade DD came down with it this past Sunday night...her symptoms were severe headache, 102 fever, chills and body ache. I took her to the Dr. the next morning and she tested positive for Type A Swine Flu. He prescribed Tamiflu, along with Motrin/Tylenol. By Wednesday the fever, headache and body aches were gone however she still had a cough and congestion. Today she is 100% back to normal. Thank God!!!!

 

[sunnyday123]

It ran rampant in my DD's school last year, she was sent home with a 101 fever, chills, etc. She was fine within 3 days, but school wouldn't allow her back for the rest of the week.

 

[Chicago526]

Just like any disease, it's just going to hit certain people harder than others. And it's so new that the docs and the scientists just have no way of knowing exactly what to expect.

Here's a link to the American Academy of Pediatrics info on swine flu, it may give you some helpful info:

http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/may09swineflu.htm

 

[jsmith]

My 5th grader came home with a fever yesterday. She tested + for Flu A today and is now taking Tamiflu.

Im confused-your topic says swine flu-but your post says flu A which is regular seasonal flu -H1N1 is the virus that was orginally called swine flu. either one will cause aches fever runny nose -H1N1 also causes nausea.

Pays to note that CDC has recently released a report saying that H1N1 hits children between 5 and 17 much harder than other age groups-seasonal flu is most common in older people

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

Im confused-your topic says swine flu-but your post says flu A which is regular seasonal flu -H1N1 is the virus that was orginally called swine flu. either one will cause aches fever runny nose -H1N1 also causes nausea.

Pays to note that CDC has recently released a report saying that H1N1 hits children between 5 and 17 much harder than other age groups-seasonal flu is most common in older people

Swine flu is Influenza A H1N1. Anyone who tests positive for flu A right now is positive for swine flu because it is the only A strain circulating at this time.

Also, H1N1 has affected children at a higher percentage (around 65% of cases), but adults are more likely to die. Out of the 500 or so deaths in the US so far, around 40 of them have been children. The others have been adults, primarily in the 20-40s age range.

 

[bumbershoot]

Pays to note that CDC has recently released a report saying that H1N1 hits children between 5 and 17 much harder than other age groups-seasonal flu is most common in older people

That isn't what I get from the articles I've seen. First, a tiny sample size...36 people. I've taken statistics. That's not a good sample size.

"The report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes a comprehensive look at the first 36 deaths" of the 40 deaths that have been kids.

1/13 of the total = kids.

The part that touches on what you said: "more than 80 percent of the kids who died with swine flu were 5 or older." That's comparing kids with kids, not kids with adults.

"two-thirds of the children who died with swine flu had epilepsy, cerebral palsy or other neurodevelopmental conditions." They later said "Two-thirds of the children who died had high-risk medical conditions. Nearly all of them had an illness related to the nervous system, including mental retardation, cerebral palsy and epilepsy and other seizure disorders." Which means that there were other health issues going on...possibly taking other drugs regularly which would impact the immune system...

"Bacterial co-infections were a big danger, and were blamed in most of the deaths of otherwise healthy children."

So...not really the flu at all, eh?





This is interesting, too. Certainly not what they say in the first part of the article!


"It's hard to say whether children have accounted for a higher proportion of deaths from swine flu than they normally do from seasonal flu, though CDC officials say that seems to be true. The CDC doesn't monitor seasonal flu deaths as closely as it does swine flu, and it has no comprehensive count of annual seasonal flu deaths to enable such a comparison."


So ... why tamiflu? Just doesn't seem to be all that faboo. From their site, "Children felt better up to 26 percent faster (1.5 days) than flu patients who did not take TAMIFLU" And if symptoms aren't that bad...why?

Oh...from webmd: "Tamiflu may allow children to return to school or other normal activities sooner." Of course, the CDC has a whole campaign on "keep them home!", so...



To an alternative healthcare person like me, it's astonishing how they can say exactly the opposite thing in the beginning of an article to the end...and I'm wondering why CDC doesn't have this study of 36 people easily found on their site...etc etc etc.


Hope the OP's kidlet heals up soon, and that she gets lots of rest and TLC!

 

[Lanshark]

A child in my class has it. His brother contracted it first then this little boy caught it. The child in my class has asthma and they were able to locate Tamiflu for him. Tamiflu is in very short supply in GA because we've been so hard hit from the flu. I spoke to the mom and she said the child with who received the tamiflu faired much better then the child who didn't.

 

[nkjzmom]

Swine flu is Influenza A H1N1. Anyone who tests positive for flu A right now is positive for swine flu because it is the only A strain circulating at this time.

That's correct.

I'm so glad we were able to get the Tamiflu quickly. I think that is key to halting the worst of the symptoms. I hate that we're starting a long weekend but our Ped. did tell me that if anyone else in the family began running the high fever he'd just call in a Tamiflu prescription. Thank heavens!

We are also running short of Tamiflu in this area. My regular pharmacy was out and called it into another. I'm hoping that if anyone else gets sick we can still find some!

 

[Pugdog007]

FYI Tamiflu is useless unless taken within the first 24 hrs.

 

[AustinTink]

Did I read somewhere that there are some risks associated with children taking Tamilfu? I know every medication has risks involved. But, I seem to recall something specific about Tamiflu. Does anyone know?

We all had type A flu last March. It was the worst case of the flu we have ever had. I wonder how the Type A- H1N1 will be in comparison.

 

[nkjzmom]

I asked the Dr that specific question and he said that mostly adults are reporting thoughts of depression and feeling confused or in a foggy state. He mentioned seizures in children but that those are purely associated with the flu.

I haven't heard anything else about children. The warnings on the package do mention dizziness, confusion, and thoughts of injurying themselves. So far we've not had anything negative. It is helping her tremendously. I hope that doesn't change.