Do your part in preventing the spread of H1N1! Be responsible and respectful! The 7-10 day plan!
How are we supposed to put a dent in the spread of this virus if no one understands or realizes the consequences to their actions? I really think that some people and parents just don't get it. Yes, we all get sick, and yes, we all carry germs, but some people are really "blowing off" the H1N1 flu as "just another influenza virus". Which it is, but the effects and the people that it is effecting is a little scarier than the traditional flu. It's like the flu on steroids or red bull or something!
First, I will start off by venting about 5 different groups of the public.
1. First off, Doctors....I can't believe how many people I know that are taking their kids or themselves to their doctor with obvious H1N1 symptoms that aren't getting tested for it by the doctors, really if you suspect that your kid our you have it, request to be tested just for the sake of knowing for sure! I know the tests aren't always that accurate (I speak from experience with the regular flu virus), but knowing for sure that it is H1N1 seems like something you should know for the sake of people around you! Also, doctors really need to emphasize the contagious infectious period to people and that they can still be contagious after a fever! The CDC website states,
"The duration of shedding with novel influenza A (h1N1) virus is unknown. Therefore, until data are available, the estimated duration of viral shedding is based upon seasonal influenza virus infection.. Infected persons are assumed to be shedding virus from one day prior to illness onset until resolution of symptoms. In general, persons with novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection should be considered potentially infectious from one day before to 7 days following illness onset. Children, especially younger children, might be infectious for up to 10 days"
Okay, so why are doctors telling people that they can send their kid back to school after they haven't had a fever for 24 hours? The way it appears to me that child can be contagious well beyond the fever! Doctors should be pushing and stressing that someone or a child with H1N1 should stay out of school for a full week! That could truly cut down on the number of school kids getting it! If Jr. doesn't get perfect attendence this semester, it's not the end of the world.
Which leads me to my next group of people/parents I have a big beef with.
2. Working parents that think that going to work is more important than staying home with your sick kid for a week. Okay, working parent, lets push a bunch of tylenol and motrin into their system and send them off to school to spread H1N1 to the rest of the classroom and school! Just because they don't have a fever doesn't mean that their coughs aren't carrying the virus! REALLY people, yes, work is a responsibility and we all need to pay the bills but I'm sure your office wouldn't want you spreading H1N1 either! H1N1 is serious stuff and if you are blowing it off because you need to get back to work, then you need a priority hit in the head! Even if you aren't a parent, going to work sick is spreading the virus to everyone else. Also, no fever for 24 hours means no fever AND NO pain killers/ibprofen for 24 hours! And low grade fevers are still fevers!
3. Employers. I've heard that some are actually encouraging those with H1N1 symptoms to please take a full week off, but are they really enforcing this? If you are in a position of authority at your job and you see someone that is sick, make them go home and tell them not to come back for a week! If employers would do more actions and less memos it would help. Plus, the worker that takes advantage of the week off that doesn't have the H1N1 virus, will get his/hers in the end! (it's called karma!)
4. Waiting room parents/people. If you think you or your kid have H1N1, be courteous to others and use the masks that they have sitting out at doctors' offices! When my kids are really sick, I opt to sit in the car in the parking lot with them then have the receptionist call when it is our time to go in. This won't work for all offices but it will for some! Plus you are risking your child's down immune system to contact other germs/viruses/illnesses while you are waiting, so do more to prevent the spread in waiting rooms by figuring out something that works for your situation or doctor's office facility!
5. The Media - all we are ever hearing and seeing is the bad effects of h1n1 and the "what ifs" and "hows comes" and when it is flaring up in your community, then and only then do they really focus on it on the local news. I think local broadcasts & local papers need to do more with educating the public on anything and everything h1n1, really focusing on that incubation period and infectious period as well as the severity of it and the public's responsibility to help stop the spread. And I'm not talking just ONE newscast or article here or there, make it an advertisement that is played over and over again until people start to get it. Emphasize the quaratine yourself and family factor, don't go out in public, call to have medicine delivered or have a friend drop it and groceries by. Make the public aware of the incubation period and infectious period, lots of people I know with H1N1 are being misinformed from their doctors with the "24 hours no fever-not contagious" line and according to the CDC this isn't the case for all H1N1 victims. Make it a 5 minute special everynight on the news about H1N1 and tips on doing your part to stop the spreading of it! Yes, people will become sick of hearing and seeing things about H1N1 (like campaign commercials during election year!) but if done right, it will start to stick in the publics minds and begin to educate them with the real important issue of H1N1, preventing the spread of it!
If more people took this seriously and really abided by the 1 week quarantine rule, there would be less of this affecting our kids and the population. Yes, we would still have it circulating and spreading. Yes, you could still get it, but the chance/odds of getting it would really go down. Compare it to how they push being "green", if one person recycles or becomes energy efficient, the impact to the whole world is huge. Or during election time your vote counts, one vote can make all the difference. With H1N1, you and your family doing your part to stay away from people, don't do your regular activities or routine, stay home from work and school for a full week (7-10 days) and the result is you infect one less person perhaps more! Of course, you need to go to the hospital or doctor if you are feeling worse or having breathing problems, BUT don't go back to work because you are feeling a little better on day 4 or send little Bob back to school because he broke his fever yesterday and seems to be feeling better. DO YOUR PART IN PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF H1N1! It's about responsibility to yourself and family and respect to the general population.
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I really believe the culture of how we approach school and work has to change. You are right, people need to stay home if they are infected (if they are sick with anything, really), but there's so much pressure to come to work. Some people are afraid of using up all their sick days (if indeed they have sick days...always remember there are plenty of workers -- like your friendly neighborhood resaurant food server -- who don't get sick days and lose all income if they don't work). But some are actually afraid of repurcussions if they are out of work for more than a couple of days. Our entire outlook has to change. More options to work from home and less pressure from employers is a good place to start.
Patti
SAHM in SoCal and administrator of the Sleep Forum group, http://www.mothersclick.com/group/sleep-forum and Tri-Counties Moms, http://www.mothersclick.com/moms-club/tri-counties-moms-sb-ventura-slo-c...
So true. The culture has to change and employers of all professions need to step up and take the plate. Change happens when someone actually does something about it rather than sit and discuss the pros and cons of it. A system needs put in place. People priorities in today's culture are so out of whack it's scary! Athletic school kids go to school sick so they can play in the big game. Other kids in activities go to school so they don't miss out. Just as employers need to step up to the plate and become more authoritative and supportive in allowing more sick days or in H1N1 situations, more plans of action, parents need to step up to the plate and enforce similar practices in their own home. They are just as guilty of not wanting their football star to miss the big playoff game. So instead of doing the responsible thing, they do the selfish thing. I guess it's human nature, and I'll admit, I'm not perfect, I do selfish things over the responsible thing many times, but awareness and admitting it is the first step. Basically, those of us in authority positions need to step up and take the first swing or it will continue it's vicious cycle.
Yes, agreed. This is not something that will change overnight. We have a mindset in this country that commerce, activities, church...all these things must continue no matter what. And yes, it's hard to tell a kid he or she will have to miss out on something because of being sick. And often as parents, it's hard to take time off OURSELVES, especially if taking time off means not being able to take the kids to something they really want to do. I guess small changes are the way to go at first. Hopefully over time our priorities can shift to keep us all healthy.
Patti
SAHM in SoCal and administrator of the Sleep Forum group, http://www.mothersclick.com/group/sleep-forum and Tri-Counties Moms, http://www.mothersclick.com/moms-club/tri-counties-moms-sb-ventura-slo-c...
Before the H1N1 vaccines could arrive in our area, we are seeing cases everywhere. My school age child became sick on a Saturday, which means it was at school the week prior. Her initial symptoms caught me off gaurd and I really thought it was the stomach flu because of the nausea, headache and body aches, fever but the sore throat soon followed. I followed suit on Sunday, same symptoms but I haven't gotten a fever, which I fear is because my immune system is shot from a case of shingles last month. My 3 year old followed suit on Tuesday night. Both girls ran fevers for 3 days, very tired achey body and headaches with the sore throat. We never developed a cough the first three days. On day 4 my first child developed a bad cough and seemed to get worse after having a day she seemed to be getting better. Bronchitis was confirmed as a result of the H1N1 and antibiotics are hopefully getting it out of her system. I've started my antibiotics today as I'm now developing a cough and chest burn and still have a sore throat, still no fever, dang immune system. I'm praying that my 3 year old will not develop the secondary infection, so I'm watching her closely this next 2 days since it will be day 4 and 5! The doctor also was persistent in that if my daughter with bronchitis or myself do not see improvement with the antibiotics that we need to come back in a couple of days because the respiratory after effects of the flu is the most dangerous part of it.
What we have experienced the first 3 days was more atypical and mild than most so that is good news, but still scary. Since the symptoms I had my aromatherapy diffusers and essential oil blends going 24/7 so I think it really helped with our symptoms staying a little more mild. The breath easy essential oil blend I've been using on my daughter with bronchitis keeps her from coughing at nights. I haven't had to use any cough medicine what so ever! And the amount of motrin I've been giving my kids has been less than usually have to. I used to think aromatherapy was for hippies, but I think now I must be a hippie because I don't think I will ever stop using these diffusers and oils!
Regardless, too many people in my area are sending their kids back on that day 3 or 4 point because they seem better, my daughter improved day 4 and I really thought it wasn't H1N1 because we had milder symptoms, but the doctor said while the symptoms were atypcial it was most likely H1N1, they couldn't do a swab on the two of us to test because we had been sick too long, my 3 year old swabbed negative but the doctor said they are seeing only 50% accuracy with the H1N1 swab test.
They also couldn't give my 3 year old Tamiflu because she wasn't considered high risk and only those considered high risk in our area are being prescribed the tamiflu, which has changed from a week or two ago!
Also many people are passing it off as stomach flu when the symptoms first arrive. So watch for those symptoms, don't pass them off as stomach flu. Stomach ache, body aches, fever, headaches, nausea, diarrhea are all initial symptoms of the h1n1 too!
So I have been following my own advice, staying away from people that 7-10 days, when I stopped in to pick up homework, I sanitized my hands, and grabbed the homework and went home. There were tons of sick kids in the office waiting for their parents to get there with coughs and fevers! hopefully we are doing our part to stop the spread but I see many parents sending their kids back to school just because the fever is gone and the kid is hacking the germs all over everyone else! it's never going to lessen!
I was wondering if anyone knew, can you get the h1n1 vaccine if you have already had h1n1, obviously after getting better of course, and what is the effective period from the time you get the shot to the date it is effective. The shot became effective this week and tons of people ran to get it, but will it really help them with it floating around the area/community? Doesn't it take a couple of weeks to be effective?
mommyof2princessed: Thank you for the last post. You gave me tons of informtion. And I feel the same about kids being in school when they really should be home, and maybe my children wouldn't be sick right now. My seven year old is really sick. She has a boy in her class who has two sisters who had the flu and his mother continued to send him to school. Now four other children and mine are sick. I can't believe it. My daughter came home on thursday not looking like herself and is still sick. Fevor, and a bad cough at night. She was eating up until yesterday she actually just had some apple sauce and grapes, she's been drinking some water.I'll be keeping her home all week I think. After she's sick it usually takes her a few days to get back to normal. My three year old has had a fevor since last night but I don't think it has hit her the same yet. She is up and playing around. Their doctor recommened them still getting the vaccine. I will still talk to her about that though. Well thanks for the information, it really helped.
I'm glad someone is reading this and not just rolling their eyes at it. The most helpful honest info on the infectious period still holds true to the 7-10 days possible infectious. Read here on the CDC site. However what is baffling me that even though they are considering the infectious period and quarantine time for people that work with high risk patients 7-10 days they are still only pushing the 3-5 days or 24 hours without fever for schools and work or letting people at a govt. state level to decide what works best for them. And doctors are really just sending parents home with info on regular seasonal influenza instructions. I'm sorry, but my kids even without medical problems are still considered high risk in my mind. I do realize that the high risk people have more of a chance of having complications, but isn't what they saying about this flu strain that it is equally dangerous for perfectly healthy people that have no prior medical problems?
So while the CDC does a good job of explaining and outlining the infectious period, really to sum up what they wrote it says "It can be and probably is infectious for much longer after the fever stage, but don't worry about it if you aren't high risk, and just go back to work or school after 24 hours of no fever." Really? No wonder know one understands anything!
What I've seen in my own kids and others, is that they actually do have a day or two of feeling better then seem to get worse again, so all those parents sending their kids back in that "appearing better" stage are simply contaminating everyone elses kids at that point, if they would just keep them home a week they could watch for this and prevent the spread.
My three year old has now been low grade fevering for 7 days, she had and has times throughout the days a low grade fever goes away then comes back. She has a bad cough. She had the higher fevers only for the first day. I took her back in yesterday fearing that she had developed a secondary infection, however I'm almost certain, most doctors don't even know what they are doing at this point. They told me to watch her and if fevers over 100.5 came back and the cough persisted to come back in. Well, her fever is hanging out between 100 and 100.6, and she still has a cough. so what to do? Well, she's full of energy, but I'm keeping her out of preschool and away from other kids! Then if she still has this low grade stuff, I may request a chest xray to rule out pneumonia or bronchitis.
I'm also fed up with hearing people posting on facebook and other social network sites that their kids are sick with a stomach ache and headache and sore throat, they take them in and their doctors do a swab and say, nope it's not h1n1, and send them on their marry way just to have them come in a couple days later sick with obvious h1n1 symptoms.
I was told by a physician that the 50% accuracy of the nose swab at our local clinic has went from 50% accurate to nearly 17% accurate! Now, really, is that something to base the decision of whether someone has h1n1 or not? And if my area is seeing that, shouldn't other clinics across the country be telling their patients this instead of saying, "whew, your safe, not h1n1. nose swab said so."?
I also found out that bronchitis that my 6 year old got from this is a secondary viral infection that the doctor treated with antibiotics to help prevent pneumonia or other bacterial infections from settling in. The bronchitis itself is not treatable with antibiotics. News to me, doctors have been treating my kid's bronchitis with antibiotics for years and not telling me that before!
Honestly the shots like any vaccine may not even be effective in their system for 6-8 weeks, you may want to verify on this because I've googled to my hearts consent and can't find the effective time from shot to effectiveness. So is getting your kids the shots in the middle of an outbreak in your area really actually effective or not? I would love if someone can find me some info on this!
I'm reposting this information in several posts with this sort of topic, so if you see it more than once, don't be surprised.
It really hurts/bothers me that so many people are suffering with this issue, when there is present help available and they aren't being told.
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