Yesterday, my second grader, Harrison, made his Daddy proud by making the Principal’s Honor Roll with all A’s and A+’s.  Hooray!

Today he came home with an unusual gift.  Harrison and his Daddy have the H1N1 virus.  Hooray!

Chills, fever, vomiting, horrible body aches, headache, sore throat.  Fun, fun, fun! (I wish Daddy would take the T-bird away)

We are now quarantined from the rest of humanity – except Sheri and the other kids who will most likely become that Swine’s next victims.  Pharmacies and doctors in the area are rationing the low amounts of Oseltamivir (marketed by Roche as Tamiflu) right now, but since I am a diabetic, they saw fit to allow me to go to the front of the line.

One thing about having children in the home who also interact with other people’s children is the simple fact that they allow you catch things you aren’t even chasing.    My wife is usually immune to these things since she works around children all the time.  Most airborne and contact diseases have already affected her to the point that she has built up a strong defense system.  I, on the other hand, have the pleasure of getting these things one at a time.

I was almost over my cold when this hit and Sheri is telling me that the cold only served to weaken my defenses and allowed the H1N1 to stroll through the front door without even ringing the doorbell.  Damned intruders!

I went to the H1N1 Symptoms page to get some information to pass along to everyone.

“The virus is now unstoppable!“ – Dr. Margret Chan, Director, World Health Organization

The world’s governments are powerless to prevent the spread of H1N1 Flu, but there are things that you can do to lower the risks to yourself and your family.

First, learn to recognize the symptoms of H1N1 and understand what to do in case you or a love one is infected. This is especially important if you care for children.

Some insurance companies are NOT paying H1N1 related expenses! Do you know what your company’s policy is? We recently decided we had to add a page about H1N1 and your health insurance, because unfortunately these issues are so complicated and so important for health care in the United State.

We have a great report over there from the Texas Department of Insurance on what expenses insurance companies are paying, a check list on the questions you should consider about your coverage, and some strategies about buying short term coverage if you are uninsured or under insured. You can find all of that out at: Insurance and H1N1.

Finally, stay current on the latest news on the spread of the virus and possible treatments, our News Tracker pulls the latest hot stories from around the web, so if you really want to stay up to date on the latest developments check their first.

Symptoms

The symptoms of H1N1 in people are similar to the symptoms of common seasonal flu. The common symptoms of H1N1 Flu include:

• Fever – particularly a fever of over 100 degrees
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Chills and fatigue
• Body aches
• Headaches
• Occasionally, vomiting and diarrhea

Persons who experience flu-like symptoms should immediately contact their physician, but, remember, Swine Flu is a highly contagious disease and people who believe they are infected with H1N1 should avoid going out in public unless absolutely necessary. So, call first.

Warning Signs

People at higher risk of serious complications from seasonal flu, including people over the age 65, and children younger than 5 years old, pregnant women, people of any age with chronic medical conditions (such as diabetes, or heart disease), and people who are infected with HIV should be extra vigilant in looking for the symptoms of H1N1.

However, anyone with asthma or other respiratory illness, and perhaps even heavy smokers should be extra vigilant, because what makes severe cases of H1N1 more severe than regular flu is the way that it attacks the respiratory system. Seasonal flu is largely an upper respiratory illness, but in severe cases H1N1 moves deeper into the lungs and causes viral pneumonia. It is the complications from the pneumonia that has caused the vast majority of Swine Flu deaths.

Because young children often cannot explain how they are feeling it especially important to keep an eye out for children who are having difficulty breathing.

If any person, but particularly small children and others in high risk groups, exhibit any of the following serious warning signs, seek immediate emergency medical care:

• Trouble breathing, including rapid breathing
• Gray or bluish skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Sleeping constantly and not interacting when awake
• Being especially irritable
• Not urinating or no tears when crying
• The symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

H1N1 Symptoms: Summary

Nearly, everything you learned about the symptoms of traditional flu is true of H1N1 Flu, but you should also look for the beginning of pneumonia type symptoms, particularly among anyone has a pre-existing respiratory illness.

In simple layman’s terms the severe cases of Swine Flu are basically the seasonal flu and viral pneumonia. Most cases are NOT severe, but the worse cases can be fatal, usually because of respiratory complications.

What worries public health professionals is that the vaccine for H1N1 is not widely available yet, though one is being manufactured, and the vaccine for the regular flu will not be effective against this newly discovered strain.

Also, that means, if the vaccines are available, you will need two flu shots to be fully protected from both H1N1 and the normal seasonal variety of the flu.

Finally, the simple fact that the virus is new is a real concern, because there is concern that it might mutate into something more deadly. Remember, the regular seasonal flu strain kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year, and, so, even if H1N1 turns out to be no more virulent than the regular flu that is still an awful disaster on the grandest scale.

At this point it is hard to know what the ultimate out come of the H1N1 pandemic will be. Be prepared, but don’t panic.

Products For Preventing and Treating H1N1

There are numerous products on the market designed to prevent or treat H1N1. Some of these products may be great, but consumers need to be VERY wary of products that make extraordinary claims. The H1N1 pandemic has brought out all sorts of kooks and con men offering instant cures.

In the United States the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have teamed up to crack down on business making unsubstantiated medical claims. Download a PDF list of business and products censured by the FDA.

Some advocates of alternative medicine and supporters of consumers making their own medical decisions have railed against the FDA for being overly aggressive, because they generally require expensive, time-consuming peer-reviewed scientific studies before they will approve a product for use.

Though, it is easy to understand the frustration of people who want to make their own decisions about their personal health care, the FDA is trying to prevent the sort of medical fraud that can kill people.

Furthermore, consumers should carefully research any product and come to their own conclusion before making a purchase.

With that disclaimer in mind, here are the products and services that most well educated consumers should probably consider.

Air Purifiers

Air purifiers are sometimes used in laboratory settings to control airborne infection, but the FDA does NOT recommend air purifiers to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, apparently because it is unrealistic to assume anyone actually lives in a sterile laboratory. Furthermore, they have reprimanded several manufactures of air purifiers for making unverified claims, but CleanAir4Life.com offers a variety of air purifiers that they assert eliminate viruses, including the H1N1 virus. They make some very strong claims, but they also offer a lot of compelling evidence, particularly for the Airfree models.

However, you should remember that even a perfect air purifier is worthless if you do not follow good standards of hygiene and public health.

Medical Supplies

There are also a lot of choices for medical supplies, such as masks, disinfectants, and hand cleaners. Frankly, you can probably buy most items you might need at your local pharmacy or supermarket, but if you believe you need hospital quality medical supplies you should price them at iMed.com

Medical masks are probably the most common item that you might want to order from a medical supply company, because if you are going to the effort to wear a mask you probably want to go ahead and buy form fitting hospital quality masks, known as N95 respirators, which might not be easily available in your local drugstore.

However, you should note that the experts are not sure how effective even the N95 masks are at preventing the spread of H1N1.

Medication

The FDA has approved the prescription antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza for the treatment of H1N1 Flu. You probably want to purchase these and other prescription medication from your local pharmacy.

However, you might want to consider purchasing them from Canada Pharmacy They offer competitive prices and privacy, which some people might find invaluable.

Also here in the Hoosier State, the USDA announced yesterday that a commercial herd of hogs were contaminated by the virus.  The agency didn’t say what part of Indiana the hogs are in.  And even though the USDA also says pork from the infected porcine is safe to eat. that should still cut down on the amount of bacon consumed around the country.  Just last month a few pigs at the Minnesota State Fair were also discovered to have the H1N1 virus.

So far, the virus has infected humans, swine, birds and ferrets, and now I am a little concerned about our cat, Ozzy.  Just about an hour ago, we learned that a house cat in Iowa had also been diagnosed with the virus, and Ozzy loves to hang around my face.  The Iowa cat is on the mend and health officials say it appears that although the cat can be infected by humans, the opposite has not yet occurred.

I’ll let you know how things progress in the Rouse House, so please don’t come by and check on us.  I’ll be very inhospitable and turn you away.  Not rude, just careful.  :)

Tags: H1N1, Swine Flu, Tamiflu

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.