Monday, July 13, 2009

Flu, in hindsight

So, now that everyone is back at camp/daycare, I have this to say about the summer flu....

It wasn't so bad.

Oz was VERY sick for a day. Then he was kinda sick for a day. Then he was fine, but had to stay home for four more days. He had one really bad asthma flare on the tail end of it (coughed til he threw up), but we've had worse.

B ran a fever, but never got very sick.

All in all, while it sucked having the flu in July, I think this was a pretty mild strain. Certainly no worse than what they faced in November, and not nearly as bad as the strain B caught in January of 2004.

So...all the hype about H1N1. Just hype. Granted, the Tamiflu may have had a greater impact than I'm giving it credit for, but really... I don't think this is as bad a flu as the media made it out to be.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's reassuring to hear no one in your house was hit too hard with the flu. The H1N1 strain is aggressively penetrating schools, camps and businesses around our area and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't on edge (I have two kiddos with asthma).

Pat said...

Don't let your guard down. When the fall flu hits with a vengeance it may get worse.
Pat F. Bass III, MD, MS, MPH
http://asthma.about.com

spangle said...

keeep posting bout asthma. i have 2 kids having asthma. so i can learn a lot when i reading this articles of you. nice and interesting articles!!!

spangle said...

nice and interesting articles you have.keep posting bout asthma...
i have 2 kids having asthma. take good care of your kids. i know asthma is a lifetime threatening.god bless you and your family!!!

JYC said...

Summer flu always seem milder in comparison. Maybe it's a mental thing (warmer wealther, more relaxed time) but maybe there's something in the virus reproduction cycle that makes it stronger during winter?

Anonymous said...

No offense, but it seems very unwise to say H1N1 is no big deal and then make an offhand remark at the end of your post that your child was on an anti-viral medication. And it's possible that the negative flu test was indeed accurate, and it was not the flu. This response is written in September after the resurgence of the flu and I believe it is has to be taken seriously. According to the CDC, 30% of the children who have died from H1N1 had no pre-exisiting health condition. It has been proven that young people and children with asthma are at particular risk. This flu has the ability to penetrate deep into the lungs and replicate there, unlike the "regular" seasonal flu. This was suspected at first (shown in animal testing) and confirmed by testing done at the CDC. This explains why it is causing pneumonia in some people who wouldn't normally get it form the flu. For most people it WILL be a relatively mild illness but no one yet truly understands this new virus - all parents of children with asthma should remain educated and vigilant.