H1N1...How is your child's school responding?

Parents Forum
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<p>What exactly happens that leads people to be hospitalized? Is it high fever, trouble breathing, both? How are people actually dying from it?</p>

<p>I am SURE to get it if I haven’t already and I’d like to go in armed with some information, I get so worried when I don’t understand what’s happening. :&lt;/p>

<p>I have advil, sudafed, tums, peptobismol, pepcid, claritin, a thermometer, throat lozenges, cough drops, immodium, aleve, omeprazole, tylenol PM (but no regular, maybe I should get some?) and I THINK that’s it besides my 200 piece first aid kit and some chicken soup. XD I have a digestive disorder that relapses with stress so that was more what we were gearing up for, I got the flu last year for the first time since early childhood so I am not sure what I am supposed to have. Am I good or should I add something to that? I have a small case of bottled water, perhaps I should get more of that, too. And I wanted to get some vitamin C caplets, maybe I should just get a general vitamin? Maybe echinacea? We take that at home sometimes but I didn’t bring any with me. My roommate didn’t bring ANYTHING so in the event of an emergency I may be supplying for two.</p>

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<p>Thanks OlyMom.</p>

<p>Your list seems to have the appropriate common sense items, along with a few I wouldn’t have thought of. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>I, too have done a fair bit of reading on the subject because I am currently suffering from what is probably the H1N1 here in NY. I think my husbrand brought it home from the office on Monday. His only symptoms were congestion, coughing, and over all malaise.</p>

<p>I got ALL of the standard flu symptoms on Friday. It has been a 3 day misery, but I am finally feeling better.</p>

<p>I’m going to get a care package in the mail to my D next week.
Thanks again.</p>

<p>P.S. Mango sorbet has proven to be the medicine most responsible for making me feel better.</p>

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<p>[Doubts</a> raised about primary flu-fighting drug](<a href=“Home | Vancouver Sun”>Home | Vancouver Sun)</p>

<p>I wouldn’t count on Tamiflu.</p>

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<p>For Twistedxkiss – if you have a history of asthma or other medical conditions, please DO go ahead and contact your student health center. They may have a number of options that are stress reducers. For one, you might get on the list of priority people for vaccinations (which should roll out in mid October). For another, you might have a doc write a prescription for Tamiflu (which you would fill if you got sick) OR they might go ahead and give you a box to have on hand. A lot will depend on your particular case. </p>

<p>Please know that Washington State University has reported some 2,000 cases of swine flu in the last week and there has not been a single hospitalization. Not one. That is an excellent sign that their version is (so far) mild. </p>

<p>We know, for sure, that there are certain conditions that make fighting the flu harder (such as being pregnant or obese). What makes other cases take a turn for the worse? That is still an unknown. It is a scary unknown. </p>

<p>You can read a ton of information at the Pandemic Flu forum :http//
<a href=“http://www.singtomeohmuse.com/viewforum.phpf=1&sid=7a1660f9b29825710f41766e6fd94441[/url]”>www.singtomeohmuse.com/viewforum.phpf=1&sid=7a1660f9b29825710f41766e6fd94441</a></p>

<p>and this site (which may not be up much longer):
[H1N1</a> Resources](<a href=“Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos”>Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos)</p>

<p>Be alert! (We need more lerts…) – seriously, though. Pay attention to what’s going on around you. This may be the semester when you decide you prefer a brisk walk across campus with a friend to a quicker, cheek to jowl ride on the campus bus. We are talking influenza – not Ebola. Influenza is a tricky beast and it occasionally turns very, very nasty – so its not rainbows and unicorns and “Don’t worry your pretty little head” – we are in the vast middle ground. Learn, learn, learn, prepare, prepare and then . . .live a life worth living. At least that’s my take!</p>

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<p>I should state again that I am not a doctor or a medical professional. I have found the occasional doc or nurse that is not up to date in their information – so I hope everyone will BOTH consult with their health care professional AND do lots of research and learning about influenza. The Great Influenza by John Barry is excellent.</p>

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<p>CU Boulder has a number of cases, and last week the local newspaper reported that the administration had issued a clarification that professors were NOT to suggest that students drop classes simply because they’d missed labs or assignments or language classes. (Apparently some course have very strict attendance policies, and some of the faculty were enforcing them.) Instead, faculty are being asked to provide alternative assignments and make-up opportunities once students are well. I suspect that the alternative is that a lot of sick kids would drag themselves out of bed and push on to the lab or class, infecting many others along the way.</p>

<p>I do wonder how this is all going to play out in quarter system schools and block scheduled schools like Colorado College given the much tighter constraints on time.</p>

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<p>My daughter’s college has quite a few cases of flu-like illness, which they are assuming are H1N1.</p>

<p>Students have been advised to take the usual precautions, including staying in their rooms if they have a fever, and professors have been told not to penalize students for absences. My daughter is quite pleased with this last piece of advice because it means that she can attend next week’s on-campus job fair without being penalized if she has to miss classes to do so. (Even the flu has fringe benefits.) Of course, this presumes that she will be healthy at the time of the job fair!</p>

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<p>This is exactly what the kids would do if strict attendance policies were being enforced and exactly why they should not be enforced. Instead, no matter how unnatural it seems, faculty should be doing their utmost to work cooperatively with kids who have had to miss class and need to make up work.</p>

<p>The same sort of thinking applies to us non-students, too. I usually go to work when I’m sick (because I’m trying to save up my sick days for the knee replacement surgery I expect to have in a few years), but even I would stay home if I had a fever during the current situation. I would hope that employers will support people’s decisions to stay home if they have symptoms of the flu.</p>

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<p>It will be challenging. Some courses build rapidly and it is very, very hard to make up lost time and keep up with new material. No one wants to be on a bridge built by an engineer that missed critical weeks in his/her load bearing math class. . .</p>

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<p>Sore throat is returning yet again. This makes day five or so of mild scratchy throat and general crap feeling with no fever. Chest feels a little congested but that may be asthma, I just drank something cold and that’s what happens to me.</p>

<p>Boyfriend visited today and is now sick for the first time in the two years we have been together. And I had mono the first few months and he still has never been sick. I am afraid I have given him swine flu for his birthday. :(</p>

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<p>anyone at Columbia University hear about H1N1??</p>

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<p>Exactly.</p>

<p>Ordinarily, professors may leave students who miss critical weeks of class to their own devices – or essentially force sick students to attend class so that they don’t miss critical information. But in the current situation, it’s important to public health for sick students to stay out of class, so professors have to figure out creative ways of helping these students learn the material while simultaneously doing what’s best for the community.</p>

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<p>None of my professors mentioned H1N1 today when going over attendance and late work policies and I am a little concerned about it. The university has told us we can’t go to class if we have flu symptoms but the professors have not made it sound like they are going to accommodate that.</p>

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<p>Please, please, please know that about 30% of swine flu patients do NOT have a fever. If in doubt about how you are doing GET HELP. </p>

<p>Experienced and trained eyes can make a huge difference. At the health center they will be able to figure out if you are dehydrated or have other stuff cooking (Strep throat, meningitis, mono, sleep apnea, hepatitis (which can come from some foods) or other ickiness). </p>

<p>Sure hope you get evaluated and are well soon!</p>

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<p>My daughter thinks some people she knows have the flu, but I didn’t see anything about it in the school newspaper and we as parents haven’t gotten any notifications. I told her to make sure she’s using hand sanitizer. Since this school had a big norovirus outbreak last fall, I hope everyone is taking appropriate precautions.</p>

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<p>WSU H1N1 cases seem to be on the decline, but now the flu virus is spreading among UW students:</p>

<p>[Education</a> | Two probable swine flu cases reported at University of Washington | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009841255_webuwswinebrief11m.html?syndication=rss]Education”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009841255_webuwswinebrief11m.html?syndication=rss)</p>

<p>Two young ladies at a UW sorority came down with the flu. Here is comes…</p>

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<p>H1N1, on a purely technical level, is a precise demonstration of Darwin’s theory.
That’s all I’ll say.</p>

<p>As for what my school’s doing, the typical “wash hands, stay home, see doctor” routine.</p>

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<p>Can you get H1N1 twice?</p>

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<p>Yes, you can get a flu twice or three times. Any influenza virus is made of 8 segments of RNA. When one strain gets into a human, bird or pig that already is carrying another strain of flu, the two flu strains can exchange parts. Think of a slumber party where the little girls start swapping pj’s, socks and hair ribbons. They can come up with some different looks very fast. </p>

<p>However, once you’ve had one variety of flu you have resistance to that exact same strain and you may have resistance to similar strains. This version of H1N1 will probably be circulating the globe for the next couple of years. At some point, so many people will have resistance to it that it won’t “move” through a community very much any more (too many “closed doors” or resistant bodies). We are a long way from that point today.</p>

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<p>[UW-Madison</a> takes steps to prevent massive outbreak of swine flu](<a href=“http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/article_0b865650-9e44-11de-a706-001cc4c03286.html]UW-Madison”>UW-Madison takes steps to prevent massive outbreak of swine flu)</p>