<p>By the way my family has gone through job loss and near loss of our home but through the grace of G-- we somehow managed to get through and start over. I believe we had the strenght to do so because we knew our child fought everyday with a disease that nearly took his life. It has been this child that gave us the courage and determination and I will be dammed to sit back and listen to people that think a job is more important than the life of any person. I can’t believe you thought I should be sited for a TAS violation-Are you for real?</p>
<p>I’m strong enough, so I don’t think this flue will affect me.</p>
<p>Atlantis99, that is funny! (To a biologist). One of the reasons the 1918 flu was so horrible was because it killed the young and strong. It ripped through military bases, killing the 18 to 20 year olds by the hundreds. It is thought that the virus caused healthy, strong bodies to over-react, causing a “cytokine storm”. The body basically drowned in its own defensive fluids. </p>
<p>So far the US vaccines do NOT have “adjuvants”. Adjuvants are a tricky area. They are supposed to boost the bodies immune response but there are indications that it can cause life-long immune problems (such as lupus). One adjuvant is squalene/M59. There are others. There are also an assortment of preservatives. An earlier poster is correct – one needs to personalize medicine. There are five manufacturers of the upcoming vaccination for H1N1. There no reason NOT to ask which product is being offered by one’s health center and then spend a little time researching that particular product. </p>
<p>Again, influenza is a tricky thing. Recently, four college suite mates all got the flu. Three recovered in a few days. One died. We are in a constantly evolving situation – arming ourselves with information and making decisions on OUR personal situation is the only way to go. </p>
<p>Job attendance has a huge psychological component. So does team participation – I am deeply bothered by coaches who are “tough” and demand that players show up for practice when sick. It may be this is the epidemic that changes groupthink. Perhaps we will change from “Only the slackers take a day off” to “Thank God your family is well. I am so relieved and glad to have you back.”</p>
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<p>This kills me. People who think they are so important that the world will stop without them and who try to prove how “tough” they are by working when sick.</p>
<p>You want to prove what a tough guy you are? Join the military. Become a fire fighter. At least there they have the sense to insist people go to the sick bay. </p>
<p>Good grief.</p>
<p>momma-three, You are absolutely correct and thank you for sharing your pov. I hope that the people around you and your child have both common sense and compassion.</p>
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<p>I don’t know if you realize though that this is purely an american way of life. I have worked for a living in three other countires, very, very different from each other and over there (wherever it was) it was always “if you are sick you stay home”. Here we are superhumans, taking Sudafed, Dayquil/Whatever it takes to make us feel better and we go on.
I always bail on it and stay home when under the weather but my DH is a different kind of an animal…</p>
<p>There is a very sad post on the college life forum “son flying in for his best friends funeral”. The young man is 18 years old and had just gone off to college in the South. He is now flying home for his best friends funeral. The young man passed away from the<br>
H1N1 virus.</p>
<p>Wow. Some of the cold hearted and nonchalant attitudes on this issue both sadden me and infuriate me at the same time. So it’s “just the flu”… It’s killing people. Yes, the regular flu kills people too. Is that supposed to make the family and friends of those who die feel better? Geez people, have a heart.</p>
<p>My brother is one of those who ended up in the hospital with H1N1. I hope that doesn’t happen to any of your family members or loved ones. I wonder if you’d still think it’s “just the flu” then? I think any precautions that can be taken should be taken.</p>
<p>People also have to have perspective and worry about what is serious to them and consider the odds. Do you worry every time you get in your car? FAR more people will die in accidents than from this flu.</p>
<p>YES! to Barrons and Midmo on their opinion. I agree completely. H1N1 has had mild complications on campus, with a much bigger threat of contracting mono from overwork and oversocializing (but not necessarily in that order).</p>
<p>My roommate woke up this morning sweating and feeling sick with a sore throat. She said she thinks she has strept and thinks she’s going to health services today. I am thinking about going myself. I haven’t felt sick but I have a sharp pain in my chest when I inhale, coughing up stuff despite not feeling at all congested, and have felt very weak the past couple days, like to the point that it was hard to walk. I don’t understand that at all. This is a new one for me. </p>
<p>I have severe asthma so I am taking the flu pretty seriously. Even if I get the flu and it’s no big deal (and even with regular flu there is that chance that it will be a big deal), I would be worried about getting pneumonia or something afterward like I have heard of happening.</p>
<p>Great idea to get yourself to the Health Center. With severe asthma, it’s important to get medical attention promptly instead of “waiting things out,” especially when there are signs that you may be having some respiratory symptoms as you describe.</p>
<p>Good luck–hope they can help you or refer you somewhere you can get help.</p>
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I haven’t felt sick but I have a sharp pain in my chest when I inhale, coughing up stuff despite not feeling at all congested, and have felt very weak the past couple days, like to the point that it was hard to walk.
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<p>Talked to my daughter on Monday afternoon and she said almost exactly the same thing. Tuesday afternoon the Health Center suggested she go to the ER with her temperature of 103, et al, as the ER can get quicker results on blood work and such. Yes, she has the Swine Flu. BTW, the ER said the test for Swine Flu is notoriously inaccurate and it follows a checklist of symptoms (and ruling out strep, etc.) for diagnosis. </p>
<p>Good luck. I hope that you and your roommate aren’t sick.</p>
<p>With the current flus going around, please, please, err on the side of seeking healthcare if in doubt. Any help is much more effective if administered sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Good luck & try to eat well, drink lots of beverages & lots of good sleep.</p>
<p>One has to deal with both the “immortality syndrome” that college-age kids have as well as mixed messages they get regarding the illness. My S’s boss at his part time job made a comment about calling off when he said he had to skip a day (the second or so this year) due to an illness with flu-like symptoms that had him come home for the weekend to recover.</p>
<p>Another wierd response that I hadn’t anticipated - He’s on this financial independence mission where he wants to accept little other than the (substantial) tuition from us. He felt paying $30 for a flu shot (not N1H1-don’t have the vaccine yet) was not cost effective for him and he wouldn’t accept it from us either, but would rather risk the consequences (see first para) Go figure.</p>
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<p>Yes, but everyone thinks he’s a better than average driver.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman and three weeks into her freshman year, she got H1N1. She had received her regular vaccine several weeks before (per instructions from the university) so the university was certain it was swine flu. She was quarantined in her room. Kind friends brought her “sick meals” from the cafeteria. She became lonely. She went to the health center because her fever was 103 and because she is in a program where she is not permitted to miss class (she needed a note.) They declined to give her tamiflu, but confirmed her quarantine. She went back to the health center on Friday when her breathing was harder and they gave her a “puffer”. That helped. I picked her up on Friday and brought her home. (We live 120 miles away.) The fever is weird. She has been normal, then up to 102, then normal, then 100. Its all over. So back to the doctor. Now she has an ear infection. But her lungs are clear, and the fever is normal for H1N1. Too late for Tamiful. She is back to normal. Coughing. She got codeine cough syrup. And antibiotics for her ear infection. By the time she gets back to class, she will have missed a week of class. She has notes.</p>
<p>This is no joke of a flu. My D was lucky. I don’t know what I would have done if we lived further away. I hope we don’t get it. We have used Clorox, and lysol, and 409 all over the house the entire time she has been here…</p>
<p>The newest reports regarding the H1N1 virus is that most of the people who have become severely ill have not had an any underlying medical conditions. The flu season has not reached the peak yet, so please stay safe and remember to use good judgement.</p>