The morning news says that you should have 3-5 days worth of food and water stashed in case you can't leave the house due to sickness...I think I still have that in my Y2K stash.
What is everyones views on this? are you worried? will you and/or your kids get the vaccine?

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Love, J.

Nope, not worried. No, none of us will get the shot.

It's already around here. A good friend of youngest dd and her family has already had it and The University of Kansas has over 400 cases. Actually we spent last Saturday at KU - on campus and at a football game. It's also in the school districts around here (not ours yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time).

It's just the flu and they're now saying it's milder than the seasonal flu (unless you are pregnant or your immunity system is compromised in some way). My kids are already good about washing their hands, I reminded them to continue. I also bought them each a Purell thing to go in their locker. Oldest didn't take it because she said every classroom has it.

No worries, here. I don't get worked up over stuff like this, though. The media causes this frenzy and worry. Just wash your hands!

Lisa

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I feel the same way. Not really giving it much thought at all. We'll follow the basic precautions, but that's about it.

We aren't taking additional precautions, with the exception of extra hand-washing diligence. However, DS and I will get the vaccine.

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Kim

I am not worried at all really..and I prep by constant handwashing and wiping down of surfaces with clorox.

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I'm pretty germophobic so I plan to continue to keep my hands away from my face and other body openings in public; to wash and degerm my hands constantly and to keep my distance from people I don't know.

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It's already here in our schools and no I'm not concerned. It's just the flu. The teachers have Clorox wipes for wiping down the desk and door knobs if there is a student that goes home sick and there's hand sanitizer in every classroom and the office. We will get the seasonal flu shots but not the H1N1. I feel the shot was made up too quickly and not properly tested.
I doubt there's many households that don't have enough food to last for a week.

Yep, we aren't doing anything special here. None of us get the flu vaccine and you couldn't pay me to get the H1N1 shot. I just don't trust things that they throw out there fast.

We just wash our hands and I'll try to make sure I Lysol/clean the doorknobs, etc a bit more this fall and winter

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Georgia seems to be hit pretty hard. It is rather wide spread here. I teach preschool and so far we do not have any confirmed cases. The high school down the road has over 100 cases so I am sure it is just a matter of time. I do make the kids wash their hands often. I will not let my own children have the H1N1 vaccine either because I don't feel it has been tested enough. I will let them get the seasonal flu vaccine though.

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We're not getting flu shots or the swine flu one. I'm not worried at all.

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Well, the last time (and only time as a matter of fact) that my DH and I got the flu shot, we BOTH got a horrible case of the flu right at Christmas. It was the worst case of flu we'd ever had.

So no, I'm not getting the flu shots and I'll just continue with the handwashing, etc. A little trick I do in the wintertime is when I go to places with grocery carts, I don't take my gloves off. Don't know if this helps or not, but I feel it does.

DH's employment gives the flu shots for free for employees and their families every year.

I got my flu shot yesterday and I will get the H1N1 shot as soon as it is available.
I have a few health problems and getting the flu, any flu really, could be fairly dangerous for me.
I also get the pneumonia shot.

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Um, JoyEllen, if you still have food and water from 10 years ago, I think you and your family might get sicker ingesting that than from H1N1.

Unless -- please tell me you've rotated your stock

My 17-y-o son has it right now. We took him to urgent care Monday and they gave him a prescription for Tamiflu. He had a fever, cough, achy and just feeling not good. They said it was the flu, but did not specifically test for swine. The doctor said it didn't matter, it would be treated the same. The Tamiflu is working fast. (It should for $50.00 WITH insurance) He seems to be a lot better today. I e-mailed his teachers and one of them told me that there is a lot of it at his high school right now.

I don't think it's nearly as bad as I had thought it might be. I won't be getting that shot, but will get the regular flu shot like I do every year. I heard on the news this morning that the guidelines for treatment of H1N1 have changed, and that they won't be prescribing Tamiflu to everyone now, only to those in high-risk groups. I guess my son was lucky to have gotten in under the wire.

I will probably get the flu shot, since I have been taking steroids and am supposedly immuno-compromised/supressed. Not sure if I'll have the boys get it, but probably so. Our MDs aren't getting the vaccine until October.

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I won't be getting any flu shots, the husband can decide if he wants one or not. I am really peeved with the news media here in Alabama, they are screaming that there are going to be thousands of deaths from the swine flu. I am not saying that it isnt a serious thing, but the media has been stomping the panic button for months.

I talked to my daughters Pediatrician about the H1N1virus and shot. She told me that they are still investigating it and that the CDC is still working on it... She said the shot for H1N1 that is coming out is strictly a governmental thing. Only certain people will be qualified for it. I am assuming a Doctor has to put through that qualification. She said that pregnant women are automatically qualified and children with health issues. She mentioned that since my daughter has asthma, she will automatically qualify. I believe this flu shot isnt one that you go to a local drugstore or just walk in a Doctors office to get. It has to be Doctor approved with certain qualifications. I personally wouldnt want it as others have said, simply because the CDC might still be investigating this???

I will get the regular flu shot though because I have noticed they do seem to help.

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I will get the regular flu shot but not the H1N1 shot. My 18 yr old had the swine flu in July. I posted this before. He ended up with ear infections in both ears so that's why I ended up taking him in. The doc said he had influenza symptoms and the only influenza going around was the swine flu so she's pretty sure that's what it was. Headache, sore throat, cough, body aches, fever (not real high luckily), etc....I sure hope that's what it was cause he's across the country at college and I'd hate for him to get sick out there! I must be immune ( I was born in the 1950"s so I should be) and he coughed all over me for days (lol) so I was definitely exposed and didn't get it. I really don't understand all the hype. Every year people die from seasonal flu and I'm not sure it's that different. I sure hope it doesn't turn out as badly as they think it might though.

No, it was a sarcasm...from the last "panic"

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Love, J.

Amen on the shot info - research it please before you get it. Several health professionals are NOT having the shot because of the side effects! We will not be getting the shot.

My daughter and I will soon get our flu mist.
It seems that most of our friends in Georgia are sick with some sort of cold like sickness.
I told them it must be in the water.

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I'm not concerned because I'm not in a high risk group nor do I have family members in a high risk group.

I will never get a flu shot again. The first, and last, time I got a flu shot was a few years ago. My arm swelled up so big I could hardly get my shirt sleeve over it and it was very painful. I'd rather take my chances with the flu then go thru that again.

What I want to know is this: Just why should you have WATER stored in case you get the flu? What is wrong with the water that comes out of the tap? It's not like your faucets will just stop working if you get the flu.

I love how some media outlets are acting like this is going to be a flu like the disease in "The Stand" by Stephen King.

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You are supposed to have bottled water on hand if you have a disaster package in your house. (Like for floods, tornadoes, etc....) Maybe they were just referring to their disaster supply.

I really wish that doctors and hospitals would quit telling people they "probably" have swine flu without testing. I work at a doctors office and we do not have a test for swine flu. What we have is a test for Influenza A and B. If Flu A is positive there is a chance it could be swine flu OR another type of Flu A. We have tested and tested people with the symptoms and only 1 has come back positive.

Personally I think there is a virus going around that has a lot of the same symptoms and people are self diagnosing making the whole Swine Flu "epidemic" seem worse. This of course is just my personal opinion. That being said, I will not be getting the swine flu shots. Yes shots. From what we are being told there will be two shots that make up the swine flu shot. You will get one and then come back around 28 days later to get the second. I just feel like they rushed the shot and I am not interested in a repeat of what happened in the 70's where people had bad reactions from the shot.

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

As of yesterday they're now saying it looks like there will only be one shot required for swine flu. Doesn't matter, we're still not getting it.

I hadn't heard of any cases in our school district, but my sophomore daughter said she heard there are about 30 cases in her high school. I don't know if that's true or not - I haven't heard it officially, but they're no longer testing and a lot are not going to the doctor when they have suspected cases.

Also, a local news anchor here came down with it, has it now and is blogging about it. He said it started with a very persistant cough, and then the fever started.
Personal Experiences With H1N1

Lisa

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It's wanting what you've got"

"The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best of everything they have."

What my doctor said made perfect sense to me when I took my son in in July. She said there were no influenzas going around except H1N1. If you look at the testing info it's not testing positive in almost half the tests anyway so tests aren't going to be as reliable as what doctors are seeing on a day to day basis. Flu symptoms follow a pretty standard pattern so it's not too hard to diagnose flu vs some cold virus. There is a really nasty cold/cough virus going around also-my son currently has that at his small college as do most of the kids on campus but it's not "influenza". I trust what my doctor said and all the research I did online when he was first diagnosed. His dad also has a PhdD in pharmacology (NOT a pharmacist) and he thinks that's what it was too. I might add that when my son was in grade school and got inlfuenza he was a lot sicker than he was with this one.

Is there or is there not a definitive test for swine flu????

It is my understanding that H1N1 tests have to be sent off. However, there is a test to differeniate between Type A and B. If Type A is positive, in all likelihood it's H1N1. There have been several cases of Type A diagnosed in our public schools. I volunteer at DS's jr high answering phones in the morning. We are given specific instructions to ask what kind of symptoms the student has and if a doctor made an official diagnosis of flu. There is a nasty viral bug going around that DS had for 5 days. Since DS is never sick, I took him to the doctor the morning he got up with a fever. The test for the flu was negative. The cough and sore throat started on Wednesday night but I didn't check for fever thinking it was allergies. Thursday morning with fever, Friday afternoon fever up to 103°, Saturday fever between 101 and 102, Sunday fever between 100 and 101 and Monday morning between 99 and 99.5. DS is still taking Mucinex to keep the junk out of his chest.
There's also a nasty stomach bug going around. I've never seen the number of absentees so high at school.

I understood that positive confirmation was only from being sent to specific labs, that no one locally (anywhere) can determine true swine flu.

A normally rational co-worker got a call on Wed. that his daughter in 8th grade has swine flu. You would have thought she was just crowned Miss America with the big deal he made of it. So many want to "belong" or "have" something any more, it's a mindset.

The media hasn't helped any. Seems to me there always has to be something to dredge us in constantly from Michael Jackson, to swine flu, to the pending potus school speech, back to swine flu, with an interruption about remembering 9/11, then it will be swine flu until something else comes along.

dl

Is the swine flu something new?? My neighbor thinks she had it MANY years ago, like 40-50ish.

Here they are not even testing for the swine flu. If you present with fly symptoms, they automatically say you have the swine flu, and act accordingly.

I am doing the usual....lots of hand washing and just general precautionary type stuff. I am not going overboard. We do wipe the desks at school with Clorox wipes. If the kids sneeze or use a tissue they have to wash. Should be a no-brainer, but.....well, you know. We are also wiping the water fountain daily. I wish they would do away with water fountains actually.

DH has taken Zucol when his cold symptoms kicked in, and that really seemed to knock them right out. He took the Symbacol stuff last year. We had great results with that, too.

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I think that my last post comes from frustration more than anything. I know that doctors commonly diagnose using only clinical findings and do not rely on lab tests all the time in office settings to come to their diagnosis. It is just frustrating when you have patients with no symptoms coming in because their relative was sick (had not been to the doctor themselves) and they demand a flu test. This is happening more and more. Or they will come in with one or two symptoms (sore throat and cough) and it is almost like they want to be told they have swine flu.

I just read that they are now reporting the swine flu shot will not have to be given in two doses. I think that is great. Much easier for everyone. My family and I will still not be getting the shot though. We will stick with the hand washing.

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

My DD came home the first day of school, I took her to the doctor and she was tested for the flu and she had it. Since DH and I were coughing too she put the whole family on Tamiflu so 120.00 later we are all getting better

Not particularly worried about it. Seems like a fairly typical flu experience. I'll get the normal flu shot and the H1N1 as well. The H1N1 shot uses the same process for preparing the vaccine as the standard flu shot, and have never had problems with that. Plus I'll be traveling out of the country for 6 weeks during the winter season and would like to have the extra protection.

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I posted earlier about my co-worker's daughter. Surprise, surprise, turns out she does not have swine flu.

I realize the seriousness, but too many are getting caught up in the hype, my normally well balanced co-worker is an example.

dl

I couldn't agree more!! When a parent calls a child in sick to school and asks what is going around I have to tell them there are confirmed cases of H1N1 in the school as well as a upper respiratory virus and stomach bug. Some parents are calm and rational while others are panicing. I tell them it's just the flu and at this point is a very mild flu. Right now I'm more concerned about getting the nasty stomach bug that's going around.