| Fr. Quynh:
As a person who has had swine flu, I have the follow recommendations from personal experience:
If you start developing a cough, sore throat, make sure to drink lots of fluids, eat stuff rich in Vit C and get plenty of sleep to avoid getting worse. If you have the virus though, you'll probably end up getting a fever and other symptons such as nausea, vomiting, chills, body aches and extreme exhaustion. In this case, just sleep it off, take some tylenol, wear a FACE MASK and be in complete isolation for 24 hours after your fever subsides-- have someone deliver meals to your room. Be sure to cough into your sleeve (not into your hands!). If you are asthmatic you should probably see your doctor and I believe they'll prescribe tamiflu. If you've been abroad in malarious regions, you should get tested for malaria. Fr. Chi Chau Ha
hi all -
anyway, i agree with quynh. if you feel cold symptoms coming on (yes one can even get very high fevers) - start drinking lots of fluids, get lots of rest, put on a mask, stay home from work/school so that you will not infect other people. also super important - HANDWASHING. those alcohol hand gels are actually much better at killing viruses/bacteria than just soap and water (soap and water only mechanically scrub off soiled hands but don't necessarily kill pathogens).
if you come to your doctor/ER asking for antibiotics or tamiflu, it's unlikely that you will get it, unless you come in within 2 days of symptoms and have other medical problems such as asthma, diabetes, etc... or if you are on death's bed and are about to go to the ICU. we, in the ER will sometimes not even test you, because there really is no point, as there is no "cure" for it - the treatment is still the same (as above).
here are the latest recommendations from the CDC (center for disease control):
The ACIP has recommended that when vaccine becomes available, immunization programs and providers should focus first on vaccinating as many people as possible in the following five groups: • pregnant women, • people who live with or provide care for children younger than 6 months of age, • health care and emergency medical services personnel, • people between six months through 24 years of age, and • people from the ages of 25 through 64 who are at higher risk because of chronic health disorders such as asthma, diabetes, or a weakened immune system. The 2009 H1N1 vaccine is not intended to replace the seasonal flu vaccine. It is an additional influenza vaccine for this influenza season.
i have been working in the ER since July. i have seen countless people with possible "swine flu" and have not gotten any symptoms yet (knock on wood!). and yes. i see me^~ people everyday. i speak spanish 80% of the time!
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