Flu By Any Other Name Is Still
A Virus, But Can Be DangerousVolume 17, No. 4, Fall 2009
Flu By Any Other Name Is Still
A Virus, But Can Be Dangerous By Paul M. Marz, M.D.
Good morning! This article will cover the topic we are most discussing at home, school, and office: Is it the flu? And what exactly is the flu? Is it a virus or a bacteria or some other sort of space invader infection?
In the past, friends might mention that they had the flu, or head cold. The common head cold is caused by a different family of viruses. The common cold is exactly that, common. Flu is more severe and is a different, more potent virus entirely.
Just how sick can you get? There have been reports of people dying of this influenza flu, but this does not mean that everyone is at such a high risk. Yes, some people become very ill, but there are loads of other cases that do not even have a fever. Remember that in any group of people, there will be some hardly ill, some more so, and a few who will be very ill. Children with an underlying medical problem like asthma or diabetes, will have a greater chance of being more ill than others. Or they may or may not run a fever.
What makes the H1N1 so frightening is that can spread so quickly. The flu is contagious! It does not take much to spread it around.
One unique factor that creates this volatility is how long your child can spread the virus. It can take up to four days after exposure to start feeling ill and someone can begin to spread the virus up to a full day BEFORE even feeling unwell and for five to seven days AFTER becoming ill. That’s why the CDC suggests keeping a child home a full 24 hours after any fever is gone.
So now one of your children is sick and at home. They’ve had colds before, so you know what is happening. Not every patient needs to rush off to the emergency room. This is a viral illness and will pass with time. Yes, we know they feel bad, and the wandering muscle aches are not much fun either. But if your child is drinking, interacting and just miserable, he or she is probably okay.
Most people who have been sick with this virus in the United States have recovered at home without treatment. If children have flu-like symptoms, keep them at home for seven days overall and 24 hours after symptoms resolve, unless given other instructions by your pediatrician.
Like seasonal flu, complications can occur with H1N1 flu. Seek emergency medical care if your child becomes ill and experiences any of the following warning signs:
Fever returns after being absent for a day, or a significant change in fever pattern occurs.
It’s important that your child not be exposed to other children who are sick…or vice versa to keep from infecting them.
(Dr. Marz, a board-certified pediatrician, is supervising physician for the Town of Barnstable school system. He practices with Bass River Pediatrics in South Yarmouth.)