As The Swine Flu Turns or The Swine Flu Hit and Run

Well Swine Flu, H1N1 or as our pediatrician calls it Type A Influenza, has done a hit and run at my house and was/is making guest appearances around the entire school community.
I have 2 children in elementary(k and 1st) and 1 in middle school, my middle schooler got the flu.

Here is my story...

My son started coughing on Wednesday nothing horrible, just a cough but it did get progressively worse over night and by Thursday morning he had a horrible cough with a sore throat but no fever. He wanted to go to school so he went, the nurse called me at 10 am she said he was fine but could I bring some cough medicine to school. I went to the school and decided to just bring him home, when we got home he slept.

Cough gets worse, sore throat gets worse but still no fever or other symptoms. Friday rolls around and he has the same horrible cough and sore throat by midday he vomits and an hour later he has a high fever and now it is time for the Dr.
We go in, they run the flu test and it is type A influenza "which means he most likely has Swine Flu per CDC but we do not have the test for Swine Flu only the CDC does that. With type A influenza we are most certain it is the H1N1 strain."

And my heart skipped a beat and I started to panic..."Oh My God! My child, MY CHILD has the Swine Flu" my mind was racing, I had already done all the research, I knew it was completely blown out of proportion by our media, I knew it was being used for fear tactics, propaganda and distraction, I said NEVER NEVER NEVER to that stupid vaccine but it did not matter at that moment because at that moment it was MY CHILD and all sense of rationale was gone but only for that very small moment. Because the next moment my pediatrician started shoving some prescribed inhalant stuff that was "supposed to lessen the symptoms of the flu but the side effects might kill him blah blah blah" and at that point...my senses returned.

I said no thank you to the prescription, took my son home and put him to bed. After some chicken noodle soup, some OTC meds, lots of tender loving care, 2 more days of rest and my son felt better. Cough was MUCH improved, sore throat better, fever gone. He stayed home from school Monday and went back Tuesday.

Some thoughts...
This flu and symptoms are spreading like wildfire through our community but it doesnt seem to be that bad.
I actually feel like it was less severe than the actual flu but let me preface that with the fact that I have never had any flu and neither has anyone in my family until now so i am basing my feelings off of second hand flu stories from friends.
But the kids around here are getting it, pretty much the same symptoms, getting better and moving on within a 5 day period but the spread of this strain is very random.
My 37 year old friend did catch it from my son and hers did turn into bronchitis but a very mild bronchitis that only added about 3 days to her flu.
What is funny is how this thing spreads...my daughters, my husband and myself NEVER got it and we were all around it, submerged in it so to speak.
My friend who did get it from my son (I assume since the symptoms were the same and out of our little group those 2 were the only ones who got the flu) was the only one in her family to get it, her 3 sons and husband did not even get a sniffle.
So in my close group of friends and their children only 2 so far but the extended community is spreading like crazy. The schools have actually suspended the 5 day absence rule this year because of the outbreak. Thankfully nobody is talking about mandatory immunizations...yet.
Now our little ones, the youngest children in my group of friends all had a strange one day fever with no other symptoms right after my son and friend had the flu. They all just got these high fevers that were gone within 24 hrs. Dont know if it is related???

So that is my unexciting swine flu story but I felt the need to share if only to relieve some other moms head and maybe bring a sense of sanity if they ever do have a pediatrician telling them their child has the swine flu.
I had some more stuff but this is already much longer that I had planned, if anyone is interested I will add more tomorrow. It is just some of my observances with the Drs., the school and the community.

That's good info to have out there, thanks for sharing it, it's proof the jab is not necessary for kids.

I have a friend who works at a medical lab, and he contracted the swine flu (had the test done to confirm swine flu) and NOTHING HAPPENED TO HIM.

The swine flu is not dangerous. The seasonal flu has killed more people than the swine flu.

If you get the swine flu, here's what to do:

1) Call in sick to work
2) Enjoy your day(s) off.
3) Go back to work and brag about how you survived the swine flu.

My 2 children are at school and i have been keeping a close watch on both of them since going back after the holidays. Both have had a cold in the past couple of weeks that was a runny nose and a bit of a cough but nothing out of the ordinary.

Thankyou for sharing your experiance with us, it is more insight into this HN151 so called killer virus.

Are you surprised that it is 'is spreading like crazy' when children
are sent along to school with 'a horrible cough with a sore throat'?

I wonder if you would do anything different having gone through
(and all thankfully survived) that experience.

Just a little trivia here.

Chicken soup (made from real chicken) is a highly antiphlogistic substance which works wonders with viral or bacterial diseases.

reply to post by Dynamitrios


And it tastes good too

reply to post by Fabless


Yes I would have kept him home in hindsight.
I thought the sore throat was from the cough and parents have had it practically beat into them that kids should be in school unless a fever is involved thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act. The schools get more Federal money for attendance, which is why the suspension of the 5 day absence rule was so important.
My family stays pretty healthy for the most part as well so I actually do not have alot of experience with the flu and who stays home with the common cold?
And that is what I thought he had, the common cold, as much as the media has shoved Swine Flu down our throats it never crossed my mind at that point that he had the Swine Flu because no fever and no other symptoms.

reply to post by Dynamitrios

Good to know, Thank you!!!

reply to post by SEEWHATUDO



Not quite as simple as I thought, with all that bureaucracy
to consider.

I suppose fever is a good indication of what's going on, and
who knows what to think with the mixed messages of the H1N1
'pandemic'; seems to be about as serious as the common cold
for reasonably healthy people, but they are now rushing out a
vaccine to most of the world.

It puzzles me. Not quite into the wilder conspiracy theories
you find here on ATS, but you'd have to wonder how well it
has been tested (if at all). The time scale seems all wrong.
We just heard about the thing a few months ago.