What???Please help put my mind at ease...

[bluedaisy]

I havent been very concerned about H1N1, and when the hype all started I was the one telling everyone that the media was making a big deal out of nothing....

I work and live at a university - my apartment is in one of the undergraduate dorms.

I just got an email from my boss with updated info about how the school is planning to handle flu season this year (they will quarantine anyone who is sick in an empty dorm building)

In addition, she gave us all the option of opting out of our jobs if we felt the risk was too much for our families - because our homes are on campus, we don't have the option of leaving if there is an outbreak.

what??? is the school just overreacting? I really didnt think it was that serious.

I have an 8 month old who is breastfed - i plan to continue breastfeeding throughout flu season, and she will NOT be getting any vaccines...

please help put my mind at ease and tell me that the school is just overreacting...

[bluedaisy]

oh, and here's the article my boss sent along with this email...

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/07/14/h1n1virus

[Gitti]

imo for some reason they are all overreacting. But I have no idea why? What is the driving force behind making this flu such a big deal? It is supposed to be mild and one that otherwise healthy people can easily overcome.

We are not concerned.

[peainthepod]

If you feel comfortable doing it, you can start gently asking questions. Ask them for evidence. What makes them so sure this swine flu, which has been extremely mild in most cases in the States and had a very low mortality rate, is going to mutate into something horribly deadly? Why are vaccines the answer (instead of naturally boosting immunity)? Why quarantine for this flu but not other infectious diseases? Etc.

I do think they're overreacting and I think there's an agenda to push vaccines behind this frenzied attempt at fearmongering. Vaccines are big business--why shouldn't colleges get in on the act?

[sunshine1793]

The main concern from where I live seems to be that a high percentage of people will all get it at once, and the effect that will have on essential services and the economy. If 1 or 2 thirds of your hospital staff are sick, that is going to be a problem. Likewise, teachers, bus drivers, power station workers, truckers, business people. Shoppers, lol. Etc. Its not so much the death toll, but complexity of our society/economy that I think they are worried about. There is also a lot of money to be made from the vaccinations, and a lot of money to be lost if the economy 'pauses'.

My concern is if am going to die this fall, or my family and friends. I hope not, but people are going to die, and more than just the elderly and the sick. The reports around here are that H1N1 is hitting the 20-40 people harder than would be expected. I am really set against getting a vaccine, but part of me worries that I'm being foolish. The media makes it sound like only and idiot would refuse this 'lifesaving' vaccine. The rest of me feels like it is poison.

As such, I am in the midst of a heap of research about influenza and herbal medicine. I haven't yet drawn my conclusions, but it I would suggest making sure you are up on all your vitamins and minerals. Research how to treat influenza naturally, and what herbs can be used to assist your body in fighting the infection and alleviating symptoms. Make sure you are well hydrated, even now. The most important thing that is that your body is ready prior to infection.

The other thing I would suggest is to have a 1 to 3 month store of non perishable food. When you shop, buy 1 or 2 extra. The least amount of places you need to go the better, if and when this flu hits. When you are out in public, don't touch your hands to your face. Wash your hands. When outbreaks begin this fall, whenever you can stay home, do so.

Minimize your risk of catching it, have your body prepared in advance to fight it, and know how to treat it effectively.

[tammyswanson]

This shows the power that mainstream media has over the American populace. They tell people to be scared, and it works! Never mind if there is no real reason to be afraid. Most people seem to just believe everything they hear on the news, and ignore any contrary information, assuming it is even given in the first place.

Seems to me that a lot of people have lost their ability to think for themselves, either that or they trust the news way too much. Or both?

The reactions of most Americans to their televisions is what is really scaring me.

[Romana]

I'm not conned by the media. I've read the information provided by the WHO, CDC, and state health agency. I've thoroughly researched the 1918 and subsequent pandemics, and read what scientists, doctors and other experts in the field of infectious disease and particularly epidemics/pandemics have to say about preparedness, potential problems, etc.

There is real reason to be concerned about H1N1. Should people panic? Of course not. Everyone should be prepared with plenty of food and fresh water, just the way you should be anyway. Everyone should have a level of emergency (and that includes panedmic) preparedness. If there was a run on OTC medications, cough drops or other desired comfort measures, would you have what you needed? I slowly created a few boxes of goods that are stored in case of an emergency (be that pandemic or something else). Really, every family should be prepared, but so few are.

If H1N1 strikes a disproportionately large number of people because of minimal existing immunity, it could result in the temporary interruption of some basic services, and certainly a lack of access to lifesaving measures in the hospital. We can't recreate respirators and the like in our homes so there is no point in fretting about that. However, to the extent that you can prepare, you should.

This is not just the media. The media latched onto the story initially and is now pretty much ignoring it. Swallowing media hype (or lack thereof) whole is never a good idea. But dismissing something potentially serious because of the kind of coverage it's received in the mainstream media is an equally bad idea.

I wasn't planning on getting the vaccine, but it's irrelevant in any case because it won't be available. They're having difficulty replicating the virus. There may be some vaccine available by the end of 2009 and the WHO has recommended that HCPs get first priority (makes sense since they would be caring for those who are ill).

Hopefully this pandemic will be mild because it won't mutate with the bird flu or any other more virulent strain, and most people will be just fine. Right now the mortality rate (based on the numbers we have) is about 0.5%. That would go up with lack of access to hospital care, but still of course the vast majority of people should recover, as with any other flu pandemic (in 1918 I believe the mortality rate was about 2.5%).

Here's the U.S. government website with info regarding flu preparedness:

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/index.html

It also provides some information on what sorts of service interruptions and other situations that might be encountered during a flu pandemic.

[dessismama]

You are lucky your university is making a plan! I work for a college and we have no plan... If the pubic schools close when the epidemic peaks, I will be out to be with my kids. What will happen to my 120 students? There is no plan how to proceed and we even have the infrastructure to teach online.

Also, college students are going to be big groups to transmit the virus since they are in contact with hundreds of other students and live in crowded dorms. Kudos to your administration for thinking ahead!!

I agree with Romania and applaud her on posting the preparedness link--the press has dropped the story and the story in developing as we speak. Scientists are uncovering more about the virus; doctors are revealing the clinical symptoms of those seriously ill at ICU units. No one in the main stream media is talking about the previously healthy people who die 48 hours after onset of symptoms. This is too scary for the public to know about!! WHO is calling the pandemic "moderate"--the last one was in 1957 and it was 5 times as deadly as seasonal flu.

And people do do directly from the flu--it causes a severe viral pneumonia in a small percentage of cases and it kills by causing suffocation, renal failure, and multiple organ shut-down (cytokine storm). In fact, roughly half of the swine flu deaths have occurred in previously healthy people. This is the part one should be concerned!! There is no one to predict how one or one's loved ones will fare.

The 36, 000 a year deaths in the US is not a real figure--it is averaged/projected over many seasons and typically a bit higher than the actual number of deaths. In reality, most seasonal deaths happen in the elderly and the very young. Pandemic flu, on the other hand, loves 15-50 age group. Most of the fatalities are young and productive members of society. This has much more severe implications for society.

A very wise public health expert compares swine flu to car accidents--most are nothing to talk about, but then there are the severe devastating tragic ones. Let's hope these do not account for more and more of the total cases as the virus mutates.