Our neighboring small town has a "probable" case of swine flu

[FourScore]

I live in Ithaca, NY. Home of Cornell University. If it weren't for Cornell, Ithaca would barely be a dot on the map. It's a small town. Cortland is a neighboring town in my county, and they are now reporting the "probable" case. The local schools are monitoring the situation. There is talk that they may close if it spreads. My daughter's close friend and classmate went to Mexico two weeks ago and today my daughter is home with a sore throat and stuffy nose. She has no fever so the doctor's office said they don't need to see her unless I want to bring her in. I'll wait and see how she's doing. Still, it's a little disconcerting. I guess it's just hitting closer to home now.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. It's less severe than the regular flu, which kills about 50k a year in the US

[L. Coyote]

3. Incorrect. Best judge this by percentage of mortality, not totals.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. I'm just going by what the scientists are saying

The article was posted a bunch of times here yesterday.

[FourScore]

12. Right now it is more mild. But this isn't flu season.

The 1918 influenza epidemic started the EXACT same way. Low mortality rate in the early summer. The second wave in the fall and third in the winter of 1919 were extremely deadly though. That's why a part of me would rather that we get it now rather than in the fall or winter.

What is telling is how rapidly it is spreading, even though flu season is over.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. i actually know one of the numbers/people on the stats chart

on the CDC swine flu page...not terribly concerned though. he is doing well with minimal treatment...

sP

[FourScore]

7. A part of me thinks that if a person were to get it, then NOW is the time to get it.

I think the winter months pose the potential to be very dangerous. If a person were to get it now, it would be much milder and he/she would build antibodies against it. I'd rather get it now if at all. I'm more worried about the schools closing.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

8. the school closings are of course precautionary

but are causing tons of problems for parents without options for child care during the closings...

i guess the guy in our company that has come down with this IS one of the lucky ones even though it is an odd way to think of it.

sP

[FourScore]

11. Yeah, I agree that it is odd to look at it that way.

As for school closings, this will be difficult for working families. My heart goes out to those in that predicament.

[frazzled]

4. Probable means 99% certainty

At a press conference here in Illinois, the head of the state Department of Health explained the testing. After a person with symptoms has been swabbed, testing can determine within four hours whether they have influenza-A strain. Another three hours will yield results as to whether it is, further, a "probable" H1N1 (swine) type. This doctor explained that such a "probable" result has 99% accuracy. To get 100% certainty, the sample must be sent to one of only two CDC labs capable of performing DNA/RNA tests, which take an additional 24-48 hours (plus shipping, I guess).

[FourScore]

13. Ahh. That's what my sister was talking about.

Thanks for the clarification.:hi:

[CoffeeCat]

6. I hear you...

I'm in Iowa, and we have two probable cases. Our state should get those test results today, at the latest.

My third-grade daughter came home from school on Tuesday and told me that half of her class was sneezing and coughing. Both
of my daughters and I have most of the symptoms of Swine Flu, except for the fever (sore throat, coughing, fatigue, aches, runny nose).
I called our doctor, and she said that if we don't have a fever, we don't have the Swine Flu.

LIke you said, it is a little disconcerting. My attitude toward all of this changed once it was found in my state. I worry
about the kids too.

Two weeks ago, half of our town's 7th-grade class was home sick. No one looked into this or did tests, but you kinda wonder now---given
current events--if someone should have looked into this.

[FourScore]

10. Yep. I can only imagine that the doctors offices are getting inundated right now.

There is probably alot of panic going on. I guess they can only deal with the ones who sound seriously ill. My biggest worry is that 3 out 5 people in my house have severe asthma. That's worrisome.

It's like my doctor said, only bring my kids in if I would've done so before swine flu was in the picture. My daughter doesn't have a fever, so I'll just keep an eye on her. It worries me that her friend was in Mexico, though. Their little boy got a cough and fever a week after they returned, but the test came up negative for type A influenza.

I really don't think they brought it back. It's been two weeks. Someone would've tested positive by now. But I will admit that I watched my daughter and her friend's close friendship with some internal trepidation since the reports started coming in.

[EFerrari]

16. There are cases all around the SF Bay Area. Not a lot of them

but they are in 6 counties. Two of them have no apparent link at all to Mexico.

I'm glad we're been talking about this at DU because it gave my family about a week's jump on planning how to manage when it showed up here.

[FourScore]

18. Just curious,

what sort of planning have you done?

We are thinking of stocking up on some dried and canned food items. Some water, the asthma meds, some household items.

What about you?

[EFerrari]

19. I'm not doing a thing but there aren't any kids here.

My brother has three under 15 so he's having them sanitize their hands and monitoring them for symptoms. No laying in supplies because there really aren't that many cases. So far the schools are still open. A lot of schools have a "no touch" rule already anyway so the kids are insulated that much more from each other's cooties. :)

[Puzzler]

9. We had one confirmed case in my city 2 days ago...

(Victoria, BC, Canada) The "case" was an woman in her early 20s who had returned from a Mexican vacation recently. She had very mild symptoms, was not hospitalized, and as far as I know has recovered.

Incidentally, we have something like 60 million doses of Tamiflu alone in Canada, for a population of around 30 million.

[H2O Man]

14. My younger son

lives in Dryden.

[FourScore]

15. Even closer to Cortland.

:hi:

[H2O Man]

17. Real close.

A lot of students take classes at both schools.