Are you getting good communication from your schools re: H1N1? (home, dorm)

[CMMom]

We have gotten one e-mail re: a confirmed case of H1N1 in our elementary school. However, I hear "through the grapevine" that there are at least 7 cases in Pre-K alone. Of course, I have no way of knowing whether this is true or whether those cases are actually H1N1.

Just wondering what kind of notification others are getting from local students since Georgia now has "widespread" reports of H1N1.

[RainyRainyDay]

No notifications from my daughter's high school in East Cobb. She mentions that quite a few people have been absent due to illness lately.

However -- last week daughter complained of sore throat on Monday night, went to school on Tuesday but complained of feeling under the weather when she got home. In the evening she started sneezing, Wednesday had full cold symptoms, felt and looked terrible (stayed home from school), Thursday was clearly improved but still home from school, Friday didn't seem back to 100% exactly, but good enough to return to school and at least make contact with teachers and make arrangements to catch up on missed assignments etc. over the long weekend.

I was paranoid that this illness was H1N1, and I took daughter's temperature about a zillion times throughout, with two thermometers to be extra sure. She never had the slightest fever. My conclusion was that it was a head cold. Just because H1N1 is out there, doesn't mean the ordinary rhinoviruses have ceased to circulate. This experience makes me wonder how many of those students resting up in the dorm at UGA, etc., really have H1N1 and not other seasonal viruses.

[gatormomtotots]

I know of one "confirmed" case at my school (I am a teacher) and we immediately sent home a letter. We have approximately 1000 students in K-5.

But, I am hearing that they are being flooded with sick kids at the clinics and such that they are not even running the test which takes about a week to confirm- except those in high risk groups (such as compromised immune systems). They are just telling those parents to isolate their kids and treat the symptoms.

Now I don't know if this is true or not, but that is what I am hearing.

Honestly, the swine flu has killed less people since its been around than the flu has in the same amount of time. Though I do worry about my own children in preschool and pre-K because the facilities are smaller and would, in my thinking, be more concentrated. This might be faulty thinking I'll admit. But I think the media has blown it so far out of portion.

Not that I don't worry about the flu- my daughter was hospitalized at about 6 months because of it.

[lastminutemom]

A friend who is a pediatrician doesn't think schools should be communicating about presumed cases because most aren't testing for it anymore.

Just presume it is there, make sure your child understands good hygiene (water and soap works better than hand sanitizer)

All that said, there are a ton of different viruses going around right now. This is what happens every year when schools starts.

I had the same cold that Rainy is describing (with a low grade fever though). It about killed me.

[CMMom]

I'm asking b/c I'm fairly certain that I'm being hyper-sensitive, but you never know.

My four-year-old has been coughing the last few days, but seemed fine. This afternoon, he woke up from his nap and I thought he felt warm. Several temperature readings ranged between 99.4 and 100.1. He was playing as normal and ate fine for dinner.

The school has sent strict guidelines saying not to send your child to school if they have a fever of 100.0 or higher.

I guess we'll see what the deal is in the morning. I'm going to play it safe, which requires me staying home and dismissing our pregnant nanny for the day (another worry: I don't want to be responsible for anything happening to her).

It's a hard call because he appears to feel fine, but I certainly don't want to put others at risk. Who knows, we could all feel like s*&^ tomorrow.

[RoslynHolcomb]

I just came back from the pediatrician with my little guy. He had a cold about three weeks ago. Fever high enough to stay home from school, but never far over 100, but he's had this hacking cough in the mornings and afternoons ever since. I thought maybe he'd developed an infection or such, but the doctor said it's from a rhinovirus. Told me to get Mucinex, steam him, elevate his head for sleeping and make sure he sips water when he coughs and it should clear up in a few days.

I haven't had any notices from the school about H1N1, but I'm assuming that he's going to catch it eventually. As I understand it, it's pretty much like any other seasonal flu, so I'm not particularly worried about it. We'll probably get the vax when it becomes available, simply because this is his first year in school, and I'm expecting him to stay sick all the time anyway. No point in compounding it if we can help it.

[Mattie]

Our high school just sent out a generic advisory for flu season, but absences right now are running about 10% of the student body. My high schooler just started coming down with something today. He's got a horrible cough, sore throat and low grade fever.

Another son is at GA Southern. We received two emails from them letting us know the flu was widespread, but didn't specify it was H1N1. DS came down with it this past weekend, and the clinic closed for the three day holiday.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by CMMom

I'm asking b/c I'm fairly certain that I'm being hyper-sensitive, but you never know.

My four-year-old has been coughing the last few days, but seemed fine. This afternoon, he woke up from his nap and I thought he felt warm. Several temperature readings ranged between 99.4 and 100.1. He was playing as normal and ate fine for dinner.

The school has sent strict guidelines saying not to send your child to school if they have a fever of 100.0 or higher.

I guess we'll see what the deal is in the morning. I'm going to play it safe, which requires me staying home and dismissing our pregnant nanny for the day (another worry: I don't want to be responsible for anything happening to her).

It's a hard call because he appears to feel fine, but I certainly don't want to put others at risk. Who knows, we could all feel like s*&^ tomorrow.

I think the fever comes first with most flus -- though I am not sure. I wouldn't send him to school anyway. His immune system is most likely stressed so it would make him more vulnerable anyway.

[BobKovacs]

Part of the challenge is that many places aren't even doing flu tests anymore- if you've got flu-like symptoms, they're giving you Tamiflu and sending you on your way. We spent 3 hours at Scottish Rite on Monday with our 6 y/o, who's had more sinus and chest issues over the past two years than I care to think about. She was running a fever of as high as 104, coughing, and just looked terrible. They took her temp, checked her lungs, told her to stay home from school this week, and sent us on our way with a Tamiflu prescription. The diagnosis sheet didn't specifically say "H1N1" or "swine flu"- it just saiid flu-like symptoms. I think they're purposely not calling it swine flu so they can reduce the panic, but the regular flu doesn't normally start until around December, so draw your own conclusions.

Her teacher called to see how she was feeling, and said she had to fill out a form to report the illness if it was swine flu. We told her what the diagnosis form said, so it likely wasn't reported as swine flu, since that wasn't specifically indicated. So, I'd say it's very likely that there are plenty of cases in the schools, but they're not all being reported.

[Rockmama]

Just curious... are the schools educating about hygeine, like hand washing, how to cough, and all that good old fashioned preventative stuff? When it comes to the little ones--walking germ incubators!--it helps to keep reminding them, and to get parents to keep reminding them. I'm pretty sure my son wouldn't shower for weeks if it were up to him. ;-)