swine flu in my little ones pre school
 

what would you do, letter home with my 4 year old daughter today, a child in her school has swine flue and is being treated at home under quarantine

it says school is carrying on as normal


what would you do? i said to my wife well she only has a week left at school id like to keep her off.

i know its all media hype but it is worrying

Let her catch it now before the more 'hardcore' strain comes.

tell you what why dont you let one of your children catch it

Not sure tbh, Davyboy's is probably the way to go but I wouldn't want my kid getting flu and feeling crappy on her summer holidays!

It's just flu, and a mild one at that.

Admittedly hundreds of people in the UK die of regular flu each year but provided you daughter is in good health then you have little to worry about. Four year olds have pretty good immune systems.

Keep her out of school for the final week.

What's the point of adding to the risk?

dl

I wouldn't hesitate to keep my little one out of school for a week. Flu is horrible whatever strain it is.

Well after my thread last week it looks like the cold/cough/very mild flu symptoms myself, wife and kids have had might have been the thing itself. After my boss said today his wife had been confirmed with it I thought i'd phone the doctors just to check whether what we had was just a cold/cough. They think my wife has it due to the sympotms we've had but because me and the kids are now miles better its only her they are wanting to give tamiflu to.

The really stupid thing is though as of Friday last week the Government moved the situation to mass treatment meaning there is no more testing for diagnosis. So if you sound like you might have it you get given tamiflu and told to stay indoors and put down as another case even though you may not have it :rolleyes:

It's all cr4p because it could be we all had heavy colds and not swine flu at all but because they are no longer doing blood tests or swabs then no one will ever know if they really have it. They said to the Mrs she may have a chest infection instead so she then argued tamiflu will do her no good at all and she would need antibiotics if it was a chest infection. The dr goes oh good point and says she better come and be checked out :rolleyes: Great doctors we have at our surgery :brickwall:

The tamiflu makers are on for a bumper pay day at this rate just giving it out to everyone. Oh and the other brilliant idea is that only certain places can give out the tamilflu. For the whole of Maidstone allegedly the 'flu friend' will have about a 30 minute drive out of Maidstone to get it as that is the nearest place stocking it to give it out. The queues are going to be huge at this place, a small chemist in a village in the middle of nowhere being the sole provider of tamilflu for the the county town and surrounding areas :cuckoo:

Swine flu was found at my bro-inlaws boys school, actually in the 6th form part and they didnt close the other parts of the school. Now his best friend has it and he's at risk. Has tamiflu to take now.

Personally, i wouldnt take the risk. Keep her off mate. You wouldnt be able to live with yourself if something happened.

Tamiflu is only effective if given within 48 hours of being ing=fected. See this Guardian article for one How effective are the anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza in tackling swine flu? asks Sarah Boseley | World news | The Guardian Plenty of other places where this is mentioned as well.

Dave

It's flu not the chuffing plague!

Hundreds of people die from normal flu every year, swine flu is no different except it's been all blown out of proportion so the whole country panics using up as much tamiflu as they can get hold of even if not infected, therefor reducing it's effectivness in the long run by allowing the virus to mutate to compensate for the drugs being used.

i 2nd that!!!! best not risk it me thinks

Errrmm - quite a few parents aren't mad keen on exposing their kids to something that kills hundreds a year, be it swine flu, shrew flu or hamster flu.

Dave she isn't sure she is even going to bother sending me to get it. When she asked the dr how effective it was and what side effects it had they said they didn't have a clue. Fantastic.

Having seen that i'm not sure she will bother now. It also shows what a license to print money this is for the drug companies. Dr's handing it out willy nilly with no confirmed diagnosis is a joke.

mild flu or bad cold or taking some drugs which have only been partially trialled, I think I will take my chances.

As for the kids thing, I would keep sending mine to school.

This is an undisputed fact.

However swine flu has, and will kill fit and healthy young people. That is the big difference.

Have you got links that state this as everyone in the UK who has died from it have had sever underlying health issues? It's a genuine question btw and not a dig.

I'd agree, that those that have died in the UK have had health problems.

BUT, some of those first few case that died were healthy adults. I'm sure you would not have to google to much to prove me correct. I had the same questions and concerns you had, and when I put them to my biologist mother she set me straight as she had been reading up.

If that is the case then it makes a mockery of the decision not to diagnose through swabs/blood tests as that is far more serious than what it appears at the moment. For example we wont know if what we had was swine flu or a cold/cough virus that just happened to be about in the middle of a heatwave. If what we've had was it i'd say it was nothing to worry about apart for those people that are already ill. However if it can kill fit healthy people then it needs treating a lot more seriously than it is being taken at the moment.

I would probably keep my child at home, even though there is really no risk. Always good to go to Chessington during off peak.

The only reason that Swine Flu is classed as a pandemic is that it has a chance of crippling a country for a while, not because of the death toll just because it is a new highly infectious strain that will hit many people at the same time. Most will recover and a few days in bed and you are fine.

Steve

License to print money? Yes. A bit og googling will bring up many articles on that topic ...

Side effects? Hasn't your doc got access to this interwebbie thingummy wotist?

From the horses mouth: TAMIFLU Side Effects and Safety | TAMIFLU
"...
Rare but serious skin reactions and allergic reactions have been reported. Stop taking TAMIFLU and call your doctor if you experience any of these reactions, as they could be very serious.
People with the flu, particularly children and adolescents, may be at an increased risk of self injury and confusion shortly after taking TAMIFLU and should be closely monitored for signs of unusal behavior. A healthcare professional should be contacted immediately if the patient taking TAMIFLU shows any signs of unusual behavior.
The most common side effects of TAMIFLU are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. TAMIFLU is generally well tolerated ..."


From another source: Oseltamivir - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"...

Adverse effects

Common adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with oseltamivir therapy (occurring in over 1% of clinical trial participants) include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and headache. Rare ADRs include: hepatitis and elevated liver enzymes, rash, allergic reactions including anaphylaxis, and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.[4][5]
Various other ADRs have been reported in postmarketing surveillance including: toxic epidermal necrolysis, cardiac arrhythmia, seizure, confusion, aggravation of diabetes, and haemorrhagic colitis.[4]

[edit] Neurological effects

There are concerns that oseltamivir may cause dangerous psychological, neuropsychiatric side effects including self harm in some users. These dangerous side effects occur more commonly in children than in adults.[13] This stems from cases in Japan, where the drug is most heavily prescribed, consuming 60% of the world's production[14]. Concern has focused on teenagers, but problems have also been reported in children and adults. [15] ..."


I'll not be taking it I know that ....


Dave

:confused:
 

Your swine flu thread post #11 HTH.

A more authoritative source (?) WHO so they can't even say that people with underlying health issues are more at risk!

Where's all the oink oink jokes gone now then? :Whatever_

Cat got your tongues? or was it the pigs? :D

Well I too have the 'flu-like symptoms" and the doctors diagnosis it is highly likely to be Swine flu since I travel in and around London (2nd worst affected area in Britain so avoid if you can help it). I'm on tamiflu at the moment and the family haven't shown any symptoms, I've reduced direct contact with them as much as possible.

For those who says it's "only flu", yes it is, but this *mild* strain still knocked the socks off me for a few days and still haven't fully recovered. Chances are, with how this virus is spreading, you too are likely to see just how mild this flu is. I Just hope it never mutates to the full blown version..

If it was my daughter, I'd keep her off school for the last week.

If the government "really" wanted to make an effort to contain it:

Every public building should have a load of these: http://www.eastcheshire.nhs.uk/IC/handwash.jpg

Hell everyone should carry a bottle for themselves.

< /germaphobe > ;)

Me too.

However, I don't think its the killer virus that is going to wipe out three quarters of the population as some initial media reports would loved to have said.

I would really only worry (assuming fit and healthy) if a virus killed pretty much everyone who came into contact with.

I heard that quite a few parents were organising swine flu parties for their children so that they could catch the early mild version and build up immunity to the more virulent version which they are forecasting will arrive later this year.

When I was very young the only vaccination available was Smallpox, and we all caught all the infections going which although it was a nuisance at the time, built up immunity to most things in later life.

Les

As a kid Polio was the big worry as this could cripple you. I think this is now nearly eliminated aside from 4 countries. Smallpox was a nasty as this could leave you pock marked for life.

All parents wanted their daughters when young to catch German Measles as this caused big problems if caught during pregnancy.

It's a shame there are no serious funds going into finding a vaccine for Type 1 Diabetes as this is a massive killer in many parts of the world. Funds tend to default to Aids research as this is seen as "sexier".

I wouldn't dream of taking my kids to a Swine Flu party btw.

dl

Practically though, if you keep your daughter off school now, what will happen when term starts and there are 2 kids at the school that have swine flu? You could end up keeping her off indefinitely. Also, is she not seeing any friends or going to any parties during the holidays, where she will be in contact with the same kids and parents that she is avoiding at school?

Then as the disease becomes more widespread are you going to stop going to the cinema, shops, concerts, sports events, catching public transport, etc. to avoid it. Then when you are the only person left who has not caught swine flu ;) what will you do?

As an aside, I believe that it is now illegal to keep your child out of school during term time. If the school says "We are carrying on as normal" would you get fined?