According to recent research, H1N1 or swine flu is likely to be highly contagious. In fact, it’s more likely to be spread from an infected individual to others than the seasonal flu.
So, many parents are starting to worry about how to take care of their child if that child contracts H1N1.
Medical experts agree: there’s not much difference between the regular seasonal flu strains and H1N1. As a virus, your best bets for taking care of a sick child is sleep, relaxation and lots of fluids.
However, you do have to pay attention to a couple of key points:
- Children with underlying medical conditions - like asthma - can be at higher risk for complications. If your child has asthma and gets sick, you can ask your doctor for antiviral medication. However, these drugs are not a magic bullet. Your child will still need to stay home and get well.
- H1N1 is highly contagious and moves easily from one person to the next. So, take steps to limit the spread of the virus.
To limit the spread of swine flu, you need to keep kids who have flu symptoms at home. Don’t send sick kids to daycare or school; they will simply infect their friends.
Symptoms of H1N1 are generally a fever and a combination of the following: cough; sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, chills, fatigue, diarrhea, or vomiting.
If someone in the family is sick, other family members must remember good hand hygiene in order to avoid taking the illness to work or school. Be prepared to work from home in case your employer requests that you stay home to contain the virus.
The good news is that the vast majority of people who get sick with the pandemic strain of swine flu will get better on their own in a week or two. However, some people will get very sick.
Go to your local hospital’s emergency room if your child:
- has trouble breathing or is breathing too quickly
- has bluish skin color (which indicates not enough oxygen is getting into their body)
- is getting dehydrated or isn’t drinking fluids
- is getting generally lethargic or very sleepy all the time
- is a baby and doesn’t want to be held due to irritability
- has both fever and a rash
- or, has symptoms like flu that appear to improve, but then return with a fever and a worse cough.
Source: MSN
