See, all the info is not available in one place. On BBC.com, it states that Mexico reported increased flu cases around the 18th of March. That being said, Mexico has been dealing with this now for over a month. That makes a lot of sense as to why more people there have this strain and more hospitalizations/deaths have occurred. It also lets us know that there could have been many, many cases of flu there that did not send anyone to the hospital. There is a lot of talk also about false/downplayed reports from the Mexican government. On the BBC website, the reporter spoke with a man who works in the hospital (who would not let them name him) and he said that 30 people in that hospital had died...including a nurse that treated one of the first patients that came in with the H1N1 flu. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ On NPR news, there was a talk show that featured two doctors. http://wamu.org/programs/dr/ Someone asked the question about how this virus was similar to the one in the pandemic of 1918. He said that both were the H1N1 virus, but in 1918, the H1 viruses were not in the population at all and everyone was succeptable (just as Perry said in a previous post), however, now we have an H1N1 human strain that does go around...which could explain some of why the cases are more mild. We are really just in such a wait and see pattern right now.

You know, I have actually heard a lot of people say they had something similar around March. My dh, ds9, and I have all had bad cases of the flu in the past. I mean, to the point of near death experience. The only one who has not is ds5 - and that fact really terrifies me. When ds9 had the flu in 2003 (he was 4 at the time), it was the one that had all of the media hype - kids on the news dying faster than ever. It was the Fujian strain of influenza A (H3N2). We all, got it in some way or another, but none of us got it as badly as poor ds9. He was SO sick. When I was 17, I got a strain of the flu that was absolutely horrendous. I developed walking pneumonia and honestly probably should have died. I never saw a doctor and after 3 months, I finally started recovering. Now, I look back on it and think how STUPID I was to not get to a dr. I couldn't breathe and my fever was 103 for a month straight. ds5 got the flu when ds9 had it, but he still had my immunities and never got all that sick. It lasted about 48 hours for him and he was 2 mos old. He has had the flu shot every year since. So, it is really ds5, more than anyone else in my family, that I worry about should this get wild.

I use a stapler. It makes teeny tiny holes in both the wall and the piece I am hanging.

Is there speculation, then, as to why it hit that age group the hardest in Mexico?

I was just reading articles in my state on the swine flu. How likely is it that perhaps this strain has been going around already in the US? A doctor in Chattanooga commented that he expects to see cases of swine flu in TN now that they are testing each and every case. And if so, what would that mean for the "outbreak?" Another official entertained the idea that the deaths caused in Mexico were likely also due to poor nutrition, lack of medical care, and unsanitary conditions. Could this be the reason that other countries have not seen so many deaths? Or is this the "second round" type stuff that Perry was mentioning?

Yeah, I am actually a clinically diagnosed hypochondriac. I worry desperately about diseases every single day. I am attempting to stay rational and calm with this one until a need to panic hits. As for your comment about "how many cases we have had in the US and how many deaths, etc" - I am just thinking rationally that in the US ALONE, every single year, 36,000 people die. That is the regular flu. The statistics in Mexico are not the statistics here. I am sorry to say, yes, human life is human life and I am very sad for those who lost loved ones. However, my point is that the cultures are different, the medical care is different, and that DOES make a difference. When our statistics in the US start telling us more, then I may be concerned. And it is not because I am unconcerned about other countries...each country has different cultures, different ways of handling crisis, and so on. I want to know what is happening HERE, where I am.

How many died in Mexico? Ummm, MAYBE 100. How many have died in the US? NONE. Don't they matter? I'm just as concerned about the Mexicans as the Americans and everyone else. Okay, while I appreciate all of your knowledge here, that was uncalled for. In that post, my point was that the numbers were NOT huge at all...neither in Mexico or the US. I do feel that Mexico does not have the same health system we do in the US and as a culture, they do not tend toward modern medicine the way the folks in the US do. Of COURSE I care if people die...no matter what country they are from. That was insulting. And no, I am not over the top because it is hitting younger people. I think that younger people (25-45) tend to ignore their health issues more often that older people and more often than they would if their children were to come down with it. I know, for me, I would much more quickly rush my mother or my children to the dr for flu symptoms than I would for the same in myself or my dh. That is not smart, in this case, and since we do know about the threat, I will be more likely to pay closer attention to my and dh's health as well in the coming weeks.

We used to say it daily until my youngest ds memorized it. Now, we say it about once a month or so.

Heart of Dakota has one manual and is Christian, but toally different than Calvert in that it uses living books and not textbooks and allows you to choose your own English, Math, etc. CLE has a TM for each subject. I love CLE because I don't have to use every subject they offer. I prefer living history and science (HOD), so I use CLE Bible, Math, and Language Arts. It is wonderful!

That is the thing...this has been going on in Mexico for longer than we have known about and the spread has still been minimal.

Ahhh, but even with air travel, only a handful of people in other parts of the world have become infected. And, apparently, this has been going on in Mexico for a few weeks now before we even got word of it... The swine flu vaccine in 1976 killed more people than the flu.

Again, people died where? MEXICO. Out of the 81, now 100, only 20 cases have been confirmed. How many people die each year in the US alone of regular flu? Hmmm... Every year in the United States, on average: 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes. How many died in Mexico? Ummm, MAYBE 100. How many have died in the US? NONE. How many die every year of the regular old flu in the US alone...thirty six THOUSAND. I am not saying this can't be a concern. I am not saying it won't get worse. I am not saying it is not a new strain. What I am saying is that the country is starting to panic when sickness and deaths have not even reached anything near what a normal, average flu season has reached. There are almost 9 million people in Mexico city. Less than 2 thousand of those 9 million have become infected. Looks very similar to the 5 to 20 % of the population that become ill each year with the regular flu. Again, all I am saying is that it is definitely not time to panic or really even get all that bent out of shape. We can talk about patterns all we want, but things were a bit different in 1918, even in 1968 than they are now, medically speaking. What was the average life span in 1918? UNDER 50! Did people routinely get medical care when they were sick. NO. They waited it out, which, with influenza related pneumonia, waiting is NOT a good idea. The media wasn't around in 1918. People had no way to really spread the word about Spanish Influenza. Life was a lot different then, and I think that comparing it to now is a bit apocalyptic.

:iagree:

When my older son was 4, he had a bad case of the flu (not swine flu, just a really really scary case of the flu) and he did vomit...a lot. Apparently, it is common in children as a symptom of the flu (any flu). I will pray for your nephew. How old is he?

I am Rebecca, mom to two great boys who are 9 and 5 (will turn 6 and 10 this summer). :) I have been homeschooling my younger ds since he was around 3 (well, since birth, really...but you know what I mean) and I am finishing up the first year homeschooling ds 9. We have had a great year and will be continuing with "lite school" all summer. Next fall, we will be beginning Heart of Dakota (Bigger Hearts w/Extensions for my older, Beyond for my younger). We are big fans of CLE and use CLE LA, Math, and Bible. We will also be throwing in some foreign language for the first time and doing Latin for little guy and Spanish for the older. I have been on this forum just under a year.

I think this is common. People tend to think that kids need to be with other kids that are within a year (give or take) of their own age, all day long, 5 days a week in order to "socialize." It is just absurd, to me, but many do not see it that way.

In 1976, there was a similar Swine Flu scare. It amounted to nothing. http://www.capitalcentury.com/1976.html

I just wonder if we counted the people who got the regular old flu each year one by one like this, would it look similar? I mean, I wonder if all this isn't just a lot of media hype. I have known people in my area to get the flu just one right after the other - the school even closed for a week a few years ago because so many were out with the flu, but because we didn't count them one by one, there was no mass panic. I am a hypochondriac and I want to be totally certain this is a real threat before I freak out. KWIM?

Prayers for you and your precious dh!

We are in the middle of book 3 in ETC and we do 2 pages a day, 2 days a week. We also do the equivalent of 3 pages a day, 2 days a week of the ETC online on the same level he is working at in the book. This has been great for us. I think PP will be much better as a spine, though. He is really ready to move on with Phonics. :) Thanks for all of the help!

Zyrtec

Is it hard or softish? Does it roll around under your fingers? My kids have had swollen lymphs before (my youngest had on in the groin area that worried me) and they turned out to be nothing. Is this one visable or did you just happen to feel it? The thing you need to watch for is size. If it gets much bigger or seems to be continuing to swell, then he will definitely need to be seen. I had one the size of an EGG before that turned out to be caused by Mono. :( I was 17 at the time and it scared me to death.

Swollen lymph node. Has he been sick? If so, it could be from his body fighting the cold. If not, you may want to take him to the doc and let them check it out. Swollen lymph nodes can mean about a million and one things.

I am not sure I ever gathered what caused the majority of deaths to be among the 20-40 age range in pandemic flu situations. Can someone better explain the why of that occurance?

I used LLATL Blue with my youngest this year, and while we enjoyed it, it was VERY light and did not cover all of the phonics in one year. :( You have to move on to red to get the rest (or switch programs like we did!). We did LLATL orange with ds 9 and it was way too light. It had lots of neat stuff like book studies, a poetry section, a research section, and some other fun stuff, but overall, I found that it was lacking and was just.not.enough. We switched both kids to CLE Language Arts (Spelling and lots of grammar) which is WONDERFUL, IMO. We are doing Reading with DITHOR (older son) and Heart of Dakota Emerging Readers (younger son), finishing phonics for my younger with Phonics Pathways and ETC, and doing writing with my older using WWE. This is MUCH better for us.