Anyone know if swine flu is worse for asthmatics, or RSV babies, parents etc?

[farmmom4him]

I am asking this, simply because I have two RSV babies--a 8 mo old and a 22 mo old. The 8 mo old was born with neo-natal pneumonia and then had RSV at 4 mos, the 22 mos old had RSV at 7 wks and again at 16 mos.

 

I have asthma, that I am not able to keep controlled well at this time. We have tried 4 different prevent inhalers/med, and still not where it should be.

 

Swine flu is surrounding us right now. Our ped's office is constantly full of kids with it. I hear of many people that are now sick that we were around all weekend--Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

 

Baby girl was coughing and choking a bit more during her night and morning feeds. Yes, I am on high alert--with her, she won't show distress, until she is in critical condition. She was pink with an O2 saturation of 26%. :001_huh: The little signs that most would pass off are alerts to be ready to run for us.

 

Obviously I want to stay away from the dr office until we have to go. So, how bad is it if any of us get this?

 

THANKS and trying hard not to be an alarmist. ;)

[hornblower]

Yes! It is more serious for you & your family.

 

Athmatics are on the priority list for H1N1 vaccination.

This is the clinical guidance document for asthma patients:

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/asthma_clinicians.htm

 

As for your kids, I think indications are that people with prior serious respiratory conditions are more likely to be severely affected by this flu.

 

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/surveillanceqa.htm

"asthma occurs in 8% of the U.S. population, but 32% of hospitalized novel H1N1 flu patients had asthma. "

 

In that same document you'll see that the hospitalization rates are highest among the 0-4yo group, followed by the 5-24yo.

 

CDC Vax reccomendations are here:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/acip.htm

 

Children 6 mos & up are recommended to be vaccinated. I think if I had a child with prev serious resp problems, I would vax.

 

Given the pneumonia history, I'd also talk to the dr. about prevnar for the kids & for you, I'd consider pneumovax.

[StartingOver]

I have two....... not really babies anymore. But both are asthmatics and heart patients, both have had multiple cases of RSV. We had confirmed cases of H1N1. My youngest did better. The oldest still has a cough 7 weeks later.

 

Our ped immediately put them on prednisone, increased pulmicort, increased xopenex, tamiflu, mucinex and another cough/ expectorant. They added antibiotics too.

 

You are in the high risk catagory, but please avoid the doctors office if possible. If you dont have it when you go in, you most likely will when you get out. Our ped suggested calling an ambulance if we felt it was really necessary. Having said that, we got H1N1 early......We got first appointment of the day the 3 times we had to go in. Went in the back door, and left by it too.

[Melissa in FL]

I agree with hornblower. I'm not going to vax my kids, BUT if we were in the high risk I would. It sounds like you are in the high risk. I don't think I would get the mist because it is made with the live virus, but I would probably get the shots when they are available. Some hospitals aren't giving their staff the mist because it has the live virus in it. And I would get the prevnar (which my kids already have) and the pneumovax for me.

Melissa

[farmmom4him]

Because of a bad reaction with one of our children, we no longer vax. Our pedi is behind us on this issue. ;) We were questioning vaxes to begin with-God just gave us the answer we needed. ;)

[Dayle in Guatemala]

I would call ahead to the doctor's office, explain to them your situation with your babies and let them know that you want to bring them in but, for obvious reasons, you don't want to wait in the waiting room for a long period of time. Is there any way to make an appointment and call ahead to make sure the doctor is running on time so you don't have to wait in the waiting area? I would think most would understand. I used to do this with my doctor and he was wonderful about it.

[TravelingChris]

I am a triple risk person (Sjogrens which makes mucus hard to cough up, asthma, and immune suppressant drugs) so I am getting both the regular flu and the H1N1 flu vaccines. My youngest is asthmatic so she is on the level 1 risk level too. My three other families are consider higher risk just because they live with us. We will or have already get both kinds of flu shots, not mists. No one can use flu mists in my household because of me. I would recommend that you all get the flu shots since the flu mist is not recommended for either young children or people with other conditions like asthma or RSV problems.

[farmmom4him]

YEs, when the need arises for us to go, he will keep us out of the waiting rooms etc. In the past we have met in the office of our dr, not in a patient room, etc.

 

Right now, I feel comfortable, but I am trying to be prepared. At the first sign of illness, that is a sure fire sign, I will have a bag packed with my clothes and a bag for both of our littles. We also keep a bag ready in the van. The biggest thing will be child care for the rest of our children, as dh is finishing last cutting of hay and planting wheat--this is a must, as it is our income for this year and next. Without it, we won't eat. ;) If we can get through the next 4-6 wks without illness, we will be "ok" but he will still have work, but not to a point of survive or not. ;)

[The Girls' Mom]

We had what I'm fairly sure was the swine flu hit our family about a month ago. My asthmatic dd ended up with pnuemonia. She got over it with a round of antibiotics, but it definitely hit her harder than the rest of us.