What is the Flu outbreak like in your area?

[happi duck]

Three of us got sick at Christmas. We didn't think it was flu until a few days in so didn't go to the doctor. We feel better but not great and are still exhausted.

 

I am honestly terrified of complications.

[Wheres Toto]

NJ is reported as "regional" on the CDC map.  I know a few people who posted on Facebook that they have the flu, but for most of them it doesn't seem that bad.  Most are only sick for a day or two, obviously they aren't so sick they can't be on Facebook (so doesn't sound like sleeping non-stop), and they seem to be talking about stomach issues more than respiratory.  I don't know vaccination details for sure, but from what I know I think there's probably a mix of vaccinating and non-vaccinating.

 

We don't generally do flu vaccines, although my oldest may have gotten it at school or work.  So far we've had a couple colds go through but nothing major.  We've been talking about signing the kids up for a bunch of classes but I'm thinking maybe we'll wait until Spring.

[linders]

DH is in Montana now at his uncle's funeral - he was diagnosed with H1N1 the day before Christmas, passed away the day after New Years, an otherwise healthy man.

[momofkhm]

The paper said there have been 13 deaths in the state, but I don't know anyone who has it or had it.  Two of the big hospitals are restricting visitors.  The rehab place my FIL is at has a sign saying don't come in if you have flu and no children allowed to visit.

 

 

[PrincessMommy]

What exactly are the flu symptoms this year? I had what I thought was a cold but it kept morphing into something more:

 

1. Headache, body aches, low fever for two days

2. Body aches gone, lost voice and painfully scratchy throat

3. Ears painfully plugged up, then cough starts

4. Awful, awful productive cough. Just awful.

5. Mild fever returns for two days then goes away again

6. Continued horrible cough, on/off exhaustion for a week

7. No appetite, some indigestion

 

 

Whatever this is, everyone I know is getting it. It lasts about 2 weeks.

 

this makes me wonder about my ds (20) who has been sick since New Years Eve.  He was away at a college conference and came home sick.   I should find out if anyone from there is sick also.   Anyway, my son's symptoms were not that severe - but he didn't feel well - no fever (or not much of one - hard to tell with a 20yr old).  But, 2 days ago he started having a  painful cough.  It's productive - but he says it hurts very badly every time he coughs.  Same on/off exhaustion throughout this illness.   His younger sister had something very similar before him, but not as long - and she never got the terrible cough.  I just assumed he had what she had.  I never took him in because one day he'd seem like he was getting better and then the next day he was back feeling miserable. 

[Serenade]

  It's the H1N1 going around again.  

 

Does someone have immunity to this if they've had it before?

 

My older son had it a few years ago, but none of the rest of us did.  I'm wondering if I'm safe -- I'm the only one in this house without a flu shot, but I was heavily exposed to my older son who had it several years ago, and I did not get it then.

[TammyinTN]

Reporting in VA

Week ending 1/5/2014

5 (1.7%)

Influenza-like Illness

 

49 (16.4%)

Some Symptoms

 

249 (83.6%)

No Symptoms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are our stats for here in VA...nothing much to report thankfully!

 

[Pawz4me]

Does someone have immunity to this if they've had it before?

 

My older son had it a few years ago, but none of the rest of us did.  I'm wondering if I'm safe -- I'm the only one in this house without a flu shot, but I was heavily exposed to my older son who had it several years ago, and I did not get it then.

 

My understanding is that because flu viruses constantly mutate, no one can have full immunity from having a particular strain before.  But it can give you some limited immunity.  You'd probably still get sick, but maybe not AS sick.

 

There have been 13 flu-related deaths in our state (NC), including one locally this past weekend in a 20-something year old who had no underlying medical conditions.  Many hospitals are restricting visitors under 18.  I haven't personally heard of a lot of people coming down with it, but my SIL and nephew apparently had it.  They didn't go to the doctor, so just guessing.  Neither had been vaccinated.  SIL was totally wiped out for two weeks and is still not back to normal after three weeks.  My niece and brother didn't get it.  They had been vaccinated.

[creekland]

DH is in Montana now at his uncle's funeral - he was diagnosed with H1N1 the day before Christmas, passed away the day after New Years, an otherwise healthy man.

 

:grouphug:  Sorry it hit so badly so close to home.

 

This is the first year hubby and I opted for the shot as we have other medical "stuff" going on.  No one in our family has ever had the flu even with tons of close exposure in past years.  Reading this thread has made me think it was a wise decision - whether our bodies needed it or not immunity-wise.  

 

Our news has been reporting cases in all the counties around us, but I haven't heard of any deaths.  Many folks around here won't go to the doctor, so I assume any numbers may be under-reported compared to actual cases.

[Dory]

Everyone I know has had it up here. I haven't heard of any deaths, thank goodness. It is super nasty, I haven't coughed like that since I had whooping cough. A couple of my friends can't seem to kick it. Our family caught it when we on a trip, once we got home I pulled out all my usual flu fighting stuff and had it kicked in a few days. I did have a lingering tickle in my throat for a few days after. I had to pull out all the stops for this one. It's nasty.

[KRG]

I'm in Texas--north of Houston and it seems every day we hear from someone who has a confirmed case of it.  8 people died in the next county.  Thankfully, we have remained well.  I hope we continue to stay well, too!  There's lots of other stuff going around too that seems to mimic flu symptoms.  According to our pediatrician they were confirming flu as early as the first week of September.  I've also had a couple of medical friends say that the ones in the our hospital with the flu did not get the shot this year.

[AnnaM]

I am in N.Texas.

I know of a few families that have had the flu. At least family had the flu shot and they have been ill for several weeks now. I am not sure on the others. We have not had the shot and have not gotten ill so far. Honestly, I am surprised that we haven't at least had a mild illness due to the fact that my daughter is at gymnastics for 7 hours per week and I can only imagine the germs in that place, even with the disinfecting.

We try to be proactive with our health. Lots of essential oils, probiotics and so on. I would like to think they are really paying off this year.

ETA: There have been 17 confirmed deaths I believe. I don't know many of the details on those who passed.

[plain jane]

I am in N.Texas.

 

I know of a few families that have had the flu. At least family had the flu shot and they have been ill for several weeks now. I am not sure on the others. We have not had the shot and have not gotten ill so far. Honestly, I am surprised that we haven't at least had a mild illness due to the fact that my daughter is at gymnastics for 7 hours per week and I can only imagine the germs in that place, even with the disinfecting.

 

We try to be proactive with our health. Lots of essential oils, probiotics and so on. I would like to think they are really paying off this year.

 

ETA: There have been 17 confirmed deaths I believe. I don't know many of the details on those who passed.

May I ask which essential oils you are using and how? Thanks!

[trulycrabby]

DH is in Montana now at his uncle's funeral - he was diagnosed with H1N1 the day before Christmas, passed away the day after New Years, an otherwise healthy man.

I am so sorry. :(

[trulycrabby]

Flu activity in Oregon started picking up the last two weeks in December. It's predominantly H1N1. You can learn a lot from the CDC weekly surveillance update. Here's the FluView report for the last week of December.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

 

I've mentioned this in other threads, but again, I find it interesting that when they say there is a lot of flu activity, it is still the case that most people with flu-type symptoms (influenza-like illness) do not test positive for the flu. Of those sick enough to go to a doctor and get tested, 27% tested positive for the flu for week 52 (the one linked above). You can scroll down and find data for your region--for Oregon's region (10), it was close to 35%. But that still means about 2 out of 3 sick people have SOME OTHER VIRUS, not h1n1, influenza A, or influenza B. Still, those are nasty illnesses to get and the vaccine is still the best thing we have to prevent it.

You are correct, but one needs to take into account the fact that most people who are tested for flu teceive the rapid flu test, which is not very accurate at detecting this year's version of H1N1, probably due to genetic drift. In areas with widspread flu, doctors have been urged to treat as flu even in the presence of a negative rapid test. The failure rate for the rapid tests has been up to 50%.

 

But yes, there are other nasty illnesses circulating right now...our area is seeing a lot of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), walking pneumonia, and norovirus.

 

Here is an article about hospitals in Houston dealing with a large number of pediatric RSV patients:http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216193

 

So, it's not all flu that's going around...

[countrygal]

Quick question for those who were very sick with the flu, or know people who were very ill -- did you take Tamiflu for it? The news reports I have read, have said that Tamiflu is proving very effective against the flu this year, and I'm wondering whether or not that information is accurate.

 

The family I know of got it for everyone the 2nd day they were sick (tested positive)- I think 4 or 5 of them age 2 - 17 - and they were getting 'much better' according to the mom within 2 days. Better as in able to get out of bed or off the couch. The only one that still was pretty sick was the 17 yo with pneumonia on top of it. I imagine it's hard to guess if it really helps because everyone's illness is different, but it's probably worth getting but you have to get it early on.

 

[gaillardia]

May I ask which essential oils you are using and how? Thanks!

I have used essential oils in the past with sickness in the home, specifically in a diffuser (electric pump with a glass flask, air is pumped past the oil and the oil diffuses into the air --don't want to assume you just know what I'm talking about). The oils I used, I bought separately then poured in equal drops of peppermint, rosemary, geranium and....not remembering, but I am certain they work, along with herb teas I used when we have had a nasty cough, fever, etc going on. In some stores you can buy already mixed oils that might be labeled breathe free of something similar. Plus, don't forget a vaporizer.

DS 17 had fever 102, very sleepy, some coughing for two days over Christmas, fever came down, but still felt a little yucky; dd12 had fever 102 over New Year's, very sleepy, headache, sore throat, and continues to cough.

I've got nothing. Dd 14 was pokey, no fever, just felt blah. DH had very low temp, headache, dd19 headache and tired, very low temp (like 96).?

ddinlaw nurse keeps telling me to get the shot because she is very worried we will get too sick.

In fort worth/dallas area of texas, and it is widespread and a few people have died

[happyWImom]

Well I went to a wedding on Saturday (close family, had to show up for pictures at least.) Sunday the whole wedding party was sick, Monday one was tested positive. Dr. said it's likely h1n1. Now a bunch of guests are also sick. We came out unscathed.... however I think I'll lock myself inside until May. We have a newborn and I'm terrified. Terrified. I got the flu shot as did my 18 month old (she has respiratory issues.) She worries me more than the newborn. DH went to the hardware store this morning and said the owner looked awful... she was at the wedding.... he walked next door to the other store and bought hand sanitizer. I'm so proud I trained him well. We live in WI. The dr. said it's just starting to take off here.

Uh, oh!!! What part of WI are you in?  I haven't heard anything yet, but maybe I'm out of the loop.

[Guest]

Everyone in our household (besides me) got sick the week before Christmas.  I wound up taking our kids to urgent care twice.  Symptoms were runny nose, coughing, sneezing, body aches, dizziness (oldest ds), vomiting, diarrhea, fever (baby), fatigue... I think I got it all.  DS vomited so much and couldn't keep anything down for so long, I knew he had to be getting dehydrated, so I took him in and they gave him an IV.  Our other ds and baby ds both had double ear infections.  Baby ds and dd did nebulizer treatments around the clock.  We were in urgent care the Monday before Christmas and on Christmas Eve.  Everyone started getting better, then on Sunday, dd said her ears hurt.  She wound up with an ear infection and is still coughing.  We were never tested for the flu because of all the diarrhea and vomiting.  They just put we had a stomach bug.  I just read H1N1 can cause that, so I'm wondering if that was it.

 

We are going back to homeschooling next year.  Wish I could do it now.

[QueenCat]

Cases seem to be picking up in TN. An eleven year old girl died from the flu here this week. We are hearing that although numbers aren't as high some years, the actual cases are more severe than normal.

[Kerileanne99]

We are in Texas as well. Hubby teaches at a university, and I was pregnant so we, along with our 4 yr old, all received the Flu vaccine this year.

 

Over the Christmas holiday we had hubby's brother and SIL here from England. We traveled extensively through Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, etc., spending a lot of time at popular children's places, museums, tourist destinations.

Somewhere along the way our visitors became VERY sick. BIL did a bit better, but SIL had to be taken to the ER. She was briefly admitted and treated very aggressively for H1N1. Her situation was almost probably exacerbated by her weight and the fact that she chain-smokes roll-your-own cigarettes, so it was all VERY scary. She is only 35. My family did not get sick other that a slight sore throat and low-grade fever in my dd4 for about 2 days.

When we took her in they had her immediately in a mask, in a separate room with others in masks. The nurse pulled me aside to tell me they were advising parents with children not to bring their healthy kiddos to the hospital ER waiting room.

All very frightening.

 

University classes start back on Monday here, with college kids coming back from all over Texas and other places. Close quarters, warm classrooms, all sorts of great breeding grounds for illness.

[Teresa in MO]

Cases seem to be picking up in TN. An eleven year old girl died from the flu here this week. We are hearing that although numbers aren't as high some years, the actual cases are more severe than normal.

What part of TN are you in?  My dd and her family live in Clarksville and her dh has put off getting a flu shot.  My dd and the grandkids all got one, but she is due in February so will have a newborn.

[Serenade]

My understanding is that because flu viruses constantly mutate, no one can have full immunity from having a particular strain before.  But it can give you some limited immunity.  You'd probably still get sick, but maybe not AS sick.

 

There have been 13 flu-related deaths in our state (NC), including one locally this past weekend in a 20-something year old who had no underlying medical conditions.  Many hospitals are restricting visitors under 18.  I haven't personally heard of a lot of people coming down with it, but my SIL and nephew apparently had it.  They didn't go to the doctor, so just guessing.  Neither had been vaccinated.  SIL was totally wiped out for two weeks and is still not back to normal after three weeks.  My niece and brother didn't get it.  They had been vaccinated.

 

I'm in NC, too.  My husband was just saying he needs to take me down to CVS for a flu-shot date, something we've been joking about.  Although he got lucky and was able to get the shot where he works.  So I'm the lone person in our family without the flu shot. 

[xixstar]

At this point, I am thinking we have the flu or one seriously vicious cold. Makes 4 out of 5 so far in our family to have it. I know another friend had it recently as well. It happens every few years or so and we will get through it. Not so bad that I wished we had a vaccine for it, just lots of rests and healing measures. Just praying today goes smoothly as I am now at my worst and the youngest just getting there too, two older children already improving. Wishing DH could stay home but needs to work especially if there is a chance he will get it later and miss work.

[Pawz4me]

Latest report now says 21 flu-related deaths here in NC.  19 of those were young to middle-aged adults.

[lavender's green]

Latest report now says 21 flu-related deaths here in NC.  19 of those were young to middle-aged adults.

 

That's what I heard too.  I'm scared.  I have 4 month old.

[creekland]

I'm bored this morning, so looked up stats on PA's site:

 

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=557490&mode=2

 

As of Jan 4th there were 6 deaths in our state, two were older than 65.

 

There are quite a few reported cases both across the state and in our county.  The graph comparing this year to other years is neat to look at.

[G5052]

University classes start back on Monday here, with college kids coming back from all over Texas and other places. Close quarters, warm classrooms, all sorts of great breeding grounds for illness.

 

Yes, I start back Monday, and I'm dreading it.  I teach in the evenings, so most of my students work full-time and go to school.  And they come to class sick.  A family member is immune-compromised, and I always get a flu shot.  So we'll see.  They've already sent a message out giving us flexibility when it comes to absences and such.  I've been known to send a student or two home without counting them absent.  And I put hand sanitizer into my briefcase because I'm on multiple keyboards when I teach.

 

This is the first year we've not been involved in anything with a lot of younger kids around, so I'm glad of that.  Everyone in my house is on vitamin D and probiotics.

[BarbecueMom]

At this point, I am thinking we have the flu or one seriously vicious cold. Makes 4 out of 5 so far in our family to have it. I know another friend had it recently as well. It happens every few years or so and we will get through it. Not so bad that I wished we had a vaccine for it, just lots of rests and healing measures. Just praying today goes smoothly as I am now at my worst and the youngest just getting there too, two older children already improving. Wishing DH could stay home but needs to work especially if there is a chance he will get it later and miss work.

We have that nasty cold going through here. I'm mostly sure it's a parainfluenza virus, not "the flu", since DS5 unmistakably developed croup. No body aches, high fevers, or chills, just a ton of coughing, congestion, and a killer headache.

 

I was trying to avoid going to the doctor, because I'm sure there's a bunch of flu viruses there, but this morning the 5-month-old sounds like he has Rice Krispies in his lungs and his lips are drying a bit from not wanting to nurse. This is the first day we've had safe roads to get out of the subdivision, though.

[countrygal]

Uh, oh!!! What part of WI are you in?  I haven't heard anything yet, but maybe I'm out of the loop.

 

West central.... I've never been scared of the flu until now being a lot of people I know (who go to church and teach my kids.....) are sick. So I'm not taking them anywhere until it runs through the church because those people are so dedicated that the come to church sick. It makes me sick!!! Ugh. Yes, I'm being a germ-aphobic person.

[happyWImom]

West central.... I've never been scared of the flu until now being a lot of people I know (who go to church and teach my kids.....) are sick. So I'm not taking them anywhere until it runs through the church because those people are so dedicated that the come to church sick. It makes me sick!!! Ugh. Yes, I'm being a germ-aphobic person.

I am a germaphobe also!  And I have to start teaching Sunday school next week-so I have to go!!!  Now I'm freaking out a little bit.  I'm not dedicated, though; if I'm sick I stay home. :001_smile: