The Flu this year

[moonflower]

Did anyone get the flu this year?  Esp the B strain?

We all got it, and it was the most miserably sick I've been in a decade or more.  I don't even remember being this sick.  I'm 9 days out now and still exhausted.  Right after the fever cleared (after 5 days!) I spent 2 days in a continual panic attack, then slept for 16 hours a day for a couple of days.  I'm just now able to do things like eat (before today I think I ate a total of 200 calories over the course of a week) and read while making sense of the words and sit up for more than half an hour.

The kids all weathered it okay, although it took 2 weeks for them to be back to normalish (still sleeping massive amounts per night)

[cjzimmer1]

We didn't get tested but 2 of mine had some variant for sure.  6 year old ran a fever for 3 days and days after the fever was gone was still sleeping 14-16 hours.  19 year old was in far worse shape.  6 and half days of fever and like you ate almost nothing for the duration (soild food consumption for that period was 2 packages of ramen, 3 inches of a sub, 6 slices of cheese and 2 flat pretzel crisps and most of that was the last couple of days of the fever).  It then took him close to 2 weeks to rebuild his strength.  He's a kid who carries more than his body weight of salt down my stairs so to see him struggle with a 25 pound box a week and half after the fever was gone was shocking.  He's also my kid who never gets sick so it was hard for me to watch him be miserable so long and he was starting to wonder if he would ever get better because he has never been that sick in his life. I was most grateful that the other 6 in the house didn't get it.

[moonflower]

My older kids (11 and 8 years old) and I definitely had it harder than the younger kids, and the next worse was the 6 year old.  The three youngest (5, 3, 1.5) all did okayish, although it was still multiple days of 103 and coughing and a fair amount of sleeping.

Anecdotally also, the secretary at 8yo's school said that like my kids, the kids she's known of having it in the school (where it is widespread, ugh) have spent a day puking at the very tail end of the illness.  8yo was out for a week and a day, then went back Tuesday and they called me at 10am to say she was puking and I needed to pick her up and she couldn't come back until Thurs.  Even on Thurs, she basically went to school, came home, and slept until the next day, with about 2 hours awake later in the evening.  Same on Friday, still waiting for her to wake up this morning (she went to bed at 7pm last night!).  

I'm sorry your oldest has had such a long illness.  I also wondered at one point if I was ever going to get better.  

[cjzimmer1]

2 minutes ago, moonflower said:

My older kids (11 and 8 years old) and I definitely had it harder than the younger kids, and the next worse was the 6 year old.  The three youngest (5, 3, 1.5) all did okayish, although it was still multiple days of 103 and coughing and a fair amount of sleeping.

Anecdotally also, the secretary at 8yo's school said that like my kids, the kids she's known of having it in the school (where it is widespread, ugh) have spent a day puking at the very tail end of the illness.  8yo was out for a week and a day, then went back Tuesday and they called me at 10am to say she was puking and I needed to pick her up and she couldn't come back until Thurs.  Even on Thurs, she basically went to school, came home, and slept until the next day, with about 2 hours awake later in the evening.  Same on Friday, still waiting for her to wake up this morning (she went to bed at 7pm last night!).  

I'm sorry your oldest has had such a long illness.  I also wondered at one point if I was ever going to get better.  

Interestingly enough, my 6 year old STARTED with puking so I was bracing for the stomach flu.  When the fever spiked shortly after and continued on with no more puking, I googled and realized that puking can be associated with the flu (which I never realized before).  It is definitely a brutal strain.  Hope yours are all on the mend.

[prairiewindmomma]

We were down for two weeks. I had to do breathing treatments twice a day with a nebulizer for two weeks. Normally a one-time treatment is sufficient. I feel really lucky I wasn’t hospitalized. It was bad.

[Pen]

Lots of people sick with flu and bad non influenza viruses in our area, and at my son’s public school this winter,  but we’ve so far been successful with our prevention protocols (No flu shots, pretty good nutrition, pretty good sanitation, vitamins, keeping warm...) 

[WendyLady]

I think dh just came home with it. He’s been in Hawaii for the last two weeks. He got home last night with a fever and chills and cough. He said he felt great the day before, but had just a little throat tickle when he got in the plane, and steadily got worse throughout the day. I feel bad for everyone on his flight  

 His coworker was sick all week and they worked closely together.

So I’m washing my hands, trying not to touch my eyes, and considering lysol-ing the whole house...

Any tips on not getting sick when living with the sick person? 

[Pen]

 

5 minutes ago, WendyLady said:

So I’m washing my hands, trying not to touch my eyes, and considering lysol-ing the whole house...

 

This yes!

5 minutes ago, WendyLady said:

Any tips on not getting sick when living with the sick person? 

 

Multi Vitamins-minerals plus plenty of C and D3 and good nutrition.   If I start to feel anything like sore throat I add herbals immediately — often tinctures in alcohol right  on throat, so alcohol probably helps disinfect...   

I use Buhner book on antivirals plus personal experience to choose my herbs.

 

 I also sometimes use homeopathic remedies- may not help, but won’t hurt ...   aconite is first choice for exposure no obvious symptoms 

 

[Mbelle]

Well we didn't get tested, but 2 of the 4 of us in the home got incredibly sick. We slept around the clock for 2 days and then we slept a lot for a few more days.  I am almost 3 weeks out and I'm still not back to my usual self in terms of energy and motivation.  I am doing everything I need to but nothing more.  I am feeling discouraged about it.  My ds2 is back to normal, but he was very sick and he slept more for about 10 days.  He would just go get in bed in the evening and go to sleep and this kid never does that.  The other 2 took elderberry every 4 hours and washed their hands a lot and stayed away from us as much as possible. They got mildly sick.   I started taking extra vitamin c everyday and it has started to help me feel a little more energetic.

[gardenmom5]

no flu (they swabbed me for both A & B) - but I'm three weeks into fighting pneumonia (since I was diagnosed). . . . . taking my last augmenten today.

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, WendyLady said:

I think dh just came home with it. He’s been in Hawaii for the last two weeks. He got home last night with a fever and chills and cough. He said he felt great the day before, but had just a little throat tickle when he got in the plane, and steadily got worse throughout the day. I feel bad for everyone on his flight  

 His coworker was sick all week and they worked closely together.

So I’m washing my hands, trying not to touch my eyes, and considering lysol-ing the whole house...

Any tips on not getting sick when living with the sick person? 

I’m sorry your dh is sick! Hopefully you won’t get it as well. We usually kind of self-quarantine adults. My dh was the only one well last week and he spent a lot of time in a different tv room as us, for example. Basically just trying to avoid breathing our air. I also ban sick people from the kitchen. There are just so many common areas to touch in the kitchen that I like to be the only one in there if possible. I also wipe down the fridge handles, remote controls, door knobs, and light switches frequently. If we have something really contagious, one of us will sleep in the guest room. It’s just really hard when you’re living with the sick person, so mostly we just do the normal stuff (handwashing before eating, wiping down surfaces, etc) and try not to get too crazy about it. 

[TravelingChris]

No- but then we all got flu vaccines and have been getting them for years and only one year they didn't work.  Doesn't mean I didn't get sick---yes, I did.  First a cold, then bacterial bronchitis.  I almost always get either bacterial bronchitis or sinusitis or ear infection with a cold----I think there was one time in the last four years I didn't.  Anyway I am on third antibiotic--- because amoxicillin by itself didn't knock it out and Augmentin gave me wicked insomnia so now I am on Zithromax 5 day course. 

 

[matrips]

Just curious.  How many of you that got sick or really sick had the vaccine?  We got it the past 2 years (the vaccine) but every year I always second guess myself about whether to or not. So trying to see if it pays off or not.

[cjzimmer1]

In the last 15 years, I've had the flu once.  It was of course the one and only year that I got the shot (and no one else in the house got the flu or the shot).  My eldest has had the flu once,  also coincidently the only year that he ever got the shot (and also no one else got the flu or the shot).  This year no one got the shot and only 2 of 8 got the flu (and I'm not hyper sensitive about cleaning.  I've never washed a doorknob or handle because someone was sick.  I don't do any cleaning above normal etc).  I don't think the shot cause us to get the flu by any means but for us I feel like it's a big bunch of hype and doesn't influence whether or not we get the flu.  Since only 2 of the 8 (and they share a bedroom) got it, and the rest were fine it still doesn't seem like it would have helped us much.

Edited February 1, 2020 by cjzimmer1

[sbgrace]

3 hours ago, WendyLady said:

 

Any tips on not getting sick when living with the sick person? 

influenza spreads through the air, so handwashing and surface cleaning and similar aren't as preventative they would be for other viruses. 

I avoided influenza (A type though) when the rest of the family had it with elderberrry one year. 

Edited February 1, 2020 by sbgrace

[sbgrace]

1 hour ago, kand said:

I’m pretty sure that’s still very helpful, as those respiratory droplets land on surfaces and then get picked up by your hands when you touch them and then introduce them to mucous membranes if you touch your face. I’m sure that breathing in someone’s cough or sneeze would be even more virulent, though.

I noticed on our countywide stats for flu today that 50% of those who have died were vaccinated, 42% or not, and 8% is unknown. Which means best case scenario, it’s been 50-50 here so far. that matches with what they’ve said about the vaccine being a poor match for strain B this year. Of course, knowing what the vaccine coverage of the population is here is necessary to make sense of that statistic, but last I saw, it’s at least 50%.

Oh, it does help, yes! I didn't mean it doesn't. Definitely it's smart to wash hands frequently. But you really have to put your hands (with cold virus on them) in your mouth, nose, eyes to get a cold. You can't catch that virus through the air. 

But influenza you can get through the air--coughing/sneezing, but also speaking and breathing. So it's harder to avoid in the family than colds and the like. It's also infectious before symptoms. So I think it's smart to do more than that if you can. 

My son was diagnosed (not this year) the day he became symptomatic. I immediately started elderberry for the rest of the family, but DH and his brother were symptomatic the very next day. I kept up elderberry for all of us. His brother and dad had a quicker recovery than child of origin (who did Tamiflu fwiw). I never had symptoms at all. I make sure I've got elderberry every flu season.

Edited February 1, 2020 by sbgrace

[RootAnn]

I've heard several kids at dd#1's college have come down with influenza A and/or strep and/or pneumonia. I passed along hand-washing, hand-washing, hand-washing to DD but I'm not sure she will change her habits. (I.e., she already washes her hands when necessary but probably won't wash them more often- or take any additional precautions.)

[Pen]

3 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

In the last 15 years, I've had the flu once.  It was of course the one and only year that I got the shot (and no one else in the house got the flu or the shot).  My eldest has had the flu once,  also coincidently the only year that he ever got the shot (and also no one else got the flu or the shot).  This year no one got the shot and only 2 of 8 got the flu (and I'm not hyper sensitive about cleaning.  I've never washed a doorknob or handle because someone was sick.  I don't do any cleaning above normal etc).  I don't think the shot cause us to get the flu by any means but for us I feel like it's a big bunch of hype and doesn't influence whether or not we get the flu.  Since only 2 of the 8 (and they share a bedroom) got it, and the rest were fine it still doesn't seem like it would have helped us much.

 

@matrips

I also had experience of getting flu when I got flu shot, not when I did not (or if so, mild and not distinguishable from minor cold).  And I was really sick when I got sick post flu vaccine.

It is possible that it doesn’t influence either way.  

It is also possible that some of us have immune systems that make us more susceptible following a flu vaccine (me)  — while others are the opposite. 

[catz]

We've had confirmed flu in house twice with each of our kids once and no one else got it.  Confined sick kid to one area and one bathroom.  Wiped down that bathroom several times a day.  We used elderberry and emergen-C, stayed very hydrated.  Handwashing a plenty.  

ETA - we typically get flu shots.  No one here with the flu shot has ever had the confirmed flu.  Every time we've had it we didn't have the shot.  Which is like 4 times total since we've had kids (oldest is 19).  I'm pretty adamant about it the last few years.   I know the match for B wasn't great this year and I do know people who had the vax who had confirmed influenza B.  I am skeptical when people say they had the flu and it hasn't been confirmed.  Especially for an illness shorter than 5-6 days.  

Edited February 2, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[Joker]

I haven't had it this year, but the one and only time I had the flu it was a B strain. It was about six years ago and it was awful. I actually permanently lost my taste and smell and it took me about two months to feel normal again.

Prior to that we never had flu shots (and obviously never had the flu either). We now get them every year and haven't had the flu again. I'm not sure if it truly makes a difference since we seem to never get it anyway, but I'm hoping if I ever do that the shot will stop it from being as awful as that one time.

[East Coast Sue]

Yes, my dd18 rested positive for Flu (B) a few days ago. She’s had the flu vaccine and is away at college (5+ hrs drive from home). The rest of us are also vaccinated and haven’t caught it (yet). Her college has a major hospital on campus so I feel like she’s got access to good health care if it’s needed. She was really feeling poorly but seems to be improving a bit each day- thankfully.

 

 

 

[BlsdMama]

  We got hit - me, DH, all the kids at home, married daughter and her husband and two kids, and DS who lives at college. 

The first one got sick two weeks ago and it has steadily moved through the ranks. DH and I did best - down for day and exhausted for two. Two of the girls really got it bad. DD16 is on Day 5 of having a fever. The final holdout got a headache and leg aches today. I’m guessing tomorrow is going to be unpleasant. 

Fever, chills, respiratory, and leg/back pain. Oddly, several of the kids had multiple bloody noses? No idea what that was about but it freaked the 6yo out. Grateful we are almost through it but this was the worst we’ve ever seen. 

[maize]

2 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

We've had confirmed flu in house twice with each of our kids once and no one else got it.  Confined sick kid to one area and one bathroom.  Wiped down that bathroom several times a day.  We used elderberry and emergen-C, stayed very hydrated.  Handwashing a plenty.  

ETA - we typically get flu shots.  No one here with the flu shot has ever had the confirmed flu.  Every time we've had it we didn't have the shot.  Which is like 4 times total since we've had kids (oldest is 19).  I'm pretty adamant about it the last few years.   I know the match for B wasn't great this year and I do know people who had the vax who had confirmed influenza B.  I am skeptical when people say they had the flu and it hasn't been confirmed.  Especially for an illness shorter than 5-6 days.  

 

The one and only time I have had confirmed flu I had had the shot.

It was just bad luck, the vaccine was a poor match that year.

While there is no way of knowing when a mild respiratory illness is influenza without being tested, mild presentations are actually very common--according to some studies, even more common than severe illness. It's one of the ways that flu spreads so well; a lot of people who get it think they just have a cold.

[mlktwins]

I just got over Flu B and I had the vaccine.  DS1 develped a cough and fever (102.5).  His flu test was negative and his fever was gone in 2 days.  He kept the cough a few more days and I just had him rest at home for a few days.  2 days after DS1’s fever started, his twin got it (102.4).  His fever lasted a little longer, but he recovered pretty quickly.  I did not take him to the doctor.  Both boys had flu mist in October - our ped recommends those over the shot if the are available.

 A day after DS2 got his fever, I started getting achey with a low grade fever and mild cough.  The next night I had a fever of 101.1 and my cough got worse.  By day 4, I went to minute clinic and tested positive for Flu B.  I had a fever for 6 days and then just a cough.  I felt quite a bit better after the fever broke, but I was pretty miserable while I had the fever.  No vomiting here thank goodness. I’m still pacing myself though.

I wore a mask so my kids didn’t get worse and so my husband didn’t get it.  It worked.  I also wiped down hard surfaces often, washed pillow cases, blankets, and clothes more often.  Dh banned me from the kitchen, which was a positive effect of the flu 😁.

I really hope anyone dealing with the flu is feeling better soon.  It totally sucked!

 

[Katy]

6 hours ago, sbgrace said:

influenza spreads through the air, so handwashing and surface cleaning and similar aren't as preventative they would be for other viruses. 

I avoided influenza (A type though) when the rest of the family had it with elderberrry one year. 

 

Influenza is spread through droplets, it is not airborne.  If someone sneezes or coughs or flushes a toilet less than 6-10 feet away you might inhale some of those droplets but it is much much more likely to get it from touching a surface where a droplet landed and then touching a mucous membrane and getting infected that way.  This is why hand sanitizer reduces influenza infections. 

[Kanin]

9 hours ago, kand said:

Pardon the analogy, but you know how if you’ve just picked up after a dog or touched something else gross, you are hyper aware of your hands being contaminated until you get them washed and would never dream of touching your face with them? That’s how I feel about my hands when I’m in public during flu season or when someone in the house is sick. Makes it very easy to keep them from my face. 

Yes, me too. I wear gloves in the grocery store (it's winter, so I'm hoping it's not weird) to push the cart. I can just picture 50 germy hands touching the cart before me. I actually specifically looked today, and I was the only person wearing gloves while pushing a cart.

[ktgrok]

38 minutes ago, Mainer said:

Yes, me too. I wear gloves in the grocery store (it's winter, so I'm hoping it's not weird) to push the cart. I can just picture 50 germy hands touching the cart before me. I actually specifically looked today, and I was the only person wearing gloves while pushing a cart.

i don't wear gloves but do use the cleansing wipes they provide to wipe down the handle. 

[Ellie]

I got a mild case of Type A in October. Happily, I didn't share it with Mr. Ellie.

[klmama]

We haven't had the flu in years, since we started taking vitamin D, but I've been thinking about freezing homemade chicken soup and other foods I'll want if I get sick.  

[Shoeless]

No flu here, knock wood. I tend to keep a low-profile during flu season because I don't want to deal with everyone else's cooties. Online grocery ordering and pick up is my new best friend. 

My son's art teacher has had many kids out sick this year, with flu, some sort of awful stomach bug, and strep. Thankfully, she is really diligent about cleaning between classes and making sure the kids wash their hands.  Kiddo is getting pretty tired of hearing me remind him "wash your hands. Wash your hands. WASH YOUR HANDS!!!" 

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, kand said:

I’m always self conscious while I’m doing my cart routine, as I wipe down not just the handle, but all the way around the entire top perimeter of the cart, as I find it’s common that I end up grabbing one end of the cart to pull it toward me at various points while I’m shopping. And then I also wipe down the entire seat area, including the child buckle, if I’m going to be using that part at all. I always think people must be thinking, “who’s the freaky germ lady “ 😳😂. I promise I’m pretty normal about things when it’s not flu season. I think it started from being pregnant during the original H1N1 season.

I have the same routine - and I'm not germaphobic most of the time - we roll in dirt and believe in the 5 second rule, etc. But yeah, I was pregnant that year too, and I do think that is part of it. 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

20 hours ago, WendyLady said:

I think dh just came home with it. He’s been in Hawaii for the last two weeks. He got home last night with a fever and chills and cough. He said he felt great the day before, but had just a little throat tickle when he got in the plane, and steadily got worse throughout the day. I feel bad for everyone on his flight  

 His coworker was sick all week and they worked closely together.

So I’m washing my hands, trying not to touch my eyes, and considering lysol-ing the whole house...

Any tips on not getting sick when living with the sick person? 

Quarantine.

Several years ago DH came down with a severe case of influenza.  He was sick in bed for over a week.  I would not let him out of our bedroom except to get food/drink and use the bathroom.  No one used the bathroom he was using except him, and I went in and scrubbed everything every day.  I also would go in and change the bedding when he was in the shower- which I also had to make him take every day.  Washed the bedding on hot-hot water and also kept on top of his laundry.   I would also open the bedroom windows wide open while he showered even though it was January and freezing out. 

A few times he tried to come out and sit in the living room to watch TV, and I quickly sent him back to the bedroom where we also had a TV.  I was a maniac about keeping him away from the rest of us, and we were living in a very small space at the time.  But it worked.  After ten days he emerged feeling more human, and I gave the house a final thorough scrub down when he left to go do something outside the house for a few hours.  None of the rest of us got it.  He was mad at me a lot during that time, but I was SO determined to not get it myself. 

[maize]

4 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

I have the same routine - and I'm not germaphobic most of the time - we roll in dirt and believe in the 5 second rule, etc. But yeah, I was pregnant that year too, and I do think that is part of it. 

 

Same!

Also pregnant that year--I believe it is the year cart wipes became widely available at stores.

I am not at all germaphobic at home or in nature--I figure any germs at home came from us so we're already exposed. It's other people who are risky.

ETA the store I usually shop at also has hand sanitizer at the checkout and I always take advantage of that.

Edited February 2, 2020 by maize

[Guest]

With school cheer nationals next weekend, and an All Star comp locally this weekend, a lot of DD’s former teammates are performing/competing, and usually we go support them. Not this time. Not knowing that cheerleaders compete even when sick, and that I have seen a ton of social media posts of kids practicing in masks because they can’t miss this close to a competition. We’ve all had the shot, but supposedly the shot is a bad match this year. 

[sbgrace]

14 hours ago, Katy said:

 

Influenza is spread through droplets, it is not airborne.  If someone sneezes or coughs or flushes a toilet less than 6-10 feet away you might inhale some of those droplets but it is much much more likely to get it from touching a surface where a droplet landed and then touching a mucous membrane and getting infected that way.  This is why hand sanitizer reduces influenza infections. 

 

It is droplets for sure--and I agree that it's a more likely transmission. I have one kiddo who, as he became a teen, got really lax about washing his hands before he eats and it bugs me. So, I don't at all disagree with you on that count.

BUT it is also airborne, at least that's what research I've seen indicates. The aerolized spray hangs in the air longer than I'd like to think about.

https://www.jwatch.org/na45981/2018/02/07/airborne-influenza-transmission

Understanding how influenza is transmitted is key to limiting the impact of both seasonal disease and future influenza pandemics. An ongoing concern is that influenza may be transmitted from infected individuals not simply by coarse (>5 μm) respiratory particles, but also by fine (≤5 μm) respiratory particles that can persist in the air for prolonged periods...infectious virus was present in 89% of the NP samples and 39% of fine aerosol samples. 

https://www.livescience.com/35437-flu-particles-prevalent-in-air-public-places.html This is older, but talks about what "prolonged period" might be....hours. 

In the infected samples, the average concentration of flu viruses was 15,000 viruses per cubic meter of air and the average size of a flu virus particle was less than 2.5 micrometers. That means the viruses could stay suspended in the air for hours, the study said. . .Although the study didn't count how many people got infected from breathing in the flu-particle-laden air of these public places, the levels of flu particles in the air are enough to get someone sick, she said.

So, my point in posting to this thread earlier was that I think public areas in flu season are a risk, even if you avoid touching your face before you wash your hands and don't hang around coughing/sneezing people. However, I agree that you're definitely more likely to get sick if you don't wash your hands.

(We don't at all avoid public places.  But because you can catch it by simply breathing infected air, I sometimes take extra precautions. Flu is really high in our area and my son has an important to him event coming up next week. I had him take some elderberry after church this morning. I'll probably encourage him to use elderberry tonight when he gets home from a party too. We already use vitamin D and C and prioritize sleep here. However, because he's my more consistent handwasher, at least in public, I do think he's less likely to to get sick compared to his brother.)

Edited February 2, 2020 by sbgrace

[Katy]

9 hours ago, sbgrace said:

 

It is droplets for sure--and I agree that it's a more likely transmission. I have one kiddo who, as he became a teen, got really lax about washing his hands before he eats and it bugs me. So, I don't at all disagree with you on that count.

BUT it is also airborne, at least that's what research I've seen indicates. The aerolized spray hangs in the air longer than I'd like to think about.

https://www.jwatch.org/na45981/2018/02/07/airborne-influenza-transmission

Understanding how influenza is transmitted is key to limiting the impact of both seasonal disease and future influenza pandemics. An ongoing concern is that influenza may be transmitted from infected individuals not simply by coarse (>5 μm) respiratory particles, but also by fine (≤5 μm) respiratory particles that can persist in the air for prolonged periods...infectious virus was present in 89% of the NP samples and 39% of fine aerosol samples. 

https://www.livescience.com/35437-flu-particles-prevalent-in-air-public-places.html This is older, but talks about what "prolonged period" might be....hours. 

In the infected samples, the average concentration of flu viruses was 15,000 viruses per cubic meter of air and the average size of a flu virus particle was less than 2.5 micrometers. That means the viruses could stay suspended in the air for hours, the study said. . .Although the study didn't count how many people got infected from breathing in the flu-particle-laden air of these public places, the levels of flu particles in the air are enough to get someone sick, she said.

So, my point in posting to this thread earlier was that I think public areas in flu season are a risk, even if you avoid touching your face before you wash your hands and don't hang around coughing/sneezing people. However, I agree that you're definitely more likely to get sick if you don't wash your hands.

(We don't at all avoid public places.  But because you can catch it by simply breathing infected air, I sometimes take extra precautions. Flu is really high in our area and my son has an important to him event coming up next week. I had him take some elderberry after church this morning. I'll probably encourage him to use elderberry tonight when he gets home from a party too. We already use vitamin D and C and prioritize sleep here. However, because he's my more consistent handwasher, at least in public, I do think he's less likely to to get sick compared to his brother.)

 

I understand that you are concerned about your family not getting infected, NOT with whether you have the specific definition of airborne understood or not. 

Airborne is a specific term used in healthcare and public health policy.  The droplets might hang around in the air but the virus ISN'T airborne like, say, tuberculosis, where you must treat patients with specific airborne infection control procedures like negative pressure rooms to ensure their disease doesn't spread throughout a hospital. If a flu patient is in a private room you don't have to worry about the air from that room infecting everyone in the hospital.  With TB you do, because it is airborne.  If you have TB, hospital staff is going to come into your room wearing a full respirator, not a disposable mask like they will with the flu.