I admit, I'm a little over-the-top freaked out about the H1N1 flu. It has most definitely reared it's ugly head in our geographic area, and every time I go grocery shopping or on errands and hear people hacking and sneezing, I run for my hand sanitizer and, to be perfectly honest, am considering wearing a mask when I go out. Of course, I'd use some pretty cotton quilt fabric so it would be a "designer" mask, but still...
I worry about Mr. B too. He has asthma, which automatically makes him a candidate for the vaccine. EXCEPT he's highly allergic to eggs -- which are used to "grow" the ingredients in the vaccine. Both Mary and I have called the health department to ask if they can obtain one of the few vaccines not "grown" with eggs, but no one ever calls back. His pediatrician simply tells us to contact the health department.
I may have gone overboard a bit. Last week Mr. B was pitching a fit for his mother because he couldn't find his "hanitizer" (hand sanitizer). I don't want to instill germaphobia in the poor little guy, but I also don't want him to catch this flu.
To be honest, I'm not terribly sure either of us would survive it. Literally. That's scarey stuff right there.
My doctor gave me a regular flu shot, and a new 7-year pneumonia vaccine (I had borderline pneumonia twice last year), and I'm on Lipitor which is now showing in studies to possibly fight off the H1N1 virus. But I still haven't gotten the H1N1 flu shot itself. Last week our health department had the vaccines in -- 3000 shots and more than 6000 people stood in line for two days for them. Six thousand people coughing and sneezing in my immediate vacinity... no thanks.
I picked my husband up at the airport the other day, and the first thing I did when he got in the car was hand him the hand sanitizer. Sanitize first, welcome back kiss second. I considered bringing Listerine with me as well, but managed to talk myself out of that one.
I have told my daughter that if Mr. B gets sick, he simply must go to the pediatrician and be "cleared" before he comes to my house. It seems he catches everything imaginable from his 3 days in daycare. It made me feel a little better when I picked him up at daycare the other day to see a large dispenser of hand sanitizer just inside her front door.
I found this interesting web site. If you have a cold or the flu, and wonder if it might just be H1N1, you can go to this web site, put in your symptoms, and it will tell you if you should hightail it to the doctor or not. It's provided by Emory University.
Nov 2, 2009
A little freaked out by the H1N1 virus
I admit, I'm a little over-the-top freaked out about the H1N1 flu. It has most definitely reared it's ugly head in our geographic area, and every time I go grocery shopping or on errands and hear people hacking and sneezing, I run for my hand sanitizer and, to be perfectly honest, am considering wearing a mask when I go out. Of course, I'd use some pretty cotton quilt fabric so it would be a "designer" mask, but still...
I worry about Mr. B too. He has asthma, which automatically makes him a candidate for the vaccine. EXCEPT he's highly allergic to eggs -- which are used to "grow" the ingredients in the vaccine. Both Mary and I have called the health department to ask if they can obtain one of the few vaccines not "grown" with eggs, but no one ever calls back. His pediatrician simply tells us to contact the health department.
I may have gone overboard a bit. Last week Mr. B was pitching a fit for his mother because he couldn't find his "hanitizer" (hand sanitizer). I don't want to instill germaphobia in the poor little guy, but I also don't want him to catch this flu.
To be honest, I'm not terribly sure either of us would survive it. Literally. That's scarey stuff right there.
My doctor gave me a regular flu shot, and a new 7-year pneumonia vaccine (I had borderline pneumonia twice last year), and I'm on Lipitor which is now showing in studies to possibly fight off the H1N1 virus. But I still haven't gotten the H1N1 flu shot itself. Last week our health department had the vaccines in -- 3000 shots and more than 6000 people stood in line for two days for them. Six thousand people coughing and sneezing in my immediate vacinity... no thanks.
I picked my husband up at the airport the other day, and the first thing I did when he got in the car was hand him the hand sanitizer. Sanitize first, welcome back kiss second. I considered bringing Listerine with me as well, but managed to talk myself out of that one.
I have told my daughter that if Mr. B gets sick, he simply must go to the pediatrician and be "cleared" before he comes to my house. It seems he catches everything imaginable from his 3 days in daycare. It made me feel a little better when I picked him up at daycare the other day to see a large dispenser of hand sanitizer just inside her front door.
I found this interesting web site. If you have a cold or the flu, and wonder if it might just be H1N1, you can go to this web site, put in your symptoms, and it will tell you if you should hightail it to the doctor or not. It's provided by Emory University.
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4 comments:
We haven't had a lot of concern about the H1N1 here in our town. I work with the public and I do keep hand sanitizer and Clorox bleach wipes for when people lean all over my counter. Would it be rude to ask them to STEP BACK!?
Karen - heck, if they coughed I'd squirt 'em with Lysol! LOL
I am a bit paranoid about all this too. I am running through many bottles of hand sanitizer and we just don't go out in public much. I have always had problems with catching respiratory bugs and getting really sick, and then my husband catches if from me! We haven't had any vaccines available yet except a few doses of the nasal spray one which is not a killed virus vaccine, so I can't take it (medication I take suppresses my immune system, so nothing but killed virus vaccines are allowed). None of the injections which I can take are available here. By the time they get here the worst will have passed. Everyone involved in vaccine production and distribution bungled this badly!
Sorry you can't get help from the health department. They are a joke in most states and are completely useless. Ditto for the one here in TN.
My brother-in-law is visiting right now and sick with some bacterial bronchitis thing. I'm praying it's not very contagious. I was glad to see him but when he got out of the car hacking and coughing I have to admit my heart sank. Familial love only goes so far.
Hi Joan. I have quit my blog because I just ran out of things to say. Am I in a rut? Probably. But I didn't want to lose a place to put photography so I created another blog and think I will just concentrate on that. So if you want, hop on over. I didn't want to lose some of my FAVORITE people.
http://arizonahank.blogspot.com/
I am amazed to report that I called the local health department today, explained my medical status and why I need the injectable vaccine, not Flumist, for H1N1 and got an appointment scheduled for Wednesday for me and for my husband(!) to get the vaccination! I am shocked. I eat my former words about the TN health departments.
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