Parents should take steps to prevent swine flu, keep sick children home
It just so happens that every year back to school season coincides with flu season. This year, there is the additional risk of contracting swine flu, which is going around again in America.
It can be scary to think about children rubbing elbows again with their classmates, and possibly sharing the virus.
But, parents can help their children stay healthy by taking some preventative measures, such as insisting on hand-washing and using hand sanitizers.
If a child gets sick, the government urges parents to keep them home from school. Sending a child to school while they have symptoms of the flu can be dangerous because they will spread it to other children.
There has been a storm of information (and misinformation) circulating about the virus. While it is a serious virus that has caused illness and death, it is similar to the regular flu. Parents should not panic.
The symptoms of 2009 swine flu, or H1N1 flu, include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.
A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Web site states.
It is a different strain of the flu, which was originally referred to as “swine flu” because testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs, or swine in North America, according to www.cdc.gov.
Humans are getting ill because of person-to-person contact. You cannot get sick from eating pork or spending time with a pig.
The federal government is trying to prevent people from getting ill by funding the vaccine.
The seasonal flu vaccine will not protect against the swine flu, so the government recommends that people who have high risk of getting infected be vaccinated for both. They can be administered on the same day, although seasonal flu vaccines are expected to be available earlier, according to the CDC.
For more information, go to www.flu.gov, a CDC Web site dedicated to the flu.
It can be scary to think about children rubbing elbows again with their classmates, and possibly sharing the virus.
But, parents can help their children stay healthy by taking some preventative measures, such as insisting on hand-washing and using hand sanitizers.
If a child gets sick, the government urges parents to keep them home from school. Sending a child to school while they have symptoms of the flu can be dangerous because they will spread it to other children.
There has been a storm of information (and misinformation) circulating about the virus. While it is a serious virus that has caused illness and death, it is similar to the regular flu. Parents should not panic.
The symptoms of 2009 swine flu, or H1N1 flu, include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.
A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Web site states.
It is a different strain of the flu, which was originally referred to as “swine flu” because testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs, or swine in North America, according to www.cdc.gov.
Humans are getting ill because of person-to-person contact. You cannot get sick from eating pork or spending time with a pig.
The federal government is trying to prevent people from getting ill by funding the vaccine.
The seasonal flu vaccine will not protect against the swine flu, so the government recommends that people who have high risk of getting infected be vaccinated for both. They can be administered on the same day, although seasonal flu vaccines are expected to be available earlier, according to the CDC.
For more information, go to www.flu.gov, a CDC Web site dedicated to the flu.
