Yesterday in suburban Dallas, authorities closed an elementary school after a child there tested positive for the swine flu. Immediately Julie and I were faced with a practical question: should we let our second child go on a class field trip today to the museum, where lots of schoolkids will be meeting and greeting? This, from Stratfor's morning e-mailing, speaks to the quandary we and no doubt a number of you parents are in:
We say "possibility of a pandemic" because, at this moment, it does not seem to us that anyone has a clear handle on either the likelihood of the virus's dispersion, nor of its virulence. As of this writing, Mexican authorities suspect that as many as 86 people have died from the disease, although only 22 swine flu deaths have been officially confirmed. Sunday was rife with reports of cases emerging in states from California to New York (as well as in Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Brazil and Colombia), though there have been no reports of deaths or indications that deaths are imminent in these countries.It might be the case that the virus is so widespread in Mexico that those who died from the disease represent a small percentage of the infected, whereas in the United States the virus has not finished incubating and thus has not yet begun to show its effects. At this point, virulence as a percentage of infection is not clear to us. Nevertheless, U.S. authorities have called a public health emergency, and the international disease control community is struggling to come up with a predictive model.
For me, the key words are in the United States, the virus has not finished incubating. We just don't know what we're facing. So far, no indication that it will be nearly as severe as in Mexico. But we just don't know. I am inclined to err on the side of caution, and keep our son home from the field trip today. But if this were just a normal school day, I'd send him to his class. Is this the right call? What would you do if you were me, given these factors? Again, lots of parents across north Texas are having to make decisions like this today, or will in the coming days. And not just in north Texas.
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No longer academic for me. I started getting flu symptoms tonight -- aches, scratchy throat, headache, bad chills for a while -- and my temp is hovering around or just over 100.
And I had the flu shot last fall.
No *confirmed* cases around here (Omaha), but who the hell knows? When the temp hit 100 after being normal a few hours ago, I called the doctor's answering service.
Doc's advice: Treat the symptoms, and if I'm not better in the morning, maybe I should come in. I was trying to follow the fed advice to the letter -- didn't call until the fever hit 100, which almost *never* happens to me, even when I'm sick as a dog -- but I still feel like a twit for waking the doc up.
I saw a flu-kit recommendation that makes sense--one should have a bag of clumping cat litter around to help with clean up. This could be extra helpful if you're by yourself: it'll soak up the mess and absorb smells better than almost anything else without a lot of work.
I can strongly recommend getting some no-spill "convenience bags." These are the sickness bags used by EMTs- they're designed so that they cannot spill or splash, even if upside down.
We turned a child away from class yesterday who's father brought him in sporting a 102+ temp. Was it swine flu? Probably not, but that isn't the point. Its the fact that a dad got his child out of bed, got him dressed, through the morning routine and off to school either being horribly ignorant or not caring a whit at all.
You would think that parents pay attention to their own kids. You would be wrong. I know I've been guilty of it myself trying to get out of the house in the morning. As a parent, then, you cannot assume the competence of other people. Keep him home, Rod. Museums will wait.
It disturbs me to hear that a physician would not ask someone with fever and cough, aches and pains, to come to the office for a nasal swab as recommended by the CDC for tracking purposes. But, then what a double-edged sword that is! Staying home is certainly better to reduce the spread of any infection. So, on second thought, maybe there is wisdom. Mostly, I want to urge mightyfavog in Omaha to call his physician back, and get a prescription for Tamiflu, depending on how long symptoms have been present, of course.
I'd keep him home. I'm debating keeping my children home from school as well, even though our ISD hasn't shut down. I'm not taking any chances. The state has halted all TX highschool games, I'm a little curious as to why not the schools as well?? Better to be safe than sorry!
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