After having a period of little to no activity over the past couple of summer months, swine flu is on its way back. In New Mexico, during the first week back to school, a smaller community had 150 children out sick with flu-like symptoms. Scary when you consider all our children are going back to school and being in such close quarters.
The Associated Press released information stating that many of the people that have died of the Swine Flu have been school-aged children over the age of five. Nearly one in 13 cases have fallen into this demographic. Although over 40 children have died from this horrid disease, most all of them had preexisting conditions including epilepsy, cerebral palsy or other neuro-developmental conditions.
There have been a total of 488 swine flu deaths as of August 8, and of those, 36 were children. More than 50 percent of the children deaths have been over the age of five. With the common flu, deaths are much more common in infants and toddlers due to their smaller air passages and under-developed immune systems. The Centers of Disease Control (CDC) believe older children are more susceptible to the virus because they spend time close together in schools, whereas younger children spend more time at home.
So what should you do to protect your children? Most importantly, remind them to wash their hands and not share drinks. I know you read that all over the place and you think your child already knows that. I thought my daughter knew it as well, until I caught her sharing a drink with friends. She carries a water bottle with her to school, but a friend of hers had forgot theirs. I caught her allowing her friend a drink by doing a “waterfall” by just squeezing the water into her friends mouth. My daughter believes that because the bottle didn’t touch her friend’s mouth it is okay, but I had to explain that her germs are all over the bottle and she has now shared her germs with her friend. She was floored by this and I hope she remembers this in the future.
It might be a good idea to talk over with your pediatrician about the idea of getting an H1N1 shot along with the normal flu shot this year. Flu shots have begun springing up across the country, although the H1N1 shot is said to begin being sent out in mid-October. Talk it over with your pediatrician and make sure they believe the shot is something your child will or will not benefit from. First and foremost, always stress the importance of good hygiene and not sharing with friends.
