Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=11986878

Thought I'd post this, maybe of some relevance.

More upper respiratory problems for children in Wilmington area
Posted: Feb 15, 2010 4:10 PM
Updated: Feb 15, 2010 4:16 PM
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More upper respiratory problems for children in Wilmington area

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Upper respiratory illnesses are going around the Wilmington area.

According to Oak Island Pediatrics in Brunswick County, the respiratory problems can often lead to bronchitis. Symptoms include cough, chest congestion and sometimes fever.

Doctors are treating patients with antibiotics and breathing treatment with a nebulizer to break up the chest congestion.

Some of these symptoms are similar to the flu so doctors are testing for it, but so far none have come back positive. If your child has a cough for more than ten days you need to take them to see a doctor.

Doctors at Carolina Pediatrics have seen viral upper respiratory infections and advise parents to treat with fluids, saline drops in the nose and syringe out and use a humidifier.

They are also seeing wheezing in babies with a cold. Nebulizer treatments have helped. And there have been a few cases of strep throat. You will need to see a doctor to have an antibiotic prescribed for that.

Doctors at Cape Fear Pediatrics describe the flu as a dull roar. Most of the cases they have seen have been the H1N1 flu.

They are also seeing a viral stomach virus with fever and vomiting. RSV, a respiratory illness is at it's peak but can cause life threatening wheezing in infants so listen carefully for that and see a doctor for the best treatments options.

The above sounds much like reports in the fall, when schools were closing because of H1N1 (and no available staff), but students/staff were said to have seasonal flu, stomach flu, bronchitis, steph throat, allergies, etc, when in fact they all had H1N1 (and absenteeism was in the double digits

There should not be a repeat if people would get their kids immunized. Very irritating.

Why? This is a virus that has already hit people who are immunized and has repeatedly hit people who already had H1N1? I have yet to see convincing evidence that immunizations have done anything useful. In the fall, they never achieved a percentage immunization that was anywhere close to prevent another wave - and that was when everyone was afraid. Now, with another wave looming, the "fear factor" has dropped an order of magnitude lower. I highly doubt if we will see a significant new batch of immunizations unless this (or the next) wave turns very fatal.

I see no point to injecting chemicals into my body unnecessarily, particularly from those who have a free get-out-of-jail-card if they totally destroy my life with the injection. And given my own personal and close-family and friends experiences with the virus and the vaccine, it doesn't seem to have prevented other infections. I haven't seen any hard data to suggest it has - although I'm open to those who have access to such data.

As a bare minimum, I would rather wait for a D225G related vaccine before I make any serious decisions regarding vaccination now. Ideally, I would like some form of assurance that we won't have to have a "forever-injection" every year for the rest of our lives. That's probably wishful thinking, but it sure would be nice if they could figure it out, like they have for other diseases.

Update from Nth Carolina Public Health Authority

http://www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/gcdc/flu0910.html