H1N1: What to Do When the Virus Strikes
So, here's my story: Two weeks ago, the day before Halloween, one of my son's friends goes home from school with a fever, cough, nausea - all the early symptoms of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu.
By the end of the weekend, that boy's older sister is sick, his mom is feeling queasy, and I'm hearing of two other families stricken by H1N1.
By Weds. of the following week, half my son's third-grade class is out sick, and their parents don't feel so well themselves.
By the weekend - just one week after seeing the first symptoms in one child - I realize it's not just my son's school, it's all area schools, some of which actually have to shut down because they didn't have enough healthy staff. And it's not just our town, it's the entire region.
By last week, it wasn't a question of "Who's sick?," but rather "Who's not?"
Fair to say that my story is your story, too? That your region is also now fighting the pandemic we've heard about for so long now?
To be sure, most of the cases I've heard about have been mild - a few days of discomfort, and it's over. But one little boy I know did develop pneumonia, and we're all aware of incidents that have taken horrible turns for the worse.
As a public service, let me share with you some of the H1N1 resources we've created in recent weeks. Feel free to share these with your own local schools, governments and businesses. Anything we can do to spread awareness, let's.
Here's what you should know about H1N1:
- H1N1 Update: Regina Phelps on 'How Bad is It?'
- H1N1 Pandemic: What Every Organization Needs to Know
- How to Prevent Spread of Illness to Healthy Employees
- Symptoms of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) 'Swine' Flu
Good luck and good health! Keep me posted, please, on how folks are faring where you live.