NY Health Care Workers required to get H1N1

[Amiens]

What do you think?

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/swine.f...2.1216352.html

I think it comes with the territory with being in medicine. Dh says he figures he is around sick people and therefore should get vaccinated. But then again I am also for freedom of choice. I think those who are closer in contact should be vaccinated, but a nutritionist working in a WIC clinic, maybe not so much.

[DCJenn]

Except that the WIC clinic is full of pregnant women and little kids- just like my methadone clinic.

We're thinking about requiring that our mommies bring proof that they and their kids been vaccinated. One outbreak of any kind of flu and we'd be in a world of hurt. We're already coming up w/ contingency plans for drive-by dosing. Flu is bad under the best of circumstances but H1N1 does seem to have an inordinate impact on pregnant women.

The military will be getting their H1N1 vacs soon- my husband had his regular flu shot two weeks ago.

[Pollyanna]

What I find interesting about this H1N1 concern is the way it is treated in different places. Kids at a soccer camp in AZ this summer were diagnosed with it and shipped off to a hospital in Texas (I think TX) for quarantine. Friends with a confirmed diagnosis in CO about a month ago were not told anything, they just kept about there daily business. The mom is even a school teacher and while she did not have the flu the rest of her family did and you would think they would encourage some precautions since she teaches young children. Our children likely had a case of it at the end of the summer but the doc didn't want to test for it because there were not a lot of reported cases in town. Then you have the media freaking out (FOX news kills me with the "Tracking H1N1" graphic several times a day). Dh gets irritated because he doesn't feel pregnant women are being properly educated on the importance of this vax (especially if it turns into a pandemic). So I don't know, if you are at risk get the vax. That it my thoughtful statement for the day.

[PrincessFiona]

The whole H1N1 thing is just a big ole can of worms anyway. Most of the docs would tell you that the media has overblown it and that it is less virulent than the run-of-the-mill flu...but our schools have now instituted a "keep your kids home for 1 week after the resolution of all symptoms following a fever/sore throat, etc." policy. How is that supposed to work? Of course this new ruling will hit the moms the hardest...especially the working moms. <shrugs>

Kris

[oceanchild]

DH's hospital hasn't decided on how to handle the H1N1 vaccine because they aren't sure yet how much they'll get.

While they aren't *requiring* the seasonal vax, anyone who doesn't get it has to where a mask in the hospital.

They're also telling people that if they get H1N1, they have to stay home for a week after it clears up - yeah, the residents are definitely going to follow that rule.

[migirl]

They're also telling people that if they get H1N1, they have to stay home for a week after it clears up - yeah, the residents are definitely going to follow that rule.

My SIL is a peds resident, and she told me that at her hospital if someone (resident, nurse, fellow, whatever) is dxed w/ H1N1 they're required to stay home for 7 days ... and the rule is actually being followed!

On the other hand, I have no idea what the policy is for DH's hospital.

[Phoebe]

DH has the flu right now. Not sure if it is H1N1. He refuses to see the doctor for it being a waste of money. He has been sick for 9 days. Luckily for his coworkers, last week he was on vacation. Work is requiring him to be efebrile for 48 hours and cleared by employee health before returning.

No one else has gotten sick and I am constantly wiping everything down.

[SuzySunshine]

I don't know about requiring it - since its not mutating like the seasonal flu seems to I don't know why it would be so much more risky. However my OB said that once you're diagnosed with either they treat you like you have both. We've all had our seasonal and we'll all 3 get the H1N1 when it becomes available.

Of course our hospital is the only one in town that ISN'T out of the seasonal so it could be an interesting season around here.

[Rapunzel]

H1N1 is ripping through the schools here. My neighbor (a good friend) just up the street has a son with it right now. My kids play with him all the time. The kids I teach at church tell me that there are dozens of kids in their schools who either have it (and are quarantined) or have recovered from it.

So far it honestly seems like any other run-of-the-mill flu when it hits.

I'm most worried about my child who has severe asthma. If that one gets it I really think it might include a hospitalization. That one child and my pregnancies have been THE reasons I've been so religious about flu vaccinations every season with the kids.

As an aside: The flu I had that caused my miscarriage last January---- could it have been an early H1N1 case? It was the worst illness I've had in easily the past decade. And, we ARE pretty near to the border of Mexico with LOTS of Mexican relatives who visit us. I know Mexico was really running rampant with H1N1 cases by last April. But, COULD I have had it last January???

[Deebs]

Now that we live literally right by a few universities - the medical community is seeing a new problem here. Reports by friends, roommates, etc of kids who have symptoms but won't come in for treatment because they know that their choices will be to (1) go home if they are in-state residents or (2) go to a quarantined dorm. My OB strongly encouraged me to cancel my UofI football plans for next weekend (which I was honestly already leaning toward - now I just have someone else to blame for missing out). It will be interesting to see when the vaccine actually arrives and what hospitals/practices/clinics receive doses and how many. For now, I'm going for my regular flu vax, and DH got his without me forcing him (for the first time ever).

[DCJenn]

The regular flu scares me more than H1N1.

Rapunzel- I was flatten with flu in January as well. In fact I can tell you that it hit on MLK weekend and it took me months to get back to 100%.

I bet given our location, we probably had the big nasty Mexican bug- we're too close to the border and have too much exposure to Mexican Nationals. I swear, I have never been so sick in my life. It was like even having to pump blood hurt.

Jenn

(although, most reports are that it's milder than the regular flu. Maybe we both had some ass-kicking regular flu)

[Sheherezade]

I think we have the non-reporting problem here as well. The schools here set up a very clear protocol with the health departments. Now, they are sending out messages asking parents to "please report to us if your child has flu like symptoms." My guess is that working parents are concerned about the closure of the schools. Ohio set it at 20 reported cases in a building and the building closes for 7 days. Meanwhile, we still have the same policy for individual illness: stay home 24 hours after a fever subsides.

My FIL told me that the H1N1 policies were being set by individual state health departments and not CDC. In CT (his state) they have no official school closure policy and he is concerned. (He's MD, MPH) I think this is one instance in which Federal rule would be better. I think we should have some consistency on this.

And Jennifer - maybe you did get hit with it! I've read that pregnant women are hit hard by H1N1 where others are not.

[Phoebe]

My DH is a non-reporter. He has/had the flu or possibly two things. Since he refused to see a doctor, we don't know what he caught. I don't think I have ever spent this consecutive amount of time with him even counting our honeymoon.

[Sheherezade]

I hope he feels better soon! So far, we've only had mild illness in this house (except for me - but I don't think I've had flu!). I think the H1 N1 is tricky because it can be mild. In fact, I've read that fever isn't even always a feature. In DH's department, they were warned to not use fever as a flu indicator this year -- because it may not be present. That's messed up. How can you have an illness running around that can be fatal to mostly younger healthy people....but doesn't really cause a fever or more than cold symptoms in others? I think these aberrant features of H1N1 are what has everyone in CDC concerned. I don't think we have a handle on how this bug works.