A panel of experts answered reader questions Monday during a Daily Press online chat on H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu.
The panelists answering reader questions were William Berg, Hampton Health Department director; David Trump, Peninsula Health District director; and Daria Weber, health services supervisor of Newport News Public Schools.
Here are a few highlights from the conversation. Read the full text at dailypress.com/fluchat.
Q: How long of an incubation time is it before you usually get it?
Trump: The incubation period for flu is 1-4 days... most commonly 2 days. The incubation period is the time from being exposed to experiencing symptoms.
Q: A lot of my children's friends have been sick and even though their doctors say that they have H1N1 they are not getting Tamiflu. Why not??
Trump: If a person gets the flu (H1N1), they might not need Tamiflu. If they were healthy and the illness is being tolerated, Tamiflu is not indicated. Tamiflu might shorten the overall illness by 1-2 days, but it is not necessary to recover from the flu.
Q: As a maternity patient, I reluctantly received the H1N1 vaccine 2 weeks ago. For the past 4 days, I've noticed soreness where they administered the shot. Is this normal?
Berg: Do you get the flu from the flu shot? No. The injectable vaccine is made from killed virus and can't infect you with the virus. The most common reaction some people have is mild tenderness, redness and swelling at the vaccination site. This goes away on its own. A few of these people might have an overall mildly sick feeling as part of this reaction, but this is not the flu.
The other vaccine is FluMist, the nasal spray. This might give people a slight runny, stuffy nose and a headache, but that's all.
Q: How long does H1N1 last outside of the body, i.e., on contaminated shopping carts?
Trump: The flu virus can live on environmental surfaces for 2-8 hours. Those surfaces could include door handles, phone handsets, computer keyboards, counter tops and shopping cart handles. The best protection is to practice good personal hand hygiene.
Q: Since pregnant women have been especially hit hard, what advice do you have for those that would like to conceive?
Trump: Pregnant women definitely should get the H1N1 flu vaccine now. The partner of a woman who will deliver soon should also get the H1N1 vaccine now, so that they are protected when their infant is born.
If someone plans to conceive in the next few months, they should definitely consider getting the H1N1 flu vaccine before they conceive.
Q: What is the procedure for letting parents know when a child at the school has swine flu?
Weber: For students who have flulike illnesses — a temperature over 100, with a cough, sore throat or headache — school nurses are calling parents and sending the student home. Parents are being told that we are seeing quite a bit of flulike illness, although things have slowed down during the past two weeks.
We must protect the individual rights of students and cannot make comments on particular students. As far as I know, we have not had any students hospitalized.
The panelists answering reader questions were William Berg, Hampton Health Department director; David Trump, Peninsula Health District director; and Daria Weber, health services supervisor of Newport News Public Schools.
Here are a few highlights from the conversation. Read the full text at dailypress.com/fluchat.
Q: How long of an incubation time is it before you usually get it?
Trump: The incubation period for flu is 1-4 days... most commonly 2 days. The incubation period is the time from being exposed to experiencing symptoms.
Q: A lot of my children's friends have been sick and even though their doctors say that they have H1N1 they are not getting Tamiflu. Why not??
Trump: If a person gets the flu (H1N1), they might not need Tamiflu. If they were healthy and the illness is being tolerated, Tamiflu is not indicated. Tamiflu might shorten the overall illness by 1-2 days, but it is not necessary to recover from the flu.
Q: As a maternity patient, I reluctantly received the H1N1 vaccine 2 weeks ago. For the past 4 days, I've noticed soreness where they administered the shot. Is this normal?
Berg: Do you get the flu from the flu shot? No. The injectable vaccine is made from killed virus and can't infect you with the virus. The most common reaction some people have is mild tenderness, redness and swelling at the vaccination site. This goes away on its own. A few of these people might have an overall mildly sick feeling as part of this reaction, but this is not the flu.
The other vaccine is FluMist, the nasal spray. This might give people a slight runny, stuffy nose and a headache, but that's all.
Q: How long does H1N1 last outside of the body, i.e., on contaminated shopping carts?
Trump: The flu virus can live on environmental surfaces for 2-8 hours. Those surfaces could include door handles, phone handsets, computer keyboards, counter tops and shopping cart handles. The best protection is to practice good personal hand hygiene.
Q: Since pregnant women have been especially hit hard, what advice do you have for those that would like to conceive?
Trump: Pregnant women definitely should get the H1N1 flu vaccine now. The partner of a woman who will deliver soon should also get the H1N1 vaccine now, so that they are protected when their infant is born.
If someone plans to conceive in the next few months, they should definitely consider getting the H1N1 flu vaccine before they conceive.
Q: What is the procedure for letting parents know when a child at the school has swine flu?
Weber: For students who have flulike illnesses — a temperature over 100, with a cough, sore throat or headache — school nurses are calling parents and sending the student home. Parents are being told that we are seeing quite a bit of flulike illness, although things have slowed down during the past two weeks.
We must protect the individual rights of students and cannot make comments on particular students. As far as I know, we have not had any students hospitalized.
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