The Fun Begins

Families all over the Baltimore area are beginning to feel the effects of the onset of this year’s flu season. Only now, parents are also looking out for signs of H1N1, commonly called swine flu.
Local writer and mom, Joyce Heid, reports on her family’s bout with this illness in our special six-part blog, H1N1 411.

H1N1 411: Part 1
By Joyce Heid

The day is starting off like any other school day—me trying to get the kids to school by 8 a.m. Both kids have eaten breakfast and appear to be fine in the car.
But, by the time we get there, Dylan, the 9 year old, is in tears.
“I have a stomachache,” he says.
He doesn’t feel warm, so I tell his teacher to let me know if he gets worse.
A half-hour later, he is in the school office. He still has no fever, so, after a short rest, he goes back to class.
He’s back again at 10 a.m. Still no fever, but he has chills, a sore throat, and a headache.
I take him home. By the time we get there, he’s got a fever of 101.
Our pediatrician’s office is swamped, so we go to Patient First. Though we are checked in quickly, we wait close to two hours in the examining room to see the doctor. Dylan is restless lying on the table and just wants to go home.
Finally, the doctor comes in and, after examining Dylan, diagnoses him with having swine flu or H1N1—even though his flu test was negative.
The doctor explains that the flu test was not designed for H1N1 and is only accurate about 15 percent of the time. And, since Dylan already had the regular flu vaccine a month ago and it is too early in the season for that type of flu anyway, the doctor concludes it must be H1N1.