In the first three weeks of school, my son was home sick for four days. The second week of school he had strep throat. The following week he came home with a high fever, chills, and was lethargic and vomiting. Normally, I’d feed him Tylenol and baby him unless his symptoms got worse. But N1H1, the feared swine flu, is making its way through the Southeast. Virtually all flu cases at this time are considered to be the Swine flu by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). I had heard too many stories of otherwise healthy people dying because of …read more

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) have said that the world seems to be on track for the first H1N1 influenza vaccines to be approved by September. The so-called swine flu has been making its way around the world and scientists have been working at developing a vaccine before the virus makes its second wave, affecting even more people.
Developing a vaccine is intense work that can go in the wrong direction at any time. The many steps involved in developing the vaccine and ensuring  its safety and efficacy takes time. The WHO has outlined how this is done in …read more

With the common cold and the seasonal flu making their rounds regularly, it’s still surprising how many people don’t know the difference between the two.
Here in northern hemisphere, seasonal flu season is ending. It runs from late fall to spring, with the peak usually being in January and February. But, with the advent of the H1N1 virus, people are talking more about the flu than usual.
There seems to be two distinct camps of people when it comes to influenza and it’s hard for anyone to fit in the middle. Either you’re one of those people who feel that you’ve been …read more

First it was Tamiflu that is linked to abnormal behavior in young persons.
Now it is Relenza and Symmetrel.
The Japan health ministry revealed that 16 cases, two of them leading to death, have been linked to the use of two more anti-flu drugs – Zanamivir (sold as Relenza) and Amantadine (sold as Symmetrel).
A Japanese panel looking into the causal relationship between Tamiflu and abnormal behavior found the disturbing incidents in influenza patients taking either Relenza or Symmetrel.
[Source: asahi.com]
Tags: tamiflu, relenza, symmetrel, anti-flu drugs, abnormal behavior

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of FluMist for children under 5, despite concerns that the nasal spray vaccine caused increased respiratory problems in some patients.
According to the FDA website, the vaccine appears to prevent influenza in children as young as six months. Currently, the nasal spray is only recommended for children and adults age 5 to 49. However, clinical testing results also showed that children on FluMist were more likely to develop wheexing problems when compared to children treated with an injectable vaccine.
Honestly, I don’t know how well received this will be by young children. It’s …read more

One more reason for patients with heart problems to get vaccinated -

Influenza epidemics are associated with a rise in autopsy-confirmed coronary deaths.

An 8-year study found that coronary deaths due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) coincided with peaks of influenza epidemics. Published April 17 in the European Heart Journal, the team of Dr. Mohammad Madjid of the University of Texas studied autopsy reports in St. Petersburg, Russia and found that the odds of an AMI and chronic IHD death increased by 1.30 during weeks of flu epidemics.

Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is probably the most widely used drug to treat influenza, but several months ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to watch for signs of bizarre behavior in children taking the flu drug.
Today, Japan took that warning one step further and ordered doctors not to give Tamiflu to teenagers, after a total of 15 teens taking the drug either killed or injured themselves since 2004. In the past two months alone, two 12-year old boys taking Tamiflu jumped out of their houses in separate incidents. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also reported that …read more

Hsien Lei, a Londoner, is b5media’s Genetics and Health/Hearty Life guru, editor to 2 channels, full-time mom, genetics scientist in her previous life, and “superwoman” all rolled into one. With everything on her belt you’d think she should be immune from getting sick. Nah.
So read how a busy mom like Hsien managed the family when she got sick.

I was sick for almost the entire month of January and almost nothing changed routine-wise. I just sucked it up and moved on. Although I have to say that I wish I had started taking the OTC cold/flu meds sooner because it …read more

Sparked by my harrowing learning experience of getting sick for two weeks, I began asking moms about their coping mechanisms when they get sick. Gayla McCord from Indiana has this very unique technique when she gets the flu -

I haven’t had the flu for a few years, but there were a few times when my boys were little that I had it terribly.
When the boys were toddlers (I have twins) — I purposely set up their playroom for just such occasions because I was a single mom and didn’t have anyone that would help at the time.
The playroom had a …read more

Last week, Australia’ pop diva Kylie Minoge was forced to cancel her shows due to flu.
Yesterday, she was well enough to perform one more date on her “Homecoming” tour. Ticket holders were able to see her at Manchester’s MEN Arena.

Kylie said, “I would like to apologize to those who attended last Saturday night’s show. I was hoping to feel better as the day went on but, unfortunately, the opposite was true. I’m sorry for all those who were inconvenienced by the postponements.”

I don’t think anyone faults her for taking a break. After all, she just survived a rigorous round of …read more