pushed away due to swine/H1N1 -- frusterated

[calv]

Spoke to the Nurse at the pedi's this morning. Not too happy w/them. I realize people may rush their kid in their office. NOT what I wanted. I really would like a test to rule out or confirm if DD has swine. We have 3 kids. Why are they so 1. quick to not give you tamiflu before I even got to asking her and 2. not test her. Yes there are false negatives but still. Ugggh, so annoyed! no we dont have asthma or other underlying conditions. Just don't like how I'm pushed aside. Guess I'll just storm in there if/when the fever spikes.

[almostmom]

It is frustrating when they won't give you a straight answer!

Here is what my ped nurse told me last week when DD was sick. I don't remember the exact number, but is was something like of all the cases that have been tested in the last month or two, only a handful have tested positive for the seasonal flu (it could be as high as 40, I don't remember). Basically any flu right now is swine. And I'm not really sure of the reason, but they were not giving out tamiflu if we were able to manage it with regular meds. Which we were. She had a fever for 4 full days and nights (mostly 100-101, but at times higher), but it did go away after that and she is totally fine now except a cough. Swaping between tylenol and motrin worked for us.

My guess is that the peds are totally swamped, and they don't see much reason to test for swine if they can pretty accurately assume that's what it is.

Here is a website with a map of cases around the world. This lists only 8 negative cases in the US.

http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/

Just trying to make you feel better - I hope I did!

edited to add: My son and I did not get sick, though DH was a bit under the weather for a few days, though no fever. So you don't have to assume that others in the house will get sick. And my kids are hard to keep apart! And it was impossible to keep me away from her--

[KrisM]

My neighbors tested positive for flu A. No Tamiflu, as they are able to keep the fever down with Tylenol/Motrin, and keep the kids comfortable.

DS was sick this weekend and had a 102.5 fever, cough, and was exhausted. When he had trouble breathing, I took him to Urgent Care (sat. night). He tested neg for flu, but positive for strep.

I would be annoyed for the ped not taking an appointment to check out your kids. Just because they might have the flu and they might not need Tamiflu, doesn't mean they shouldn't be seen.

[calv]

thanks for the feeback ladies. I guess it was just the nurse that rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't even ask to come in (not yet anyway) or the tamiflu and like I said she was pushing me away.

Anywho, we'll wait and see. Honestly we're bound to get it w/our oldest in school. Just a matter of WHEN! I'd rather get it now than be all really sick and miserable over the holidays coming up! Nothing worse than sick children on xmas. we had the puke bug a few yrs ago and so pitiful to see a kid not even excited about opening their gifts on xmas morning.

Does the flu/sine flu come w/a sore throat? She's having a ton of sneezing w/fever as of now. Time will tell I guess.

thanks again. Your words of wisdom and support is always appreciated!

[wendmatt]

My neighbor is a doc and says the real test takes 2 weeks to come back and costs $500 so he said it's kind of pointless to do it as the person is usually better by then. Also they don't want to over prescribe Tamiflu as it's starting to build resistance, so they are keeping it for the worst cases.

[wendibird22]

From what I've heard there is a shortage of Tamiflu so they are limiting it to only the most severe cases and/or those with underlying medical conditions. I think I saw a report on the news that pharmacists are even being asked to use the adult strength version to make the child strength version but they are running out of it.

I'm sure docs offices and their staff are at their wits end with sick patients and requests for a vax that most don't have, but I think a little extra bedside manner would go along way.

[mecawa]

From what I've heard there is a shortage of Tamiflu so they are limiting it to only the most severe cases and/or those with underlying medical conditions. I think I saw a report on the news that pharmacists are even being asked to use the adult strength version to make the child strength version but they are running out of it.

I'm sure docs offices and their staff are at their wits end with sick patients and requests for a vax that most don't have, but I think a little extra bedside manner would go along way.

I heard that about the Tamiflu too.

I have to say I've been so impressed with my ped's practice during all of this, they are really taking the parents feelings and frustrations into consideration. She will no longer test however because she feels the test is completely useless, she has seen way way too many false negatives, is what she told me my DD being one of them (we think LOL)

[minnie-zb]

Just out of curiosity, but what would happen if your child did test positive? How would this change things?

I was recently at our ped's office for a different reason (not flu) and they have flow charts up in all of the different patient rooms outlining their procedure if a child comes in with a suspected case of H1N1. Right off the bat if a child does not have an underlying health concern they do not test. They only move forward on the flow chart if the child has other health issues. I also know our ped's office is really swamped by people calling about the vaccine and people calling to insist they need tamiflu and a test.

We took our children to get flumist last Saturday and they came down with the side effects. They are now on the mend, but for all intents and purposes they came down with the flu. Maybe not as bad, but we've had 3 days of high fevers.

I'm sorry your child has the flu and hope they are feeling better soon.

[babybunny]

I'm trying to understand the way this is being handled by the doctor offices. I had to insist on the testing. DS hardly had any symptoms yet tested positive in the type A test. (He had gotten the vaccine by injection a few days before - so maybe his experience isn't typical). Once he was tested he got the script for Tamiflu. We as parents are considered high risk with underlying medical issues. So I am glad I was pro-active.

It had hit his Pre-K hard. Over half the kids are out sick. I have never seen it this bad in the five years he's been there. The school actually called to make sure I have a dr note for him to return ( I thought that was mandatory ??!!?? -- so yes, I do)

But some parents are being told by the peds that their kids just have a virus. Once these mothers hear from the other mothers that kids are testing positive for Type A flu, then they start to wonder why they didn't get that diagnosis or test. No one wants to send their kid back to school too early. The general guidelines have been that the kid must be fever free for 24 hours. My ped said 24-48 hours with the type A diagnosis. His friend no longer has a fever but continues to cough and could still be contagious. But he wasn't tested. Now the mom is thinking of hauling him back to the dr.

As for the Tamiflu - apparently the drugstores don't have it for kids so they are taking adult capsules and formulating this into a syrup for the kids dosage. Is this normal?

[hellokitty]

We called the ped on Monday morning. DS had been running a fever, coughing and had a runny nose. The phone nurse basically said that if we were able to keep his fever under 102 with tylenol/motrin that it was probably just the, "regular" flu and he didn't need tamiflu. Personally, I don't really see the point of testing for h1n1, b/c for the most part, they treat h1n1 like any other flu, it's an expensive test and takes a while for results as well. I can see why they don't test everyone for it who comes in with flu-like symptoms. With that said, I also think that they are over-estimating how many ppl have h1n1, b/c h1n1's symptoms pretty much are like any other symptoms of flu.

[babybunny]

My issue was that he had a fever and no signs of bacterial infection - so the diagnosis was a "virus". The test for Type A flu in the dr office (the rapid test) was $30. I wanted to know if we were dealing with the flu or not. According the hype or statistics or the news media, the H1N1 is potentially more serious then other viruses out there in the past. Most likely if he tested positive for Type A, it is H1N1.

[Sillygirl]

My issue was that he had a fever and no signs of bacterial infection - so the diagnosis was a "virus". The test for Type A flu in the dr office (the rapid test) was $30. I wanted to know if we were dealing with the flu or not. According the hype or statistics or the news media, the H1N1 is potentially more serious then other viruses out there in the past. Most likely if he tested positive for Type A, it is H1N1.

Let's assume you got the test.
If it's positive, you've got H1N1 flu. Without severe symptoms, the advice is control the fever, give fluids and rest.
If it's negative, you still could have H1N1 flu. Or you could have a non-influenza virus. Without severe symptoms, the advice is to control any fever, give fluids, and rest.
If you develop severe symptoms, positive or negative test, you're going to need to come back in and possibly be admitted to the hospital.

So, how does the test help you?

[bubbaray]

99.7% of the flu circulating in my area is H1N1. For the 0.3% of cases that are not H1N1, it is not worth it to test. The rapid test is not particularly accurate and the "real" test takes time to process (I've heard longer than a week). If everyone had a lab test, it would take the labs MONTHS to process the tests, taking time and resources away from patients who really needed lab tests done.

Tamiflu is not a drug without side effects and risks. By far the majority of patients will recover from H1N1 without any complications. In most people, it is a mild flu. Further there are not limitless supplies of Tamiflu. Shouldn't this drug, which can be lifesaving for those who are high risk, be saved and used where indicated?

I understand that everyone is freaked out by this flu. I'm right there with you. But I really think we need to look at the big picture. If you or your children have influenza symptoms, you/they likely have H1N1. If you/they have H1N1, the odds are overwhelmingly that it will be a mild flu without complications that can be managed without antivirals at home.

If everyone goes to the dr or the ER to get "confirmation" of what type of flu they have, the drs won't see the truly serious cases in a timely manner.

JMHO.

[niccig]

We had the same experience. I called the nurse and told her DS's symptoms to see if we needed to go in. She said it sounded like the flu and we could assume it was H1N1 as that's all that they're seeing. His fever was manageable with motrin, he didn't have difficult breathing, he was lethargic but not listless. DS was doing fine, and I didn't want to go in and wait for ages to be told to keep giving him motrin, give fluids and rest - I was already doing all of that. Now, if he had underlying medical issues or someone in the family did, or he was having difficult, then it would be a different matter.

DS's school follows the CDC guidelines of no fever for 24 hours without using motrin/tylenol. I kept him home longer.

It would be nice to know if he did have H1N1, as that would answer the q. of whether we give him the vax or not. But I understand why they're not doing the test as everyone explained above. We're assuming he had h1N1, so no vax. I actually hope he did have it, so it's over and done with for our family (DH and I were sick, I was less sick though so maybe not), before the holiday season.

[babybunny]

I wanted the test done on my DS to know if we were going to be living with an actively sick kid with the flu. DS is high risk and couldn't find the vaccine. Plus he has gotten the seasonal flu shot the day my son was diagnosed with type A flu -- so that makes him more prone to picking up the H1N1 virus. I have asthma and really wanted to know what we were dealing with.

A child in my son's class tested positive for type A flu this week. Her mom is pregnant and insisted on the test. She cancelled her birthday party on Sunday as she was told to keep her daughter isolated from people for 7 days.

I personally think that by having the doctors tell you it could be H1N1 you take the isolation issue more seriously. If you are told it's just a virus you don't treat it as seriously in terms of keeping your child away from everyone.

My SIL still hosted a birthday party this past weekend for over twenty kids. Her DS was sick with flu symptoms earlier in the week, but her doctor said it was probably just a virus. She brought both kids back on Friday with worse symptoms - double ear infections/sinus infections, etc and were given anitbiotics. She considered them non-contagious 24 hours after they got the antibiotics and she considered them not contagious on Sunday. If she were told that they might have the flu and to keep them isolated for 7 days the world would be a better place.

There seems to be evidence that if you have H1N1 and are coughing, you are still contagious a few days after the fever ends. Prior to this fall, most parents would send their children back to school 24 hours after fever free whether they are coughing or not.

[egoldber]

A child in my son's class tested positive for type A flu this week. Her mom is pregnant and insisted on the test. She cancelled her birthday party on Sunday as she was told to keep her daughter isolated from people for 7 days.


No one that I personally know is being told this by their peds. Our peds have said it is generally a mild flu, but watch for signs of a child who seems to get better but then suddenly seems very ill again.

[JBaxter]

No one that I personally know is being told this by their peds. Our peds have said it is generally a mild flu, but watch for signs of a child who seems to get better but then suddenly seems very ill again.


I agree with Beth. The only thing that is being told here from the peds and the ER ( brother and sister both are ER nurses) is treat the symptoms and when you are fever free for 24hrs go on with life.