I heard a news report today suggesting the best age group to inoculate first against the H1N1 flu is schoolchildren. Various studies point out that the flu tends to spread amongst people that spend lots of time together, like students. Then the students go home and infect their parents, who then spread the flu at work or out in the community.
Well, duh! I could've told them that. Schools are like big petri dishes. Viruses brew and spread, regardless of how many hand sanitizers are available. And I can almost predict when an illness still strike.
Every year, like clockwork, one of my kids brings home the September Cold. This usually occurs within the first two weeks of school. I'm already dreading it, knowing it will then go through the house person by person. Nothing stops the September Cold. It's similar to the April Cold, which attacks when our immune systems are battered and bruised from a long winter and tired of fighting the good fight. Oddly enough, the April Cold usually appears during a spell of warm weather, adding insult to injury.
Then there's the post-Thanksgiving flu arrival, almost guaranteed. Kids scatter to visit far-flung relatives and bring back the flu, along with extra turkey. I'm sure there's a map somewhere online showing the transmission routes.
This year, for the first time, we may be exposed to the Camp virus. DS15 is away at a soccer camp for a week (first time ever...yes, I'm nervous). I know group living, along with less-than-optimal sleep, will wear the boys out and make them susceptible to whatever's brewing. I've also heard that something like 40% of camps in the Northeast have had some H1N1 flu already this summer. We'll see what he brings home with him, along with dirty laundry.
So really, next time anyone needs data on virus transmission, just go ask a mom. I'm pretty sure we're as accurate as the CDC.
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Not to mention that young adults seem to be hit hardest and be in most danger from this flu.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind forgoing the shot if I knew my students were inoculated.
I'm apprehensive about this fall because I fear if we get students who are sick, they will still come to class and will spread the flu. I have already told the one "service class" I teach (where I dont' get to set the policies) that the "attendance policy" goes out the window if someone has H1N1 - I do not want them coming to class. (I SAID an enforced attendance policy was a bad idea...)