Influenza

Mollie woke up with "sick symptoms" yesterday morning. Because she was exposed to strep over the weekend I decided to take her in to the doctor right away. The strep culture was negative, so they decided to do a flu test (didn't even know such a thing existed). Unfortunately, it came back positive.

The doctor offered us an anti-viral, Tamaflu, because within 48 hours of onset it can significantly reduce symptoms and reduce the active phase of illness. I decided to give it to her, even though it cost us $44 out-of-pocket (thanks to lovely self-employed insurance). It was money well spent! Mollie had her first symptoms at 8am yesterday and had her last known fever yesterday evening. (Although I think she had a few fevers during the night, because I heard some whimpering over the monitor.) She woke up symptom free this morning and is acting back to her old-self already! Praise Jesus! (And thank you Tamaflu!)

The flu is very scary, especially with h1n1 this year, but we have found that there are things you can do to reduce the seriousness of symptoms. According to Mollie's doctor the keys are: catch it early, get right into the doctor if you suspect the illness is more than a cold, take the anti-viral, and take daily vitamins (poly-vi-sol for little ones).

Just thought I'd share our experience. Hope it helps relieve some fears of the flu and helps you handle it quickly.

PS- According to the material distributed by our doctor's office, influenza and h1n1 symptoms do not include vomiting. The biggest indicators of the flu are high fevers, muscle aches, icky noses, and coughing. (Yes, scarily similar to a bad cold!)