FORUMS > Gay Men's Health Forum Rules

A friend of mine in Winnipeg Canada contracted swine flu. He is the first person I know personally to contacted it. Do you personally know anyone that contracted it?

Not really, but there was this girl in my school that like three days ago died from it, =

Yes. I go to Washington State University which was (and remains) the hardest hit school in the country with swine flu. I would saw about 60% of my friends had or have it. For most of them it is just a horrendous flu that lasts about 5 days with vomiting, headaches, fever, and being excessively tired. The whole campus has been virtually empty the past two weeks and there are health ppl everywhere. CNN, Fox News, and ABC News were all here last week doing reports on it.

U of A has had a few cases. Ironically the woman responsible for the campus's health in the face of H1N1 contracted the virus. A few people in my building have been placed on self-quarantine since they showed symptoms. So far, nothing major.

My cousin had it, and nobody had a clue it was a big family get together,and gladly I didnt get it. I didn't find out till after he was over it. Just a minor case though.

Oddly, I have the flu at the moment, but have no way of knowing the type. The doctor today confirmed I had the flu, but didn't take any sample (saliva, swab, blood, nothing) so the strain is indeterminant.

I work at UCLA, and have to say I'm a bit anxious. I feel our building is a bit of a petri dish to begin because of the level of traffic (not necessarily a statement on hygiene of those passing through it).

Some new observations about H1N1 aren't helping:

* hand-washing, while good practice, probably does little to protect people against H1N1, you're almost certain to contract it from inhaling it. And if you're thinking about wearing one of those face masks, most of them offer little to no protection against viruses

* people are contagious for about a WEEK after their fever breaks, longer than the 3-4 days first thought.

So, the lesson is, if you think you might be coming down with something, STAY HOME!!! Do not infect your friends and coworkers.

Another friend of mine has the Swine Flu. I haven't had any personal contact with him for a few weeks, so I know I didn't get it from him.

One of my favorite neighbors realized she had it when she was on her way back from a trip with her partner. They got her to a hospital right away and they told her that if she did not go in that day that should would have died right away. They have since had to put her into a drug induced coma to help give her body a chance to recover from the respiratory part of it. She is not doing well and her partner just called me in tears.

Another neighbor that works at a hospital told me that a young pregnant mother of 3 died on Sunday in her hospital from it.

So please, do what you can to stay healthy.

Wow, Metta8, very sorry to hear that your neighbor is so ill.

My 12 year old son woke this morning with what looks like flu - high fever, body aches, lethargy, etc. We'll see how it unfolds. H1N1 is characterized as "widespread" in southern Maine, which starts at the border 5 miles from our place in NH.

As the morning has gone on I've been getting chills and a sore throat so I may have picked up whatever bug Calum has.

phemt saidA friend of mine in Winnipeg Canada contracted swine flu. He is the first person I know personally to contacted it. Do you personally know anyone that contracted it?

It's running pretty rampant around here. So many sick at work and many schools have decided to close because of about 20% of students with the flu. They are urging everyone that if you start feeling sick to stay at home and not keep spreading it.

They just closed the High School in my town last Monday and Tuesday because of an outbreak. First school closure in the state.

Only 11 people have died from it, but it does keep you home for a week or more and some have a cough for several more weeks. It's a lot more severe than the regular flu, which they said hasn't even hit this year yet. They are trying to get more vaccines here, but it is in short supply right now. They are only vaccinating people in high risk oocupations right now.

G_Force saidOnly 11 people have died from it, but it does keep you home for a week or more and some have a cough for several more weeks. It's a lot more severe than the regular flu, which they said hasn't even hit this year yet. They are trying to get more vaccines here, but it is in short supply right now. They are only vaccinating people in high risk oocupations right now.

Only 11 people. You would think people are falling like flies

MSUBioNerd saidOddly, I have the flu at the moment, but have no way of knowing the type. The doctor today confirmed I had the flu, but didn't take any sample (saliva, swab, blood, nothing) so the strain is indeterminant.

They are not testing any more here because it is just infecting their staff and other patients and there's really not much a doctor can do anyways.

Blondizgd said

G_Force saidOnly 11 people have died from it, but it does keep you home for a week or more and some have a cough for several more weeks. It's a lot more severe than the regular flu, which they said hasn't even hit this year yet. They are trying to get more vaccines here, but it is in short supply right now. They are only vaccinating people in high risk oocupations right now.

Only 11 people. You would think people are falling like flies

More people have died from it, but only 11 confirmed cases in WI and they were all people who also had other health problems. If your body is healthy otherwise, it just takes time to get over it.

Survival of the fittest- when people start dropping like flies - wake me

Blondizgd saidSurvival of the fittest- when people start dropping like flies - wake me

I was wrong. There are 14 deaths now. 3 more died this week from it.

Yup. Me. I got it from our son.

I contracted it last Tuesday, 10/20. Went from a sore throat, to body aches and extreme fatigue, then a runny nose, then on Thursday a fever of 101.7. That's when I started getting the gut wrenching coughing. I'm STILL coughing, and have been wheezing. The doctor prescribed an inhaler (I've never had any breathing problems before, so that was something new).

My partner works at Washington State University (45 minutes away), and Lewiston, Idaho, where we live has stopped doing tests for H1N1. If you're symptomatic, they assume that you have it, since 90% of the swabs taken returned positive for H1N1, and treat you accordingly.

Ugh.

Fond du Lac County, which is about 25 miles south is the worst with about 10,000 who have it. So, they are getting federal funding to fight it. They better not come up here. lol

What's so scary about this flu season is that the number of cases in mid-october are double the cases seen at the peak of flu season(mid-January) over the past 3 years.

In Texas, there have only been about 4 or 5 confirmed cases of seasonal flu, the rest has all been swine flu. Seasonal flu isn't really reared its head as of yet...

My doctor read a statistic that 40% of working americans would miss over a week of work this flu season this year...these numbers are staggering and are significantly higher than we have seen in a very long time.

It's so important to get both the H1N1 AND seasonal flu vaccine this year!!!!

Federal funds help FdL County fight flu

By Sharon Roznik
The Reporter sroznik@fdlrepoorter.com

The Fond du Lac County Health Department has so far received $52,000 in federal money to help combat the H1N1 pandemic.

Health Officer Diane Cappozzo told County Board members Tuesday night the department expects an additional $130,000 in public health emergency response funding to cover the cost of setting up school and community-based clinics.

Meanwhile, the county still waits for the promised vaccines. Cappozzo estimates that so far about 10 percent of the county's population, around 10,000 people, have had swine flu.

A woman in Oconto County died because of complications related to swine flu, officials announced Tuesday as the state worked on prioritizing the vaccine. This brings the statewide death total to 14 since spring.

The State Department of Health Services said, beginning next week, it wants public and private health-care providers to refrain from mass public vaccination clinics unless they are targeted at those most at risk.

Wisconsin has been allocated a total of 407,000 doses of swine flu vaccine as of Tuesday, the health department said.

"We are aware of the limited availability of H1N1. We still have some health care workers that haven't been offered vaccine at this time," Cappozzo said.

Cappozzo said locally officials are focused on prioritizing target groups.

The state Department of Health Services recommended that the public health and health care community focus vaccination efforts on pregnant women, people who live with or provide care for children younger than 6 months old, and health-care and emergency medical services personnel who have direct contact with patients or infectious material. It also listed children ages 6 months to 4 years old, and children 5 to 18 years old who have chronic medical conditions as those in high-priority groups.

A limited supply of the H1N1 flu mist is available through the Health Department for healthy individuals between the age of 2 and 49, Cappozzo said.

"People are calling in, and if we don't have vaccine at this time, we are putting them on a call back list, so we can notify them," she said.

ickymuffin saidWhat's so scary about this flu season is that the number of cases in mid-october are double the cases seen at the peak of flu season(mid-January) over the past 3 years.

In Texas, there have only been about 4 or 5 confirmed cases of seasonal flu, the rest has all been swine flu. Seasonal flu isn't really reared its head as of yet...

My doctor read a statistic that 40% of working americans would miss over a week of work this flu season this year...these numbers are staggering and are significantly higher than we have seen in a very long time.

It's so important to get both the H1N1 AND seasonal flu vaccine this year!!!!

By the time they get any vaccines here, we'll all have had it already. There's no vaccines available any more because I called. But I can't afford to miss a week of work. But, they said I can't have a vaccine anyways because I am not considered high risk.

oh no, my daughter just emailed me from college in MN and she has the swine flu now about 20% have it at her college. Its affecting kids and young adults more because older people have more of an immunity to it.

her roommate will probably get it too now

No not yet. I'm sure by winter that will change by winter.

All three of my roommates have it right now.. I'm the only one who hasn't gotten it... yet

Kinda epidemic here. Most flu cases here are now Swine so they have stopped testing. I know 6 people that have it .... with even thinking to much about it.

I had it at the beginning of this whole "Scare". Its really nothing to worry about if you remember to eat often and drink fluids and all the normal care you would give yourself if you had any normal flu. Miso soup and Japanese green tea kicked mine in about 4-5 days.

How about the guys who are hiv poz

Do you have to take any more care???

G_Force saidFond du Lac County, which is about 25 miles south is the worst with about 10,000 who have it. So, they are getting federal funding to fight it. They better not come up here. lol

Federal funding - those damn tax dollars being put to use.

I came down with it last night - hacking cough, high fever (102.7), chills, lethargy, muscle aches, headache. My hunch is I got it from my son who had it last week. In his case it came on fast and it went away pretty quickly too (4 days). I'm hoping I can shake this by the end of this week. I've been on Tamiflu since my son became sick last week. It obviously didn't stop me from being infected, neither have my symptoms been any less severe than my son's. But it may shorten the duration of the symptoms. My doctor's advice is to sleep as much as I can, stay hydrated and keep ahead of the fever with tylenol and ibuprofen. He also prescribed serevent inhalers.

I was interested to find that both my son's doctor and mine had no interest at all in testing for flu or H1N1 in particular. I was told "if the symptoms are consistent with H1N1, we're assuming that's what it is and we only need to see patients experiencing complications or who are in high risk groups."

Wow, your new pic, Phemt...if looks could kill, you'd be more dangerous than Swine Flu.

Blondizgd saidHow about the guys who are hiv poz

Do you have to take any more care???

We are a high priority population
right after health care workers, the pregnant, and people in households with infants under 6 months.

We CANNOT have the inhaled vaccine; only the injection is safe for poz.

I'm trying to track down a vaccination ASAP.

My sister had a confirmed case, very mild and lasted about 4 days. No hospitalization or medication, just rest and lots of fluids.

two of my students had it last Spring . But they told me it had been benign , some fever, fatigue etc.
Both are 13-14 y.o boys and are good friends and no one else in their family got it.

I had it a couple of weeks ago.


It sucked.

I got the worst of it while traveling for work sucked.
High high fever (102.6 F)
Sweats
Cough
Discoloration (grey skin, purple lips - butthat could b e from the copious amounts of cough drops)


I was laid out for 5 days Then went back to the office after the following weekend (8 days out total) with a voice that sounded like I was a 2 pack of cigarettes a day.

flieslikeabeagle said
I came down with it last night - hacking cough, high fever (102.7), chills, lethargy, muscle aches, headache. My hunch is I got it from my son who had it last week. In his case it came on fast and it went away pretty quickly too (4 days). I'm hoping I can shake this by the end of this week. I've been on Tamiflu since my son became sick last week. It obviously didn't stop me from being infected, neither have my symptoms been any less severe than my son's. But it may shorten the duration of the symptoms. My doctor's advice is to sleep as much as I can, stay hydrated and keep ahead of the fever with tylenol and ibuprofen. He also prescribed serevent inhalers.

I was interested to find that both my son's doctor and mine had no interest at all in testing for flu or H1N1 in particular. I was told "if the symptoms are consistent with H1N1, we're assuming that's what it is and we only need to see patients experiencing complications or who are in high risk groups."

They really don't want you coming in because it just infects everyone who is there and they won't be able to do anything anyways..

I had it recently and can't ever recall being that ill. My fever hit 102.9 with a cataclysmic cough, headache, skin discolouration, etc. It all came within one night and was out for about 2 weeks.

Not all the tea in china, washing of hands, and tofurkey can slow this one down...

So many have it that's it 's going to be pretty hard not to get it, unless you escape to an island all by yourself.

A work colleague's son has it. They live in a different state though.

someone here died from H1N1，but i don't know for sure

A guy from our church died last week from it and his funeral was Saturday. It's really hitting WI hard and some people are dying from it.

It's the big news story in our paper every night. We got some vacines now and there was a long line but they are only vacinating high risk groups.



November 9, 2009
Hundreds crowd into Grand Chute H1N1 swine flu clinic

By Steve Wideman
Post-Crescent staff writer

GRAND CHUTE — A crowd estimated by public health officials at 500 lined up outside Appleton Alliance Church on Monday for the Fox Valley’s first large-scale H1N1 flu vaccination clinic.

People with young children and others in government-defined target groups began gathering more than two hours before the 3 p.m. start in hopes of getting one of the 800 swine flu doses available.

“We knew how difficult it’s been to get the H1N1 vaccine so we decided to get here as soon as we could,” said Yadira Rein, who sought an H1N1 injection for her 17-month-old son.

Rein arrived at the church on 2693 W. Grand Chute Blvd. at 12:45 p.m. and rotated places at the front of the line with her mother, Lupe Eake.

“Every doctor I know has recommended my son get the H1N1 vaccine, and I trust my doctors,” Rein said.

The majority of those in line at the clinic brought young children, one of the target groups to receive the limited swine flu vaccine.

Wisconsin is one of 48 states reporting widespread influenza activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Since April 2009, the CDC has received reports nationwide of 129 laboratory-confirmed pediatric H1N1 deaths.

The Outagamie County Health Department sponsored Monday’s clinic.

“We’re not surprised by the turnout. The H1N1 outbreak has been getting a lot of press attention and we encouraged people to get the vaccine,” said Bill Hinkley, public information officer for Outagamie County.

The Appleton Health Department, which has 3,400 of the doses, is coordinating a clinic from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Northland Mall, 900 W. Northland Ave.

the latest statistics are 22 million have gotten swine flu in the US and 4,000 deaths.

Yes, i know plenty.

My first warning, is to be skeptical of reported cases of swine flu.
In mid-summer the World Health Organization (WHO) sent out a communiqué for countries to follow, which advised in no longer "testing" for swine flu, but simply diagnosing based upon symptoms. thus, the numbers are drastically inflated and people are struck with fear of a pandemic.

first off, it is just a flu. nothing to freak out over.
more people in the US die from the regular flu every year than have died all over the world from swine flu.

also, the reported deaths of swine flu are often when people who are already very sick get infected, or very young/old, and have weak immune systems.

nothing to freak out or get vaccinated over. especially since the vaccines havent been well tested, and now Sweden is reporting possible vaccine-related deaths.

i'd rather take my chances with the flu, thanks.

pop some vitamins, eat healthy, suffer through it, and move on.

fear makes people forget how to think.

GuiltyGear said
Wow, your new pic, Phemt...if looks could kill, you'd be more dangerous than Swine Flu.

Thank you.

The $20 is in the mail

It is much more severe and more widespread here in WI than the regular flu and schools are closing when absenteeism has reached 20% of students. If you have any health problems at all, it can be life threatening.

No not one, but we were talking at work the other day, how it's putting american health care on it's knees.

My ex just got it. He also didn't "cobra" himself on his health insurance after he left his job here, so he's really up shit creek without a paddle. And if the truth is to be told, I honestly have mixed emotions about it...

I just recovered from H1N1. I am an undergrad at a residential liberal arts college; so many of my friends had it before I did. I got the vaccine ( a nasal mist ). However, within 10 days of the vaccine, I contracted it. I've never been sicker in my life. I got complications where I couldn't breathe at all, my temp was up to 104.4 and I was rushed to the hospital by the health staff. I had a bad case of pneumonia. This is no joke. The nurse at the ER explained that I'm lucky I got it now, because the more virulent symptoms will come later in the flu season, meaning it will have more severe symptoms. It's been almost a week and a half and I still am not feeling up to par. I'm 20 years old, strong healthy and disease free. Apparently the vaccine takes 2 weeks to be effective and I contracted it within those 2 weeks.