E.B.
Three years ago, we all got Influenza A, because the strains the flu shot covered were not the ones that went around. Most years, according to my doc (who has three small kids), they are very accurate, and DO in fact prevent the most frequent, common, and vicious strains that go around. Last year, H1N1 went around our area well before we got the vaccine, so my family had that, too. If you are willing and really want to avoid the flu, I would hurry to your doc and ask for an anti-viral medicine, like Tamiflu. My doc isn't a big fan of Tamiflu; she says it might just be worse than actually having the flu. But ask your doc about side effects and determine for yourself whether it's worth it. One big side effect is nausea, and to ME, that's worse than having influenza...but that's me. You also have to catch influenza in the first couple days to give an anti-viral to the family. We never did it, partially because it took a couple days for us to be sure our kids were so miserable it had to be flu before we went to the doc. Um...influenza stinks. When my oldest has had it, he is so miserable he doesn't even want to watch tv. Tylenol will help reduce the high fever, and will go a long ways toward making them comfortable, but my kids were so miserable the Tylenol made them nauseated and my younger actually threw it up, with H1N1. It is HIGHLY contagious. If you have particularly vulnerable people in your family and the ability to remove them from your house, I'd recommend doing it. I would say that a week is definitely what it will take for her to recover. I think our fevers were typically gone sooner than that, but the total fatigue made the idea of going to school just impossible. He would never had made it through the day. I'd also say that, after a week, you'll definitely know who else has it. We counted on at least a week from work/school and then another week where we dragged our behinds around, trying to act normal at work/school, and then another week to recover the house--laundry, dishes, general cleaning that didn't get done because we were so sick and tired. In my experience, day 1 is the worst. When we had H1N1, I didn't leave my bed for 27 hours, and we have two small kids, so that's saying something. I didn't eat. I got up to pee, but it was torture. After that, I was tired and miserable, but not on the verge of delirious. (Ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but not a ton.) Anyway--it IS highly contagious, and in both cases, my whole family got it. I was concerned about this year, because we had a baby in December, so my whole family got vaccinated AND I am being super-careful about handwashing this year. Anyway--good luck. Hunker down. I found it helped to get out and purchase a few new things for my kids to do when they felt better. We also threw out conventions like night and day, letting them and us sleep when we could and be up when we could. It seemed there really wasn't such a thing as too much sleep, with influenza. They and we could always sleep more. Good luck! You have my sympathy!
