Last Spring we had a bad "stomach" flu (what I called the plague). My 5 year old brought it home, she was violently sick first, then the whole family got it. It was awful! I would say the worst flu I've ever seen. Period.
Is there any way to know NOW if what we had then was H1N1? Wondering if we need to get the special vaccination for H1N1 if we've already been vaccinated against this year's seasonal flu? Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Sara
Here's our story if you want to know the symptoms/pattern:
My kindergartner got it first and IT WAS BAD! It was simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea. I had never seen liquid leave a human body as fast as she did. I am not one to go to the hospital - child birth and stitches only...except in this case. Within 12 hrs of starting the illness, my daughter hadn't been able to keep anything down - not a drop of water, Pedialyte, Gatorade, juice, nothing. By 1am I was so worried about her dehydration levels (of course on a Saturday night) that I called our pediatricians emergency service and they confirmed I needed to take her to the ER.
The ER drs were nice, but seemed surprised to see us so early (within 12 hrs of her getting it). I explained that even though she wasn't far into the illness, she was malaise, dehydrated and unable to keep ANYTHING down for several hours. They gave us some antinausea medication and a couple of hours later she was able to eat a popsicle (and keep it down). So they sent us home. It was a slow recovery, but she eventually got her appetite and strength back. Then it hit the rest of us...
It was THE WORST flu I have ever had. Running to the bathroom every 5 minutes to vomit. Any little bit of fluids would come back up within minutes. We were so tired, weak and exhausted from the vomiting and diarrhea that we just wanted it to end. We couldn't leave the house - we were afraid to infect other people. I contemplated asking the Jewel store manager to bring meds, food and fluid to my car door! Luckily my Mom helped.
It was unbelievably awful and to see our kids go through it was heartbreaking.
I have heard that H1N1 is more resperatory and not the vomiting, Could be another form of the flu since there are a million strains. I guess you will never truely know and just pray that they do not get sick again this year.
Sounds to me like you may have had roto virus, but there is no way to know now.
The vaccine for H1N1 is different from the seasonal flu vaccine. It takes 2 weeks to become effective.
What did your doctor say about it? My daughter just got over h1n1. My doctor told me the symptoms are all pretty much the same -- fever that comes on quickly and goes up quickly, and lots of body aches and upper respiratory issues like coughing and junk in your chest. He didn't say anything about stomach upset and I know several kids now who have had it (diagnosed) and none of them vomited. Hope that helps. Take care.
It sounds more like you guys had some sort of gastrointestinal thing, like the stomach flu, not influenza. The seasonal flu and H1N1 are strains of influenza and they are typically characterized by sore throats, high fevers, body aches. The H1N1 has been shown to cause vomiting and diarrhea in some cases, but it isn't the predominant symptom. My whole family also had the nasty stomach bug you are talking about last spring. It was awful and I have never had a stomach "flu" like that before. It was pure liquid for 3 days coming out the wrong end if you know what I mean. I was very concerned about my daughter dehydrating, but we just stayed in bed and pushed fluid until it passed. The stomach flu isn't really the "flu" though, it is gastroenteritis. Both stink and there are millions of different strains to get. Nothing you can take for stomach flu, besides the anti-nausea meds if your doc will prescribe them. Try and be rested and as healthy as possible during this flu season. All the best to you!
nope- can't tell after the fact since you don't have the virus anymore and that's what they test for.
