Staying Home During This Flu Epidemic?

I truly wouldn't know how you would completely protect against the flu no matter what you do. You do buy groceries don't you? You never know if someone infected touched the door handle, shopping cart or even the box of cereal that you just bought.

I think that you would do better to just wash hands a lot and use hand sanitizer in situations where you can't get to a sink.

You can't be protected from anything 100%, so you just need to take the basic precautions. I got my flu shot last year but still got the flu 3 months later. Staying home locked in is quite extreme in my opinion.

If I were you I would be careful, but I would not stay home completely. I would avoid places where tons of kids are, but I would still live my life. Ask friends with colds to stay away or avoid kissing the baby.

This may come out wrong and rude but just to let you know ahead of time that really is not my intention.

The reason why these viruses are going crazy and everyone gets hits so hard is because of what you are doing...staying inside, not exposing you or your young one to germs that can help build the immune system. People are overusing hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial soap. Kids and adults die in the hundreds every year, this is no epidemic. I do not get my son or daughter the flu shots, I let them play in the dirt and mud, and they are out and about with out sanitizing shopping carts, and washing our hands every time we touch something. I can honestly say that my kids are never sick, other than my daughters allergies.
When and if they do get a cough or cold I am not running to the doctors to ask for anti-biotic for something that is viral.

I am not saying that this is what you do, but people need to understand you can't hide in your house because when you do get sick, your body has nothing built up to fight it off.

We get the flu shot, wash our hands and go on with our lives.

Unless you want to bubble wrap yourself til June, you should take reasonable precautions abut not sequester yourself in the house. You have the shot, which is more effective this year than it has been in some years prior. Wash hands, cover mouths, use hand sanitizer and just be reasonable. Would I encourage my DD to play in the common play area at the mall right now? Not really. But will it prevent me from taking her out in general? No.

We can't live in a bubble. We just make sure to wash our hands after being out for a while and we are fine. We do not get flu shots. If I stayed home all the time, I think I would go crazy.

how long do you intend to stay in with yoru child? till spring?? what about next year? will you stay in for the winter too? this is not healthy for your or your child.

kids need to get out in the world and catch germs.. this is how to build their immune systems. they do not learn to fight germs by being kept in a sterile environment.

my kids started day care at 2 and 3 years old.. they caught cold after cold that first year.. they were sick all winter..not seriously ill but lots of colds.. but the next year was better.. less colds.. now they dont seem to catch all the colds but they are still catching germs at school.. but every year less germs. the flu is around every year and you cannot hibernate all witner..

You cannot stay in everyday. Fresh air is a good thing. Your fear is taking over common sense. Go out and keep hands away from face. Take that baby out. Even if it is for a walk! Bundle him out and go. Would I go to a MacDonalds playground no. Use common sense. I even get my 7 month old granddaughter out. Need to build up immune system.

I haven't even thought about it.
My kids are outside playing right now with all the neighbor kids. My daughter goes to the gym daycare every day for and hour and a half while I work out. We go to story time, the grocery store (and I don't wipe down the cart! gasp!), playtime at the city center.
I really and truly have not thought about it at all.
And guess what....we haven't got the flu shot!
L.

We choose not to get the flu shot but we are not paranoid and will not be changing our lifestyles for fear that we might become infected.

Use common sense, wash your hands a lot.

Yes some people have died but you don't know if those people had an underlying issue that has not been reported.

Don't waste your time worrying about things you can't change. Have faith and enjoy your family while you can.

We are keeping on with our normal routine. But I take my babies out after a few days. I took my son to a germ infested indoor play place when he was 5 days old. My not yet 2 year old was driving me mad at home, so we went out.

Life is too short to let fear dictate what you can and can't do.

I think I'd lose my mind if I tried not to get out of the house! You do what you can. You get the flu shot, wash hands, try not to get too close to anyone who is sick. There's really nothing else you can do. Be proactive, take precautions and live your life.

I know it's scary to hear stories like that on the news, but most of the people who died from flu complications also delayed treatment. If anyone in your family starts showing symptoms, keep an eye on them. Talk to your doctor about what's normal cold symptoms and what signs indicate something more serious.

Last week my son was achy, tired and had a slight fever. I kept him home from school (obviously) and just kept an eye on him. His fever was under 102 and easily controlled by medicine. The medicine also made him feel better and act (almost) like he really should have been in school. Once the medicine wore off, he was feverish and miserable. After a couple of days he was back to his old self and off to school. He's fine. Never had a doubt.

Live your life. If one of you starts to get feverish (or your little guy starts to act really crabby), keep an eye on things. Call the doctor if you start to get concerned.

I'm sure you'll both be just fine.

Staying home more often might actually make things worse because you aren't allowing your immune system to build itself. It's like when you first take a child to daycare, they always get sick because they aren't used to the germs. I try and get my kids outside to play even when it's cold. Up until this week we haven't gotten sick. Last year none of us got sick at all. Hope this helps.

The only thing I would suggest is watching less news. About 30000 people die from flu complications every year, any given year. I am certainly not going to stay at home all winter and early spring every year because of that.
Everything in life bears a risk of life threatening complications. However your child has a higher chance of dying in a car or household accident than from the flu... so unless you are planning to raise him in a bubble, get vaccinated, wash your hands and live your life.
Good luck.

Wash your hands before you touch him, don't let others touch him. Wipe shopping cart handles with baby wipes. Go out and have fun. You can't live in fear, it's not healthy either.

When Kiddo was tiny, I likely would have wanted to stay home more. But even at twenty months, we would have bundled Kiddo up and headed out for walks, the coffee shop. Did I bring my own toys for him to play with instead of the ones offered in the 'kids corner'? Absolutely.

He's five now and goes to kindergarten-- so it's really a moot point. We all got vaccinated, just because both my husband and I can't court the chance of being in bed sick for over a week. All this said, we're just careful where we hang out, as many parents are. Outside, out of doors is actually healthier, in my opinion, than being indoors all the time. Dr. Spock (I know, old school) suggested that kids need to be out in fresh air for at least an hour a day. Otherwise, even now, we just stay mindful of washing our hands and not touching our mouths, nose and eyes too much.

How many people, adults and children, live in your area? How many people have died from the flu. What percentage of those living in your area have died? I suggest that when you think it thru it's highly unlikely that your son will get the flu let alone die. Do the math.

Percentage wise more people die in auto accidents than from the flu. Does that mean you won't drive a car. If so, you walk. More pedestrians die from accidents than die from the flu. So you don't walk. Etc.

No one has died from the flu in my part of the community. But there have been several murders. Maybe we should all stay home. Nope, that won't work either.

My point is we can allow ourselves to be fearful to the point of being ridiculous. We can live life confidently or we can allow ourselves to live in fear. It's our choice.

FWIW, I live in the town that the 14-yr old was from, and I understand he had NOT had a flu shot. His flu had progressed over five days into pneumonia. So with having had the flu shot and realizing if your son gets flu-level sick you can take him to the doctor early you should be okay.

People I know who got the flu this season without the shot were laid up for a week or so, but the ones with the shot only were really hit for a few days.

I know a lot of people love to proclaim that they never get the flu shot and have never gotten the flu. That was my husband until a couple of years ago. Then he got the flu. And he has gotten the shot every year since :)

It's a bad flu season but it is not an epidemic. The flu shot is a little less effective than in previous years, but I believe it's only about 70% effective in regular years. I'm not a SAHM with tiny tots, I'm a working woman with two teens, so of course, we are not staying home. I couldn't imagine staying in all flu season if I was - being cautious is one thing, washing a lot, avoiding germ pits, etc. Good luck and stay healthy. Most people with flu shots don't get the flu. I work in a public school, I get a flu shot and I've never gotten the flu. My oldest kid is 17, has never gotten a flu shot and has never had the flu, although she must have been exposed many times.

Sounds like a bit of fear has settled upon you. We take Vitality for Life vitamins and also stock up on Activate (it's like EmergenC with echinacea included). My last flu shot was 13 years ago. One daughter and I got the flu last year bc we simply weren't consistent with our vitamins during that time. Sometimes I get so busy that I didn't remember to take them. But after a month of dealing with the flu, you better believe we are consistent this time!!!!

Anyway, be cautious, but don't be fearful. Fear will paralyze your life.

Here's an interesting piece of fact - not myths or hypothesis. A recent paper was published in a medical journal that discussed the effectiveness of flu vaccines after reviewing almost 6000 studies. Here's the main conclusion:

"A major review appeared in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases (1) in October (principal author Prof. Michael Osterholm, a respected researcher into infectious diseases). The paper, which found only 31 studies worthy of inclusion out of a massive 5,700 screened, concluded that there was only good evidence for moderate flu vaccine efficacy in healthy adults, and no real evidence of protection in those over 65 years, or for that matter in children. Of course it is the elderly, and particularly the frail elderly, that doctors are more concerned about - and in whom 90% of flu cases occur - and there was no evidence that flu vaccine prevents flu infection in this group.

The pooled effect in those healthy adults, aged 18 to 65, is reported as 57%, which means the vaccine roughly halves your chances of getting flu. What is well known about placebo effects can account for most of that 57% effect. If you know you've had a shot for the flu you think you're invincible. But since the chance of getting flu in that age group was less than 3% to begin with, that's really only about a 11/2 percent reduction. Rounding the figures off, if you're a healthy adult, the flu vaccine will reduce your risk of actually getting the flu from 1 in 36 to 1 in 83. These are figures that are not offered in any of these studies.

Then of course, this all happens at a price. Whatever you may have heard, there is no such thing as a medication without the risk of side-effects."

Here's the link: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v08n02.shtml

So in other words NO ONE has been able to this date PROVE the flu vaccine reduces flu in children or the elderly - because it simply doesn't. This is just fact. Now it will reduce your risk in a healthy adult. A healthy adult has less than a 3% chance of catching the flu to begin with and it does reduce it to a 1.5% chance. But honestly, if you do a little research on how vaccines work, you realize they DO suppress the immune system temporarily and they only cover certain strands. So while your immune system is down, I would think that would increase your risk of getting sick with strands that aren't in the vaccine. But that's just my own logical conclusion. :)

I do know that at least one of the particularly nasty strands going around is NOT covered in the vaccine. I've had many friends getting the flu who have been vaccinated and they are all getting it just as bad if not worse than my nonvaccinated friends. Actually most of my nonvaccinated friends have not gotten as of yet. And though it certainly is not made well, known, if you dig a little, you'll find that some of the cases of children dying from the flu are children that were vaccinated. ;(

Here's a link showing one 14 year old that died despite being vaccinated - in August (so it wasn't like the 2 week thing everyone talks about.)
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/20535380/st-louis-pa...

I'm not saying you shouldn't get a flu vaccine. That's an individual choice. I'm just saying that sometimes bad things happen and for many people the flu vaccine provides a false sense of security.

The best protection is common sense - stay away from heavily populated indoor areas as much as possible during epidemics. ALSO good health habits are a MUST. Vitamin D has actually been shown to do more for preventing the flu than the vaccine. Fresh air, exercise, healthy food, and hand washing are all major things that help prevent it, as well. And if you DO get sick, keep a close eye and get medical care.

62% effective means that it reduces your chance of getting the flu by nearly 2/3. That's actually pretty good. With a 20 month old, I wouldn't change anything, except to wash hands more frequently with a non- anti-bacterial soap. With a baby under 6 mos, I'd try to reduce unnecessary trips out in public..

Yes, this flu scares me, but the chances of my child getting seriously ill are small, and the chances of dying from it are a fraction of the chances of dying from a car crash, for instance. I'm trying to keep it in perspective.

We havent changed our lifestyles because of it, except not going to visit Grandma when she had it. My husband and I have both gotten it but not the kiddo, luckily. But she goes to school and daycare, so it's possible she'll be exposed at some point.

If you take standard precautions with handwashing and staying away from people you know are infected, you should be fine.

It's natural to be worried when you have little ones, so you do what you gotta do!

I have actually had THE FLU once in my life and it was AWFUL! It swept through my whole house in the matter of hours. We literally felt like we were dying! The body aches and the inability to do anything but be in pain was shocking! I had heard of the 'flu' before but didn't take it seriously b/c you hear of so many people saying 'Yeah, I had the flu' or 'I have the flu' and they are up walking around...so naturally I thought it wasn't that big of a deal. I thought it was like having a cold but with some stomach issue thrown in. The real flu is like that only REALLY like that! I am and will forever be afraid to catch it again! It was SO bad, the worst thing EVER....and I have had food poisoning, which is also bad!

Luckily my kids are older now and I try not to be too paranoid about it but we ABSOLUTELY wash our hands, wipe down the shopping carts w/antibacterial wipes and be very mindful of not touching our faces...but that is really all you can do!

~You will have to get out of the house sometimes, just be mindful and when at home, 20 month olds are pretty easy to entertain inside so you should be fine. Lots of books, puzzles, coloring, painting, baths, movies, Candyland, etc!

I got sick last Monday and the way I felt I figured I'd be one of those who died from the flu by morning, needless to say I'm not a ghost typing this. It wasn't the flu thank goodness but I felt so yucky!

I am afraid of getting it, I don't know how my lungs would survive it. I still go out and do what I have to do. I use Lysol spray a bit and try to use normal soap and water when I go to the bathroom. I don't do anything else.

I think it's smart to avoid crowds, for sure. People didn't used to send their babies to daycares and somehow they all survived and developed immune systems, LOL. Basically your immune system is still developing the first few YEARS of life. Getting sick gives it practice, but isn't at all necessary. I've known several families who live on a farm, get plenty of fresh air and exercise, eat organically from what they grow, and they NEVER get sick. They didn't have to be enrolled in daycare or exposed to a bunch of germs in order to get sick a ton as toddlers to build their immune systems. They did it the way God intended - by living a healthy lifestyle. I say during this time it would be smart to stay away from crowds, BUT still get outside in the fresh air. Take walks, play in the yard, etc. And make sure your whole family is practicing good health habits of healthy eating and exercise. And I also recommend a vitamin D3 and C supplements - preferably drops since they appear to be more absorbable.

my daughters only 6 months old, ive tried to limit bringing her out if possible.. if i just need to run to the store down the street ill leave her home with my mom for a few minutes instead of dragging her out. Shes little so im pretty much occupying her all day anyway lol.. its not just kids though.. my neighbor whos almost 50 was telling me yesterday how he refuses to go to his doctor.. he goes ever 6 months just for screenings (he had something years back, not sure exactly what but now he goes for screenings to make sure hes all healthy) He said his doctor keeps calling saying hes way overdue for his visit, but my neighbor refuses to go sit in the waiting room full of germs at the doctors office in fear of getting the flu (he has 12 yr old twins so hes extra cautious because of them too) One of his daughters got sick a week ago, had a cold, sore throat, stuffy nose and they had her sleep in the basement (he laughed and said she was quaranteened) and stay home from school for 3 days so she didnt get her sister or anyone else sick

I walked in my cousins house to drop off some clothes and shoes for her kiddos and the whole house was sick. I woke up with bit of an irritated throat and hacked up something awful. Just finished a cup of lemon tea. Thanks cuz!