H1N1 has managed to frighten nearly everyone with its virulence. The facts that are contained in this article are compiled with the latest information released to hospitals.
If you are planning a visit to a hospital in the near future, whether to see a friend or loved one or as a patient, yourself, you should be aware that hospitals are following a pretty strict protocol during this H1N1 flu season. Many hospitals are not allowing any children to come into the hospital to visit if they are under the age of 18. Even if the hospital is not currently restricting visitors by age, you should probably leave children at home, for their own safety, as well as that of hospital workers and patients. Children and young people are especially vulnerable to the H1N1 and also seem to suffer more symptoms and much longer, than older adults. In addition, children under the age of 18 can also be carriers of the H1N1 and spread it much more rapidly than an adult would.
People who have been immunized against the H1N1 strain stand a much better chance of avoiding the flu altogether than those who opt out. While it is true that some people, especially children, can run a fever and have sore muscles for a few days after receiving the vaccine, it does NOT mean that they have the flu. It is simply a reaction to the vaccine that some people experience. If you are facing a hospital stay sometime in the near future and are generally well, you should seriously consider getting the H1N1 vaccine along with a pneumonia shot.
Hospital employees were among the first to receive the vaccine, for obvious reasons. Most nurses and those with direct patient contact have received the vaccine, so it is highly unlikely that you could catch H1N1 from contact with a hospital employee. That said, if you are a patient, you should require everyone who comes in contact with you to first wash their hands thoroughly at the sink that is located in your room. This will further minimize your chances of contracting not only the flu, but also the potentially more serious hospital-borne bacterial infections that can be spread from patient to patient via the caregiver.
If you are planning a visit or a stay at a hospital in the near future, you can call the hospital ahead of time to check and see if they have experienced a high number of admissions of people infected with H1N1. If so, and your hospital procedure is one that can be delayed, you might want to consider doing so, as an extra precaution.
There has been a lot of media attention lately by certain talk show hosts and others stating that people with young children should avoid having them vaccinated and should, instead, deliberately expose them to the H1N1 to develop "natural immunity." For the record, this is the height of irresponsibility, as the H1N1, especially in younger people, has proven to be extremely serious and often deadly. It is your decision if you do not choose to have your child vaccinated but to deliberately expose them to a potentially life-threatening disease is not something anyone should be doing, at any time. And as far as bringing children into the hospital to visit, it would be best to leave them at home during this flu season. It is just good sense.
Author CL Davison is a former hospital administrator with a national hospital chain and is now a business owner and writer. Please visit [http://www.med-tips.com]
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