Son's Ill

[balli hi]

My son got back from a week long school trip on friday, he took part in a residential visit at PGL Marchants Hill Centre in Hindhead.

The thing is , the school sent all children that were due to go on the trip the week before, home with a letter , explaining that a child who had attended PGL the previous week had become ill , and tests carried out from a swab from the child confirmed that he was suffering from swine flu .

My sons school reassured all parents in the letter that they were currently taking advice on wether the upcoming trip to PGL should still go ahead , a couple of days later we recieved another letter stating that the trip was to go ahead , they had taken advice and the PGL Centre had advised that tests had been carried out on staff ect and that no further cases had been confirmed , and the site was safe to visit, so the trip went ahead , then last thursday my wife recieved a text message from the school that 4 children on the trip had gone down with flu like symptoms , and that tests were ongoing , the parents of the sick children had been informed and arrangements had been made for the children concerned to be sent home straight away .

On the following day, my wife recieved another text message that a further 27 children had fallen ill , and all parents concerned had been informed , although we had not been informed that our son had been taken ill , it still left us extremely concerned , the children were due back at approx 3pm on friday in any case , the school had aranged for all the sick children to travel home on a seperate bus ( the sick bus ) and all the well children on another .

When my son got home he seemed quite well in himself and was full of beans about his adventures .

lastnight ( thismorning ) our son came into our bedroom and said that he was feeling unwell , we could see that he was burning up , and took his temperature , 38.7 , a bit high , so this morning we contacted NHS Direct , and explained the situation , they advised that we could not take him to hospital but should wait at home , as they would be sending a doctor out , anyway as i type a mobile unit has just arrived , the gentleman explained that he would only be taking a swab from daniel at this point , and has donned some protective clothing gloves and face mask , he explained that someone will be contacting us later as regards results and treatment , i'll thurther post as and when i know anything more .

[Red Yaris 54]

That is not good news.

Please take some comfort that the Swine Flu is not as "dangerous" as was first thought.

I hope that the rest of the family remain well

[Phoenix999]

I am wishing your son a speedy recovery

[Bizarra]

Very sorry to hear this, Balli. I hope he gets better soon & that you & the rest of your family don't get the dose.

As Steve said, It doesn't seem to be as dangerous as first thought.

It looks as though the School trip should not have gone ahead, as a basic precaution.

Will be thinking of you & your fanily, & please do keep us posted.

Regards

Vic

[balli hi]

Thanks for your kind thoughts guys

Well things have moved on a pace , at 4PM we recieved a phone call to say that we had to go to a pharmacy , the pharmacist would be expecting us , and we would be collecting a 7 day course of tamiflu for daniel, only , whilst i was outside waiting for the pharmacist to arrive, who had been called out especially in order to supply us with the tamiflu drug , my wife called me on my mobile and told me that she had recieved another text from the school confirming that 3 of the tests carried out on the first affected children had come back positive for swine flu , also whilst i was outside the pharmacist , i recognised a fella who is a parent of one of daniel's friends , he too was there for the tamiflu drug for his son who had also become poorly in the early hours thismorning , he also showed me the text message sent out from the school confirming that 3 children had tested positive .

All we can do now is give our son the tamiflu drug and hope for the best , we have not been contacted yet by the people who came and took a swab from daniel to say wether or not his test is positive or not , to see daniel now , he is flat out , and looking very poorly , and although he is burning up , he is shivering and complaining of sore throat headache and aching limbs , so i'm 99.9% certain his test will come back positive , as said 3 of daniels group have already been confirmed .

As for myself , my wife , and daughter , we have not been prescribed tamiflu , which i find surprising , we have been told that if we become ill we are to be examined by a doctor and prescribed tamiflu as and when , not good news if your an asthmatic like me , I'll be sure though ( health permitting ) to keep you informed of daniel's progress .

[Bizarra]

Should/could you not contact the people who arranged the Tamiflu prescription or the Swab Doctor when he gets back to you , and explain that you are a confirmed asthmatic, living with & caring for a Son with probable Swine Flu & that it is more dangerous for you than the average person ?

They would then, surely, supply you with the medicine.

For your own sake & that of your family, I think you should try :(

[Calisto]

I wish you and your family a speedy recovery.

[Devil-ish]

This is awful....typical of the NHS though me thinks. Wishing all of you the best.................... :(

[turniphead]

I wouldn't get yourself too worried.

It seems that Swine Flu is no better or worse than any other common all garden flu.

If you can cope with the usual flu, you shouldn't have a problem.

[balli hi]

Should/could you not contact the people who arranged the Tamiflu prescription or the Swab Doctor when he gets back to you , and explain that you are a confirmed asthmatic, living with & caring for a Son with probable Swine Flu & that it is more dangerous for you than the average person ?

They would then, surely, supply you with the medicine.

For your own sake & that of your family, I think you should try :(

Hi vic

I'll be making an emergency appointment with my GP first thing in the morning , so hopefully i'll get a prescription tomorrow , its quite frustrating because treatment vary's from borough to borough , whereby one will automatically prescribe for the whole family if there is a suspected or confirmed case , and others like mine will only prescribe on an individual basis , this i am sure , to do with keeping the costs down

[Calisto]

I wouldn't get yourself too worried.

It seems that Swine Flu is no better or worse than any other common all garden flu.

If you can cope with the usual flu, you shouldn't have a problem.

So if its no better or worse than the generic flu........why are people dying from it? :(

[balli hi]

I wouldn't get yourself too worried.

It seems that Swine Flu is no better or worse than any other common all garden flu.

If you can cope with the usual flu, you shouldn't have a problem.

So of its no better or worse than the generic flu........why are people dying from it?

Doctors are saying that if you are normally fit and well , with no other illness's , then generally you should be fine , however if you are , say suffering from heart disease , obesity , and or other illness's , then there is a chance that you will develop complications , and could die .

Just a quick update .... we gave our son his first capsules a couple of hours ago , but he has just been sick , one of the side affects of the drug says that this may happen , not sure how the treatment can be effective , if your sick after youv'e taken it , i hope he can keep the next dose down .

[Calisto]

well in that case...yeah I agree it is like any other flu.

Do you/TOCers believe the government over hyped Swine Flu?

Pls Balli, don't get me wrong, as a mother myself I know how distressing it can be when your child is ill.....I am not trying to make light of your actual plight.

[Phoenix999]

well in that case...yeah I agree it is like any other flu.

Do you/TOCers believe the government over hyped Swine Flu?

Pls Balli, don't get me wrong, as a mother myself I know how distressing it can be when your child is ill.....I am not trying to make light of your actual plight.

I personally think it was the World Health Organisation (WHO) that over hyped this flu situation. Yes it has turned into a pandemic but I really don't think it is as bad as first made out. After all they reduced the actual number of deaths in Mexico after the number were questioned by other organisations. It seems that some have questioned the worth of the WHO so maybe they had to talk up their importance.

There have been as far as I know only a couple of deaths in the UK and that is only because the sufferers had an underlying illness, sadly the baby died but that was new born and without a real immune system :(

Being a father I was always distressed when my children were ill but with the right care young people pull through, wow they are tough Mine are now 21 and 24 and I still hate seeing them feel unwell

Balli.... I think you may have many sleepless hours ahead of you mate so make sure you stay as strong as possible and, as already mentioned, get the doctors out to check you over You know my general area so if you need anything.... yes I do mean it.... send me an IM and I'll run out to get it for you. If you want my mobile number you can have that if it might help

[balli hi]

well in that case...yeah I agree it is like any other flu.

Do you/TOCers believe the government over hyped Swine Flu?

Pls Balli, don't get me wrong, as a mother myself I know how distressing it can be when your child is ill.....I am not trying to make light of your actual plight.

I personally think it was the World Health Organisation (WHO) that over hyped this flu situation. Yes it has turned into a pandemic but I really don't think it is as bad as first made out. After all they reduced the actual number of deaths in Mexico after the number were questioned by other organisations. It seems that some have questioned the worth of the WHO so maybe they had to talk up their importance.

There have been as far as I know only a couple of deaths in the UK and that is only because the sufferers had an underlying illness, sadly the baby died but that was new born and without a real immune system :(

Being a father I was always distressed when my children were ill but with the right care young people pull through, wow they are tough Mine are now 21 and 24 and I still hate seeing them feel unwell

Balli.... I think you may have many sleepless hours ahead of you mate so make sure you stay as strong as possible and, as already mentioned, get the doctors out to check you over You know my general area so if you need anything.... yes I do mean it.... send me an IM and I'll run out to get it for you. If you want my mobile number you can have that if it might help

You know steve , you have restored my faith in human nature , ive known for a long while also that the vast majority of people on this forum are of a good heart , so many thanks for your kindness , and will be sure to take you up Steve if needs must . At the moment though i'm fine , but the little man is not so well , he's been sick again , quite a lot this time , and we have just phoned the emergency doctor , as of yet he has not actually been examined by a doctor , as said the guy who came earlier, came only to take a swab , not good enough really , i'm now waiting for a doctor to call us back , failing that i may take daniel up to A & E , depending on how he is .

[Red Yaris 54]

well in that case...yeah I agree it is like any other flu.

Do you/TOCers believe the government over hyped Swine Flu?

Pls Balli, don't get me wrong, as a mother myself I know how distressing it can be when your child is ill.....I am not trying to make light of your actual plight.

I personally think it was the World Health Organisation (WHO) that over hyped this flu situation. Yes it has turned into a pandemic but I really don't think it is as bad as first made out. After all they reduced the actual number of deaths in Mexico after the number were questioned by other organisations. It seems that some have questioned the worth of the WHO so maybe they had to talk up their importance.

There have been as far as I know only a couple of deaths in the UK and that is only because the sufferers had an underlying illness, sadly the baby died but that was new born and without a real immune system :(

Being a father I was always distressed when my children were ill but with the right care young people pull through, wow they are tough Mine are now 21 and 24 and I still hate seeing them feel unwell

Balli.... I think you may have many sleepless hours ahead of you mate so make sure you stay as strong as possible and, as already mentioned, get the doctors out to check you over You know my general area so if you need anything.... yes I do mean it.... send me an IM and I'll run out to get it for you. If you want my mobile number you can have that if it might help

You know steve , you have restored my faith in human nature , ive known for a long while also that the vast majority of people on this forum are of a good heart , so many thanks for your kindness , and will be sure to take you up Steve if needs must . At the moment though i'm fine , but the little man is not so well , he's been sick again , quite a lot this time , and we have just phoned the emergency doctor , as of yet he has not actually been examined by a doctor , as said the guy who came earlier, came only to take a swab , not good enough really , i'm now waiting for a doctor to call us back , failing that i may take daniel up to A & E , depending on how he is .

Balli...................Best to keep your son in the house........with plenty of fluid intake .....the doctor will be able to get to you soon

Best wishes to you all

[Demonic Angel]

Wishing your son a speedy recovery Balli and all the best to the whole family through something which must be an awful time for all of you.

[balli hi]

I saw my GP thismorning regarding tamiflu being prescribed for myself plus my wife and daughter , my GP explained that when the swine flu virus first started to infect people here in the UK , the official line from the government was to prescribe tha drug for whole families if just one member was suspected or actually tested positive , the government took this aproach in an attempt to contain the virus and stop it from spreading , however that approach has been deemed to have failed , as the virus is now spreading freely and has not been contained , so now in an attempt to stop stocks of tamiflu from running out by blanket treating , they will now only prescribe it for the whole family if the swab test taken from the initial suspected case returns positive , so hopefully we shall have daniels test result back by tomorrow at the latest , the other thing is , believe it or not the tamiflu drug is not actually specific to the swine flu virus as it was not actually developed for the swine flu , and will not directly cure you of the swine flu virus , but it may assist an infected patient in recovering quicker , so they are prescribing it , because basically its all they have , and its better to take that than nothing at all .

As regards daniel he , perked up a little thismorning and said he was hungry , and actually ate some toast so thats a good sign , however we were having a bit of a problem with getting him to take his next dose of tamiflu , because he feared it wll make him sick again , my wife managed to convince him that it will make him better , so he eventually took it , although he has now brocken out in a rash , another possible side effect of the drug .

My wife has been brilliant by the way , insisting that i have as little contact with daniel as possible because of my asthma, although it has'nt stopped me giving him the odd hug & cuddle , my wife has virtually sat vidual over him , and spent the night in his room on a makeshift bed on the floor .

As far as the swine flu pandemic is concerned my Gp insists that we have seen nothing yet and that surgeries are bracing themselves for when the pandemic will hit hard probably around the autum time , however hopefully once my family and i , are the other side of this , we will be able to reasure others that its just another flu virus, and not to overly worry

[Hou]

This is not good at all but big respect to your wife, and all of you for coping with this. I hope a speedy recovery!

And remember it could always be worse......................MAN FLU which we all know is the worst type of flu!

[balli hi]

Did anyone see the news on bbc 1 at 6.30 pm , it seems someone has gone to the press as regards the swine flu outbreak at my sons school , and the bbc were reporting on the case directly from outside the school , they also interviewed someone from havouring borough council , and they were forced to defend their decision to still go ahead with the trip despite the fact that they new of proven cases of swine flu at the pgl centre in hindhead surrey

[Bizarra]

Didn't see it, but that was more or less what I said in a prior post

Beurocracy = Beware

No one prepared to stand up & make the hard & right decision

[Danny K]

The worry associated with this 'pandemic' is that experts fear it could - could - mirror the terrible loss of life that the 1918 'Spanish Flu' pandemic caused. (Estimates vary between 50 million to 100 million, died then).

Like other posters on here I've been quite dismissive of overly worrying about this pandemic, thinking: well it's no worse than any other flu outbreak. What's everybody panicking about? But news this afternoon revealed that today, a very young girl in the UK has died as a result of contracting Swine Flu.

What's notable about the 1918 outbreak was that the most damage was done in the second wave when the virus mutated and went round a second time, in much deadlier form.

- In other words, the danger is, that this could just be the first 'wave', where we take less precautions because 'it's no worse than 'normal flu', which to all intents and purposes (apart from an unforunate few) appears to be true.

A quote from Wiki -

Deadly second wave

The second wave of the 1918 pandemic was much deadlier than the first. During the first wave, which began in early March, the epidemic resembled typical flu epidemics. Those at the most risk were the sick and elderly, and younger, healthier people recovered easily. But in August, when the second wave began in France, Sierra Leone and the United States, the virus had mutated to a much more deadly form.

- It was in the second wave that those who died in their millions were fit, healthy, people between the ages of 20 to 40. "The sick, elderly and younger" were not victims of the second wave - the healthy were!

Does contracting Swine flu NOW react like all other flu's and leave you with antibodies to see off any future mutations? Are those of us thinking ourselves fortunate to have escaped contracting Swine Flu, actually the most vulnerable if it mutates into a more deadly 'second wave' run?

Wiki continues -

...It was the same flu, in that those who recovered from first-wave infections were immune, but it was far more deadly, and the most vulnerable people were those like the soldiers in the trenches—young, otherwise healthy, adults. Consequently, during modern pandemics, health officials pay attention when the virus reaches places with social upheaval, looking for deadlier strains of the virus.

I sincerely hope Bali Hi and family are seeing the first signs of recovery now. That being the case, statistically, Bali hi's son should now be immune from any second wave mutations of the virus that may/may not occur in the future.

- It's the rest of us clean-bill-of-health types that should be wary - especially as the deadly 1918 virus was identified as belonging to the subtype, H1N1 virus group - the exact subtype which Swine Flu belongs to.

[Phoenix999]

....But news this afternoon revealed that today, a very young girl in the UK has died as a result of contracting Swine Flu....

What you omitted to mention is that the girl had underlying (unknown) health problems.... hence she was at a lower ebb when the flu struck her :(

At this time.... the current flu outbreak is no worse than the 'normal seasonal' flu

[balli hi]

Hi guys

Well the good news is that the little man is recovering well his temperature has come down , he's out of bed and has been eating well , although its only been a few days he seems to be over the worst .

My wife has been in contact with some of the other parents , and they are reporting the same with their children , one parent also told her that out of all the year 6 pupils at the school , only 15 are currently attending, and have been grouped into one class .

The bad news is that both my wife and i , are begining to show some symptoms , the thing is daniels test result has not yet returned , we were told it would take 2 full days , so it kind of leaves us in limbo as regards getting tamiflu prescribed for ouselves , we rang NHS Direct and explained the situation and described our symptoms , the nurse confirmed that what we described was the onset of flu , and basically advised us to keep our fluid intake up and take a couple of parasetamol every 4 hours , she also repeated basically what my GP said as regards Tamiflu , in that it will not cure you of swine flu but will lessen the effects and assist in speeding up recovery, this could explain my sons speedy recovery , she also stated that in swine flu hotspots , and she gave london as an example , that most health authorities are now treating swine flu no differently to ordinary flu and simply advising people to follow normal flu procedure if they contracted swine flu , i.e plenty of fluids + paracetamol , and were not prescribing tamiflu at all .

[Phoenix999]

Yay It is good news to hear that your son is on the mend

The trouble is that, as you say, your wife and you appear to be showing signs of the flu.... not good :(

At least you now know that it is not as bad as first suggested a few months back Its unpleasant I am sure but I guess all you have to do is follow the advice and all will be better in a week or so.... good luck