A lot of people assume since I’m entering the health care field I’m up to date on health care news. Nothing could be further from the truth. Med school has done a pretty good job wringing out any awareness I once had of the outside world. Just the other day someone asked me what I thought about “Balloon Boy” and I thought they were talking about that old John Travolta movie.
On the other hand my current rotation, Pediatrics, has provided an exception to this rule. On some days, every other patient I see has H1N1, and if the Swap-Bot message boards are any type of barometer for the popularity of current events, then the Swine Flu is pretty hot right now.
Other than the kids with actual Swine Flu, there are two types of mothers on opposite ends of the spectrum that I have been repeatedly running into in clinic. Mother #1 is uncontrollably afraid of H1N1 and wants her child to be tested and started on Tamiflu as soon as possible because they have a runny nose. Mother #2 refuses for her children to be vaccinated, citing “research” she has done on the internet in regards to the vaccine’s adverse effects.
While most of the blame for this hysteria and confusion should fall on the media, it’s not all their fault. Hospitals were forced to over respond to H1N1 in the beginning since it was such an unknown variable. For example, I had a classmate who’s first rotation was pediatrics and he was started on Tamiflu and quarantined for five days just because he was exposed to a kid that might of had H1N1. Today, on the other hand, I saw four kids with assumed H1N1, one of which sneezed in my eyes. I made sure to wash my hands before seeing my next patient.
So, for mom #1. Get your kids vaccinated and even if they do get the flu, unless they have some sort of underlying respiratory disease, they’re gonna be just fine. As for mom #2, the H1N1 vaccine is just as safe as the seasonal vaccine and experts claim that H1N1 vaccination is literally, a thousand fold safer than getting the infection.
At the same time, those of you that do feel yourself coming down with flu-like-symptoms, it wouldn’t hurt to run to the pharmacy and pick up some oinkment. Man, that one kills with my younger patients.
