H1n1 - Washington,MO

I think there is talk that the swine flu could mutate and then people who've had it could get it again, but at this point I think it's speculation.

I think once we become parents we become a little more immune to stuff like this that our kids get, etc. My son had H1N1 (he is 11 yrs) and he NEVER gets sick. He was very sick for 4 days and then was much better day 5 and 6, etc. I have two other children and my husband was out of town for most of my son's illness. I never got it and neither did my husband. So I hope that will be the case for you as well. I just made sure the other children stayed away and that we did lots of hand washing, etc. I also changed ALL of our tooth brushes - they hold a lot of germs and bacteria.

Anyway - just take your usual precautions and you should be fine. I really don't know about reoccurances with H1N1, but I would hope that once you have it, you build up an immunity to it. Good luck and stay healthy!

Hi. I just went through this with my daughter. My first question for you is are you certain that it is h1n1? I ask this because labs are no longer sub-testing for h1n1 (stopped last month). They are doing the influenza rapid test and can determine if it is Influenza A (to which h1n1 is a subtype) - so you know that your kids had the flu, but can't be 100% certain it is h1n1. Based on symptoms doctors and clinicians are assuming it is h1n1 because the likelihood is high. That was our situation.

If your kids actually did get h1n1, they should not get it again. Although I believe medically there is a small probability that you can contract the same virus twice; it is unlikely - that's the whole concept of vaccinations. The likelihood is something you can confirm with your doctor's office via a phone call.

In reality, the h1n1 virus is not very different symptomatically from other seasonal flu viruses. So, unless you had a positive sub-type test, you won't know which flu they had with certainty. You and they are likely to get another flu given the expectations that this will be a whopper of a flu season. On the bright side, as long as your kids don't have underlying conditions or have high risk factors (check out www.flu.gov) they will likely weather the illness in mild to moderate form.

Lastly, I would suggest getting the seasonal flu vaccine (just do flumist), but you could consider not getting the h1n1 flumist if you don't have any specific risk factors (e.g., if you are not pregnant, etc). As for me and my daughter, because we are not 100% certain she had h1n1 vs. just a seasonal flu, and because I am pregnant, both she and I are getting vaccinated for h1n1 as well as seasonal.

I hope this helps!

Most likely not. It varies by your immune system and if you suddenly become immunosuppressed. Might check with an infectious disease doctor to ensure you built enough antibodies.
I do have two questions for you...how long did it last? What were your initial symptoms?
Did you get a blood test to verify? Although doctors aren't offering it openly, you can request it. They can send a sample to your state health department...they will check titer level.
FYI, I had chickenpox twice. It varied on the severity and titer levels.

No they can't!! Its like the chicken pox, u get it once and can never get it again!! They can how ever get the regular flu this season

Dear J.,

I'm sorry I missed this when it came through at first.
In answer to your question - it is important that you understand how your immune system works. I hope everyone is healthy now so you can enjoy your Christmas holiday.

Our immune system learns to adapt and to create its own antibodies to aniallate the foreign virus. This is one of the ways you strengthen your immune system. By having the the virus (flu) your body has the opportunity to develop its own immunity to that virus. If the virus mutates there is a chance you could get the flu again but it would be a different flu virus than the last one you had because it had mutated, changed from what it was when you had it the first time. In the event you did get the flu again, your body woud already have a partial immunity and should be able to create effective antibodies faster than before, developing an immunity to the mutated version.

All of this is relative to the individual's immune system. If one's immune system has been compromised (HIV, chemo, Fibromyalgia, or other auto-immune deficiencies) this would affect how your immune system is able to deal with the virus.

If you get the flu vaccine - then please understand that the vaccine does the fighting, NOT your immune system. Hence, you do not build up an immunity to the virus.

Maybe you remember hearing that the original h1n1 virus has already mutated and there is the question - will the vaccine be effective on the mutated form of the virus?
So, in a sense - IF you get the flu vaccine you would be robbing yourself of the opportunity to build an immunity to it.

There are some nutritional supplements out there that would help to strengthen your individual immune system. I have included a link to a video explaining how one of them works
View Nowhttp://content.shaklee.com/shaklee/flash/show.php?video=n...
Please copy and paste to the address bar to view

I hope this has been helpful.

A Little about me: I am a Health & Wellness Advisor (16 yrs)and I have been totally disabled due to an auto-imune deficiency - TODAY I enjoy good health and can do anything I want...CANNOT remember the last time I was sick.
Please feel free to call if you have more questions.

S. Rutledge ###-###-####

Once you get it you'll be immune from this particular strain. Now you don't have to wait for the immunization shot. Are you sure it's H1N1 and not just the normal flu?

If it is the h1n1 that you contracted then you should not get it again. Your body has built immunity to it.

I had "the flu" at the beginning of the month and I just done some traveling. My Dr. said its possible that I had swine flu, but that the treatment woudl be the same for the regular flu as it was for h1n1 so he just put the entire family on tamilu and sent me home to nurse myself back to health, which took a few days. But he did say if I had swine it was possible for me to catch it again, just like the normal flu.