H1N1

Holy Shit!! You would think we were dealing with the bubonic plague or something. I am so sick of hearing about it. I am sick of the million emails and meetings we are having at work to keep us updated of this situation. This is the flu...a flu, that so far has actually proven less dangerous than the 'normal' flu we get every fall and winter. It's rate of transmission is about the same as is the symptoms.

I understand there have been deaths, and that is very serious. I think today I heard that 80 some people have died so far in the US. Do you know that the seasonal flu kills almost 30,000 a season?

So why are we freaking out? I truly think this world is so dependant on sensationalistic journalism that we have to make major deals of anything that has the potential to do us harm. Remember the Bird Flu? Mad Cow? Well they are both still around in approximately the same numbers as when they were front page news...but why are we not hearing about it anymore...because it's old news. No longer any shock value. We all freaked out; stopped eating beef or stocked up on isolation gear. And nothing happened. You think we would have learned.

As of right now, there is an 'outbreak' in the hospital I work in. One employee has tested positive and unfortunately before she knew this, she worked a shift in the NICU and exposed 33 infants. This I do think is serious as these infants don't have the mature immune systems required to fight off any illness. Luckily all have been started on Tamiflu and aren't showing any symptoms. There have been 3 confirmed cases, including a patient who is residing just 2 floors up. There was also a patient that died this morning, and the suspicion is H1N1. There was also a patient on my unit today who is being worked up, although based on his symptoms, it is HIGHLY unlikely that this is what we're looking at.

Am I worried? Sure, a little. I am pregnant which means I am more compromised and I can't take tamiflu like the rest of the health care workers. But my concern is no more than it will be this fall during the regular flu season. If this bug mutates and takes on a new, more virulent form, then that will be the time for reassessment. So when and if that happens, I re-think my stance on this whole thing. But until then, I will continue to shake my head in disbelief.