Swine Flu

We've all been sick at our house. Although I'm fairly certain it is NOT swine flu, I can't help but wonder if that's what we will have at our house next. I've been sick on and off without more than a week of feeling healthy, since January.

The scariest thing about swine flu is that no one is quite sure how dangerous it is. The regular flu we get commonly here in the US can be deadly. It takes lives every year. Although we've just had the first reported death here in the US it is too early to tell if this strain of the flu will be as deadly as the flu we are used to having around here.

According to the Center for Disease Control, here are the stats on the normal flu:

• 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
• more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications; and
• about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes.

As of 11 am today, the CDC reports 91 cases of swine flu in the US. That is well under the amount typically seen for the regular flu.

I'm not joining any of the hysteria that is taking over in some parts of the country just yet. Too much is unknown, and I am not exactly in the segment of the population that is high risk for complications from the flu.

Since I have a young child, I've been taking the following precautions that are recommended for everyone to take:

• limiting exposure to sick people
• frequent hand washing
• coughing into sleeve or kleenex instead of hands
• limiting our exposure to people with weak immune systems (since we could have the virus but not be showing signs, yet)
• closely monitoring our symptoms since we've been sick

Moms of young children, what are you doing to keep your kids healthy during this flu season?