H1N1 - Completely Stressed Out

There is a good article in the Globe and Mail this morning about not panicking. It’s timely because I am indeed doing a piss poor job of holding panic at bay. Whenever I think of H1N1 my heart flutters a little, my stomach does an uncomfortable flip-flop, and I blink back the start of tears. I’m scared and I’m trying really hard not to be.

Two children died this week. Two previously healthy children. A ten-year old girl and a thirteen-year old boy. The thirteen year old boy complained of a sore throat on Saturday morning and was dead by Monday afternoon. His parents sought medical attention and were prescribed Tylenol and rest. On Monday he collapsed after a bath. He did not recover. That is not only sad – heartbreakingly sad – but freaks a person out. I look at my essentially healthy kids and I think of Evan’s parents – who set him off to play hockey on Saturday morning oblivious as to what was to come.

Vaccination clinics have begun here. There is enough vaccine, unlike in the US, but the next 7 – 14 days are supposed to be for high-risk patients only. As it is they only have the capacity to vaccinate a certain number of people (4,200 on Monday, 5,300 yesterday) so the line-ups are LONG (1 1/2 - 4 hours) and they are turning people away well before the clinics themselves close. In parts of Eastern Ontario all children under 18 have been determined to be high-risk. Not so here, as (and I guess this is good news) the flu hasn’t hit with the same intensity (although CHEO is reporting a 49 per cent increase in patients over the past week and a 100 percent jump on Monday). I don’t know if I can wait 7 – 14 days (it takes another 7 – 14 days for the vaccine to take effect). Can I live like this for another month? The stress may kill me.

Twenty per cent of schools are reporting higher than average absences (not necessarily attributable to H1N1). I don’t know if that includes my child’s school. I would feel much better if there was a list out there. Or maybe I wouldn’t. They are talking about keeping healthy children away from extra-curricular activities – the boy who died had been playing in a hockey tournament when he fell ill. They are questioning whether children should go trick-or-treating.

We are continuing with our routine. We are changing nothing. But inside – where no one can see – I’m panicking.