27 weeks pregnant: The hysteria that is swine flu

I know this is an old post, but anway - I wasnt worried about swine flu either when the media started going crazy about it. I'm a pretty severe asthmatic - so to me any flu is bad news. I of course regularly wash my hands etc but I also catch the bus to and from work everyone and therefore cant avoid other sick people. When I was ten weeks pregnant I got swine flu. It was awful. Was it worse than a regular flu? Probably not... but for me regular flu puts me in hospital and means difficulty breathing for some weeks. I ended up in hospital and I was pretty worried both about mine and the babies health. I ended up getting over it, but not for three weeks. I'm now 30 weeks pregnant and the baby seems fine. But that was an experience I'd never want to repeat.

I need to send this to my brother & sister-in-law! We just got back from Hawaii on Monday at 1am. We have some cool souvenirs for them and they insisted we wait until the weekend to know whether or not we attained the swine flu while on vacation.

Seriously?

Come on now. We were in Hawaii, not Mexico! And there are no reported cases there or here (Oregon). And I am so frustrated, as you are, by all the freak out over it. The regular flu is more deadly than the swine flu! I am so annoyed.

I have to agree with you on this. I don't even bother reading/watching the news anymore becuase of it.

I realize I'm a little late here, but I just wanted to weigh in. I definitely think the media is blowing the swine flu way, way out of proportion. Regular old influenza is still technically more deadly than the swine flu. Plus, the numbers that have been reported are SO vastly different that it's impossible to believe what anyone says. I've heard things like 2,000 people have been infected with like 300 deaths, and then I heard that only 80 cases are confirmed swine flu with 7 deaths.

Basically, I'm with you. I'm washing my hands, avoiding people who are sick and that's that. I'm also laying semi-low, but that's mostly because I'm a lazy, tired pregnant woman who'd rather watch Cake Challenge on the Food Network than go out on the town. ;)

I'm a nurse and I believe it's common sense:

WASH your hands frequently.
Dont get close to anyone who is sick.
Cough into your sleeve or a tissue and WASH after.
Don't go to work or school with symptoms of colds or flu. (this is my big pet peeve!)

Yes, it's a new strain of flu and we don't have built in immunity to it. This is why it's such a dangerous flu. Most healthy people who get it will probably recover well. It's the elderly, the immune compromised and the very young who are at risk here.

@britt, I don't think anyone's saying that you shouldn't worry at all, but locking yourself indoors and cowering in fear of the swine flu (like Tarzan's dad and Jane's mom seemed to recommend) is overreacting. You should worry about the swine flu about as much as you'd worry about any other sickness that people might have. Wash your hands and cover your coughs/sneezes.

The media is hyping the swine flu like it is a worldwide pandemic with people dropping like flies. The fact of the matter is that there are actually very few confirmed cases of swine flu outside of Mexico. Most of the cases in the US (including the one death) were people who were visiting from Mexico or who visited Mexico recently. All of those cases (except for that one 23 month old toddler from Mexico) have fully recovered.

In our case, we're going to Disney World this Saturday. There's just been a confirmed case in Orlando from someone who visited Disney. (See: http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Flor...) The teenager made a full recovery.

My wife isn't pregnant, but we are traveling with our two young children, both with histories of febrile seizures. (Including one in which my youngest child didn't start breathing on his own and needed rescue breaths from my mother-in-law.) We aren't going to cancel our trip because of this swine flu case. We're just going to be safe about it like reviewing proper hand washing procedures with our five year old.

@Connie, I don't think we'd be freaked out every year. We'd get bored of their constant flu hyping and would tune them out. Then, when an actually bad flu appeared, we'd ignore the media's "Big Bad Flu" stories and get really sick.

The media (semi-wisely) changes what they hype at regular intervals. This keeps most people from getting bored of the hype. Now that the facts of "swine flu" are coming to light (that it's not as bad as normal flu, that the 1918 flu occurred at a time when basic health care tactics - like hand washing - weren't in place, that tons of people aren't dropping dead, etc.) I'd be willing to bet that they'll drop the "swine flu" stories in a week or so and will move on to another story.

I hate hearing people efin say that they are not worried about this....and tell me i shouldnt worry...well they arent the ones pregnant its so annoying

You are right. The media blows things way out of proportion. Fact is, the media has a huge hand in public perception. If they publicized every death every year from the flu then we would all be freaked out EVERY YEAR. They publicize every death in Iraq to make it seem like soldiers are dying left and right over there. Fact is...if they publicized every death while soldiers were at home they would be shocked at how many lives have been saved by having them there! My cousins unit went over, 3500 men and women and all 3500 came home. That was an 18 month tour. Since being home 37 have died....in less than 6 months! From stupid human stuff like car accidents.

Fact is the Flu is pandemic every year. The only reason this is getting so much hype is because it is caused by something other than what we see all the time. Wiki says an epidemic "occurs when new cases of a certain disease occur in a given human population, during a given period, substantially exceed what is "expected," based on recent experience" Pandemic just means epidemic world wide. It has nothing to do with the danger of the particular illness (obesity is an epidemic) when we see wide spread death as a result then there is time to worry. So far the cases in the us have been mild and easily treated. I'm not going to treat it different that the flu unless things change a lot. Wash hands, don't touch face and avoid those that are sick. Common sense.

Jane, don't sweat the "no offense" stuff. I'm not offended at all. And I know it was a Mexican girl but she died in the US. That's all I'm saying.

But you think WHO is going for the "scare tactic??" Why would they do that? WHO has nothing to gain by scaring the bejeezus out of people. And the reason so many get reported as "possible" or "probable" is because the health organizations have to cover their asses. Can you imagine if they didn't report a probably case and then it turned out to be a deadly instance of Swine Flu. People would flip their lids and say "Why didn't you tell us sooner?!?!" It's a damned if we do and damned if we don't situation.

But yes, the unfortunate side effect of reporting on health scares is that it makes all the neurotic hypochondriacs go absolutely nuts. But I think that's a necessary evil compared to the idea of possibly underreporting something like this.

I'm on the same page as most of you. I have been reading all of the facts on CNN.com and I'm still not convinced it is something I need to be seriously scared about. When you compare the stats to other diseases and flu's, the swine flu is nominal. I will take normal precautions not to get sick but I don't want to go overboard.

I agree with everything you said Jane. Took many of the words right out of my own mouth, that I have been repeating for the entire week. I'm 33 weeks pregnant and not one bit worried, to be honest. In fact, friend of mine who works for one of my local TV news channels mentioned that this past week was the start of sweeps... ironic, isn't it? :)

Oh, and @Daddy Files, the one death in Texas was a 23 month old child who was VISITING FROM MEXICO, where all the deaths are currently being reported and where the health care system is far inferior to that of the United States. I think anyone who ends up dying from it here in the US is probably in the percentage of people who would die from any flu, swine or otherwise... i.e. the elderly, people with immune disorders or deficiencies, etc. But if it turns out to be of that particular "swine" strain, look out for a media blow-up. The thing I'm getting the most sick of hearing about that is being reported are the "probable" or "possible" cases, of which there are several here in Ohio where I live. Until they get a positive on a swine flu test, I'd rather not hear about it.

I was going to post the "Do I Have Pig Flu" link, but you already did that on Twitter lol. You might need to add that in as an addendum to this post! :)

Daddy Files - First of all, I didn't mean to offend you being part of the media. I just think that many media outlets and WHO go for the scare tactic when reporting the facts. So many people are rushing into dr's offices bc they think they are infected with swine flu. While it's smart on their part to take action if they have this, it's just creating, in my opinion, so much fear stricken and panic in the dr's waiting room.

The confirmed death in Texas was a Mexican citizen, which I'm sure you know.

I understand that the media has to relay the information to the public, but I just wish that it could be done in a less than crazy way. I wish that it was not made out to be this scary thing, when it isn't (so far at least).

While it is big news that WHO has rated it a level 5, that only means that swine flu has been confirmed in 2 countries. That doesn't seem like such a big deal and I think the words "level 5" sound a lot scarier. What about the regular flu, which so far has proven to be far worse than swine flu? What about all of the other viruses going around that do not get reported on?

So I do agree that the media should be reporting on the swine flu, but I think that it would be awesome if it could be done in a way that didn't provoke such fear and panic in people.

Look, I'm not worried about Swine Flu. However, I think you're off the mark with a few things.

First of all, there has been a confirmed case of a death from Swine Flu in Texas according to the CDC. Furthermore, the acting director of the CDC has said -- flat out -- that the country should expect further deaths from this outbreak. So yes, it is deadly.

And second, the media is doing its job. Would you rather newspapers and TV stations not report a near pandemic?? That's madness. Maybe some outlets are blowing it out of proportion but the World Health Organization has it rated Level 5 -- one step below a pandemic. That's news. That's big news.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm a member of the media, but this is absolutely something all media outlets should be reporting. Sorry, but that's a fact.

Over done I agree. I tried picking out stuff for my register on-line @ Target and it took forever computer was very slow...just don't go in on a Sat way too busy and you won't have as much fun.

It's totally being overhyped, in my opinion. If I were you, I'd go out and register. It'll be a fun time, and seriously, you're at extremely low risk of getting the virus. Don't let this thing keep you from doing your thing.

BTW, everyone in my family's in the medical field - mom and aunt high level nurses, sis and uncle docs, and sis is pregnant too. No one in my family's raising heck about the flu. Let's just say eye rolls are going around. Plus, I saw my OB yesterday and it wasn't even mentioned.

I think the media is blowing it out of proportion, and normally I wouldn't worry to much about catching the flu. Even though I am almost 12 weeks pregnant, I still plan to go to the grocery store and the movies and continue with my normal handwashing routine. However, getting on a plane with all the crowding and recycled air is a different story. When I fly to Baltimore for Memorial Day, I will most likely wear a mask. And not the flimsy surgical variety, but the fitted respirator type. Having the flu is no fun under normal conditions but when it puts my baby at risk (not to mention being unable to take the most potent flu meds) I take prevention very seriously.

I am not worried about swine flu or whatever they are calling it at the moment. 3000 people a DAY die from malaria, but this is simply considered a "health problem" NOT a pandemic. More people have died from your garden variety flu. I am just taking common sense precautions like washing my hands a bit more. The boy in Texas who died was a Mexican citizen that was traveling while he was sick, I doubt that he would have died if he had recieved proper medical attention in time.

I'm in north Alabama where there are now 12 suspected cases and all the schools are shut down until Monday and yet I'm not worried at all. Due to the same stats that you quoted I'm not worried. I'm almost 15 weeks pregnant and still don't see the need in getting all worked up. Maybe I'm just too laid back but right now until something else major happens I don't see the need in worrying about it all.

@TechyDad,

Yeah, my husband reminded me of the same thing. In all honesty, I hate that stuff anyway. But my mom swears by it and thinks it cures all. (Don't even get me started on her weird home remedies.) I have been really good throughout my pregnancy about washing my hands with soap and water often. :)

@Nikki,

Antibacterial hand sanitizer won't do anything to combat the Swine Flu (or any other flu for that matter). Flus are viruses, not bacterium. The best thing to do is wash your hands with normal soap and warm water and then dry them off well.

Have Tarzan (and both of your parents) read this article: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-swin.... It looks like the Swine Flu isn't really that dangerous yet. Yes, there's a chance it could mutate into something dangerous later, but for right now it's not as bad as the media is making it out to be. Take some basic disease precautions (wash hands, cover coughs, etc) and you'll be fine.

My mom just sent me an email about the swine flu warning me to stay away from public places and to use antibacterial hand sanitizer. I'm a normally panicky person, so I am worried about catching it. And while I know it's a flu, even the regular flu is harder on pregnant women then normal people. I think if I wasn't 24 weeks pregnant I wouldn't be nearly as worried, but I don't want anything happening to my baby. I really don't want to stay confined in the house either (and it's impossible to do since I have a college class every Tuesday night), but part of me thinks I should. I'm in California and we've had quite a few cases here. When I went to physical therapy today there were signs everywhere warning people to wear a mask if they were coughing or sneezing. I hope they figure out how to contain it soon or at least come up with a vaccine.

I'm a guidance counselor in a rural Western New York school, and they're shutting down both schools in our district on Friday because one of our kids has swine flu. And I'm 19 weeks pregnant, so I had to call the health department; they asked me questions about my contact with the student and wondered if I've been having any symptoms. (I did have contact with him last week--he was in my office for about 15 minutes!) The news stations were in the school parking lot, and it was kind of surreal. I mean, news doesn't happen in our neck of the woods! I'm not all that worried, but I did have a few moments of panic. I never in a million years expected that this story would hit our little cow town!