FWIW, I think the number of swine flu cases is grossly under-stated.
In late March/early April, all of my kids, and most of their friends came down with an illness that we’ve never seen before: very high temperature (104+) sustained over 5-10 days, total lethargy (where they could barely get off the couch to use the restroom), ZERO appetite, and it was highly contagious, as evidenced by the fact almost everyone got it.
We took our first sick kid to multiple doctors, urgent care, and the ER, but the standard flu test (the official swine flu scare hadn’t happened yet) came back negative. They gave her antibiotics because she later came down with strep throat (which I think was a secondary infection), and she eventually recovered about 10 days later. Same with the other two, which overlapped with one another (about 4-6 weeks of severe sickness around here — yuk!).
A couple of months later, I called their doctor just to ask if she thought it might have been the swine flu. She said is was a distinct possibility, and that she was **very worried** about the coming flu season this fall.
Seriously, hunker down this fall and wash, wash, wash your hands. Might not be a bad idea to keep your kids home if any of them or their classmates show even a hint of sickness (though the school districts would have fit).
