Dr. Laukant Addresses H1N1 Flu Concerns

Please allow me to use this venue to spread some facts and give some perspective to the H1N1 flu concerns. I am concerned with the misinformation and anxiety I am seeing in patients. This is being fueled by the national news media outlets. People need to remember that RATINGS are the goal of these national broadcasts. They sensationalize, and they do a very poor job of putting things in perspective. I urge people looking for the information to call their health care provider or check the CDC.gov or the pandemic Wisconsin websites.

H1N1 is simply a strain of flu that hasn't circulated previously. Because it is new, most of us will have no natural immunity to it and are likely to come down with it if exposed to someone sick with it. Currently, there is no clear sign of it being any more severe than any other nasty flu. The vast majority of folks recover completely without any treatment, and for many it is a mild illness. The reason it's a big deal is that when we all get sick around the same time you're going to have businesses closed because the employees are all home sick; schools may have most of the teaching staff sick; the clinic may have too few providers because we'll be home sick, etc.

Symptoms are the same as the seasonal influenza - fever (above 100 usually), sore throat, cough, runny/stuffy nose, body aches, headache. H1N1 has had more vomiting and diarrhea than typically seen with the seasonal flu.

To help keep things in perspective, remember that more than 200,000 people are hospitalized annually and 30,000 to 40,000 people die annually from the regular flu. But that won't get good ratings, so you won't hear about that on the news. For the H1N1 we don't know "death rates", but I can tell you that only 6.1 children aged 0-4 years out of 100,000 will need to be hospitalized due to H1N1. For people aged 5-24 years the need for hospitalization drops even more to only 2.9 out of 100,000. Those two groups have so far had the highest hospitalization rates, so for anyone not in that group, your numbers are even lower. Even for folks over 65, the hospitalization rates are lower than the groups above. By far the vast majority of those hospitalized will recover fully. Doesn't sound quite so scary when it's put in perspective, does it?

A lot of the anxiety I am seeing stems from the inclusion of pregnant women and children in the "high risk for complications" group. Again, this needs to be put in perspective...Children, especially kids under 5 years, and pregnant women have always been (and will always be) in this group. They are also at increased risk for complications from any illness or infection - but the TV won't mention that. There is nothing special about H1N1 that puts them in that group. You just never heard the media talk about that before now, so it makes it sound new and scary. It is really nothing new, so don't let the drama of the television blow that out of proportion and cause you unnecessary anxiety.

You can try to avoid illness by washing your hands frequently and keeping your hands away from your eyes and nose. If you are sick, please cover your mouth and nose when coughing/sneezing and please stay home so you don't spread the illness. If you are sick, you do NOT NECESSARILY NEED TO BE TESTED OR TREATED. Contact your health care provider (by phone please) to see if you are in the small group of individuals in whom testing and/or treatment would be considered. Please go in to be seen with symptoms or complications such as fast or trouble breathing, bluish skin color, not drinking enough, not urinating at least twice a day, confusion or not interacting appropriately, flu-like symptoms improve and then return with fever and worse cough.

So, in a nutshell my recommendations are 1.) Turn off the TV news 2.) Wash your hands and avoid touching your nose and eyes 3.) If you are sick, stay home 4.) CALL your doctor if you have questions/concerns 5.) Seek care if you develop the signs of complications listed above.

For updates on our current flu vaccine status, see our Flu Status page.