Q about exposure

[Anonymous]

DS, age 2, played with a child on Monday who was diagnosed yesterday with h1n1.

DS got the shot on Oct 24. Do you think there's any chance that DS has some immunity at this point from the shot?

[Anonymous]

The shot takes about a week to work, and there's a 25% chance that a child under three will have immunity after the first shot. So there's a bit of a chance...

[Anonymous]

You can also clean out your child's nose with a q-tip and hot salt-water solution. They recommend this to everyone in addition to gargling with boiled salt water (or regular Listerine) but I don't know if your child is old enough to understand how to gargle. Even if you have been exposed, if you can prevent the proliferation of the virus in the nose and throat, you will have less symptoms and likely not experiencing the horrible cough. Also, blowing the nose really hard once a day helps.

[Anonymous]

Here is the helpful email I received (I deleted the part about face masks and how they aren't helpful with prevention):

Tamiflu does not kill but prevents H1N1 from further proliferation till
the virus limits itself in about 1-2 weeks (its natural cycle). H1N1,
like other Influenza A viruses, only infects the upper respiratory tract
and proliferates (only) there. The only portals of entry are the nostrils
and mouth/ throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost
impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.
Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1
infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and
development of secondary infections, some very simple steps not fully
highlighted in most official communications can be practiced (instead of
focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official
communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any
part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't
trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/
nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple
gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has
the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected
one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful
preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with
warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti
(very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose
hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm
salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C
(Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C
tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6.* Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has
the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off
proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot
survive, proliferate or do any harm.

All these are simple ways to prevent, within means of most households, and
certainly much less painful than to wait in long queues outside public
hospitals.

This message is from Dr. Vinay Goyal a renowned doctor who visited last
week to lecture on the topic H1N1 (SWINE FLU), its origin and precautions.
He is an MBBS, DRM, DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having
clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like
Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, everyone. I'll do the qtip and salt water thing tonight (if he'll let me!). And, I'm going to keep him home from school tomorrow. I don't want to risk infecting his classmates.

[Anonymous]

I do the Q-tip/salt water with my 2 1/2 year old. He fusses but lets me do it. Because your son did get the shot over a week ago, if he was exposed to the virus, he at least has a head start in producing antibodies. He might still get sick but hopefully it won't be nearly as bad as if he didn't have any protection.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. I'm also told that the sick child was not coughing and didn't have a runny nose. So, I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that we dodged a bullet here.

[Anonymous]

OP, if it makes you feel any better, my nephew woke up with h1n1 the day after a family party where there were eight kids, five of whom had not had h1n1 yet. Only one of them got sick, and it was his sister, and she got sick days later, so it was probably from subsequent exposure at his house. Which is to say it is possible that your kid was exposed but will not get sick. Good luck!