Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Flu and Swine Flu

Jessica's doctor gave us a prescription for Tamiflu - just in case it's needed. He told us that Jessica shouldn't get the flu shot, mentioning something about Th1's and Th2's. (Evidently not a good idea with her immune system.) He did say the flu mist was an acceptable option for her if it's available.

I'm a little concerned about the swine flu that's going around, particularly with the start of school coming up. I've heard of several church youth groups that came back from summer camp after being exposed to it. People we know that have family members with it. We had our first death in Arkansas from it the other day.

Matthew and Steve and I will get our flu shot, and we will all practice good hygiene and try to stay away from germs as best we can.

On another note, Jessica's been a little tired from our trip. She finally finished her school summer reading assignment and essay yesterday. Finally! She was having trouble focusing to get it done. She still needs to refine the essay a little bit. School starts in a week!

2 comments:

Sue Jackson said...

Learning about Th1 and Th2 was a big turning point for me - it helped me to understand the bizarre immune system dysfunction that is CFS...

Those designations refer to T helper cells. People with CFS are typically Th2 dominant (ideally, the amount of T helper cells would be in balance). Th2 cells respond to viruses and allergens; Th1 cells respond to bacteria. So, with CFS, our systems OVER respond to viruses and allergens and UNDER respond to bacterial infections. That's why we rarely catch colds but if we do, they often turn into bronchitis or sinus infection.

So, the flu shot would further overstimulate the virus response.

Hope that helps a little. I'll have to hunt for where I originally read about all this...

Sue

Laura (aka Mom) said...

Sue,
Thanks for the information and, as always, helping me understand. Very interesting!