The treatment's the same
Health officials stress flu prevention, regardless of strain

By Pennie Embry, Staff Writer

STIGLER, Sept. 10 — With both the common seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 virus spreading, doctors’ offices, clinics and hospital emergency rooms are beginning to fill with anxious patients, wondering if that fever or cough they are experiencing is a sign of something serious.

And it might, or might not, be.

With students returning to school and the regular flu season starting, a rise in patients suffering from flu or flu-like symptoms is only to be expected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And that rise is already being seen in Haskell County.

“We have seen a significant jump in patients in our emergency room, or outpatients in our lab testing for the flu,” said Chris Larkin, chief executive officer of Haskell County Health System. “We’re treating every strain, like seasonal flu, as though it were H1N1 because the protocol is the same.”

Larkin and HCHS are not saying they expect every case of flu in Haskell County to be the new H1N1 virus, or that every bad cough or fever is likely to be any kind of flu. What they are saying is that the treatment for the H1N1 virus and seasonal Type A influenza are the same: staying home from work or school, bed rest, drinking clear fluids and taking prescription anti-viral medications to lessen and shorten the symptoms.

But the CDC wants people to focus not only on treatment, but also on prevention. Following a few simple steps outlined on the CDC Web site, www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/, can help many people stay healthy. The Web site will be updated regularly as information becomes available.

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