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Chatter Box 06:44 PM 09-08-2014
"The enterovirus normally causes nausea and vomiting, but this particular strand, enterovirus 68, is causing severe respiratory problems among children." -21 Alive


"Mimics the common cold but within hours many of those affected become severely ill and many require trips to ICU." — via CBS News

This appears tonight that it's making its way into our community. It is supposed to spread a cross the entire country through the fall and winter. This is severe. This is putting children in ICU.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/human-en...-could-worsen/

I just had a friend have her son come down with this today and she had other friends with kids come down from it this weekend. One girl stated that her child had labored breathing and was pre pneumonia by the time they got to the hospital. Started symptoms coughing ect that day. My fiends son started coughing this morning and was vomiting and labored breathing just a few hours ago.

Nervous because I have obamacare which does not pay pretty much anything and a $7,000 deductible after paying 700 per month in premiums. I can't afford to have my kids in the hosptial.


I am freaking out.

I know all I am going to hear is.... "it's just cold" or "He's just teething"....
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Controlled Chaos 08:12 PM 09-08-2014
I was just listening to a story about this on the radio. Scary! I am sorry you have insurance troubles. The whole time I was listening to the story I was having flashes of my son in the hospital with RSV a few years ago. I will be disinfecting like crazy. All my littles have runny noses right now...yikes
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sahm1225 08:12 PM 09-08-2014
Keep up with hand washing and cleaning and pray!

Enteroviruses aren't totally uncommon. This one is very strong but worrying about it isn't going to get us anywhere.

If your kids show symptoms, go to your doctor first instead of the ER. If your kids do end up getting sick, you could always negotiate with the hospital on cost after the fact.

Hope you stay healthy
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Chatter Box 09:09 PM 09-08-2014
The kids that I watch range from newborn to my daughter who is the oldest at 3 years old. They put everything in their mouth at the ages I watch. I would have to hire full time staff to watch each individual child from sticking everything in their mouths and still washing everyone elses hands. I can't disinfect every toy all day for the next 7 months. All i keep thinking is...there is no way this is not going to hit us.
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Play Care 02:55 AM 09-09-2014
I did see this on the news. I'm trying not to get overly worried, but younger DD has asthma and seems to catch everything that comes down the pike
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hope 03:59 AM 09-09-2014
My DH has a compromised immune system due to cancer treatment. Every fall he ends up in the hospital due to simple colds gone bad because his body can't fight it. We take all precautions and we have been very lucky so far. This virus scares me though. I think I am going to put together a print out for parents pertaining to this. I have 2 infants in my care now. It scares me that they can come in with what looks like a cold and progress to something so bad at quick.
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craftymissbeth 04:34 AM 09-09-2014
Does anyone have a printable fact sheet for this? I haven't found anything in the google machine and I'd love to give something to my parents.
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Chatter Box 04:43 AM 09-09-2014
I'm starting to try and think of a game plan. I think any child coming in with any type of symptoms I will probably lay down with a TV on in their nap area for a little bit kind of quarantined so that I can monitor what they have going on.
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hope 05:20 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by Chatter Box:
I'm starting to try and think of a game plan. I think any child coming in with any type of symptoms I will probably lay down with a TV on in their nap area for a little bit kind of quarantined so that I can monitor what they have going on.
Aren't the symptoms the same as a common cold? During the fall and winter months so many of my dcks come with a runny nose and slight cough. I would have to quarantine each to a separate room. Lol!
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Naptime yet? 05:20 AM 09-09-2014
I couldn't find a fact sheet, either. Hope, if you come up with something to hand out to parents, would you mind sharing? I'm trying to figure out how to word something for exclusion, since it looks like the common cold at first, then gets worse (by that time has everyone possibly been infected?)...... Thanks!
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hope 05:35 AM 09-09-2014
Working on it today. Will post as soon as I have it done and I will definitely share with everyone. Any suggestions are appreciated!
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craftymissbeth 05:42 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by hope:
Working on it today. Will post as soon as I have it done and I will definitely share with everyone. Any suggestions are appreciated!


Sorry, I missed that in your post ^^.

I'm really nervous about this virus. I don't normally give much thought to these things and just take my normal precautions, but this has me nervous. I suddenly came down with a cold on Wednesday afternoon and I thought it was strep throat it was so sudden and so bad. The stuffy nose and aches are pretty much gone, but now I have a cough. I'm *really* hoping it's just a cold.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 05:54 AM 09-09-2014
I am never nervous about things but this one has me a little anxious. I am in the same boat with crappy healthcare coverage.
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CraftyMom 05:57 AM 09-09-2014
I was reading about this. My daughter will be the one to get it first. She has asthma and allergies and catches everything!
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Chatter Box 06:33 AM 09-09-2014
Adults aren't as susceptible however I'm sure cancer patients are an exception.

I have kids set up in separate rooms in my house so this would work for me. The only other thing I can think is making parents stay home with any child showing symptoms for the first 24 hours but I'm sure I'd have them coming with pitchforks at me if I did that.... I bet I would lose kids.
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Chatter Box 06:34 AM 09-09-2014
From what I have read the symptoms usually turn within the 1st 24 hours.

My friends son's condition turned into pnemonia overnight.
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llpa 07:15 AM 09-09-2014
I think a game plan is a necessity with this one and now is a perfect time to get info to parents etc while it is fresh on the news. Not to alarm, simply to inform. If this gets out of control, I could see local schools closing for a day or two. We, as providers will need to make some decisions about how we would handle things on our end. Most of us have illness policies, but this could go beyond that.
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Chatter Box 07:52 AM 09-09-2014
This winter is going to be the worst between this and the polar vortex coming back. I am bracing myself for this hailstorm.

You could have kids with colds already getting a hold of this virus on top of it. ...so while they have already been sick with their normal cold for 4 days they can bring this in and be sick with it for half a day infecting everyone before it mutates.

Unless all the other day cares in the area follow suit I don't know how to get through this without losing all of my income or letting parents treat us like their private drop off nurse.

I know all I'm going to hear is..." just monitor him and if he starts showing symptoms then give me a call"....after they have been here infecting everyone else.

I've been trying to fill 2 spots for the last 2 months already. I'm so ready to throw in my cards.
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craftymissbeth 07:55 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by Chatter Box:
Adults aren't as susceptible however I'm sure cancer patients are an exception.

I have kids set up in separate rooms in my house so this would work for me. The only other thing I can think is making parents stay home with any child showing symptoms for the first 24 hours but I'm sure I'd have them coming with pitchforks at me if I did that.... I bet I would lose kids.
Just wanted to comment on the bold part. Adults are just as likely to get it as kids, but it usually just shows as a cold and not the respiratory distress. That means that we can get it, think it's just a cold, and pass it to all of our kids
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TwinKristi 07:58 AM 09-09-2014
My friend's son in MN has this! Scary!! I have an asthmatic son who would be at risk for hospitalization.
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daycare 08:03 AM 09-09-2014
I agree about a game plan and making sure we inform parents sooner as opposed to later.


Last year was one of my first years that we had really really bad colds that were just NEVER ending. One of my DCKs ended up in the hospital. Unfortunately it took that happening for me to start cutting kids off at the door and sending home. Even those that were mildly ill. I didn't have any families leave, but I had a lot of families fighting me daily for a few months and boy did it stink.
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Blackcat31 08:14 AM 09-09-2014
I'm not worried. Sounds like there isn't much you can do other than be diligent about hand washing and excluding for symptoms covered in your illness policies.

Seems every year we have some sort of "health" scare in regards to a new illness or an outbreak of another...

Wash your hands, get plenty of good rest, eat well and spend as much time outdoors as possible.

^^^ Best way to prevent an illness in my opinion.

From what we've been told here, its similar to the other entero viruses and should follow the same precautions

http://www.hennepin.us/~/media/henne...-s6-entero.pdf
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Thriftylady 08:19 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by CraftyMom:
I was reading about this. My daughter will be the one to get it first. She has asthma and allergies and catches everything!
Mine also. Mine is in HS now, so she is a little better about washing her hands if I harp on her to do it lots. I told her last night I wanted her washing hands every time she had a chance and made her watch the evening news story about it. She was sniffling last night, most likely from allergies and it took everything I had to keep reminding myself it was just allergies.
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hope 08:31 AM 09-09-2014
Parents seem to think that germs only live in the daycare. They forget that germs are on the shopping cart, the car seat, their car, money......I can go on and on. I have seen many dcms hand money over to me and then check inside their babies mouth to see how much the new tooth has come in. I have seen them hand toddlers the keys to the car only for the baby to stick them in their mouth. I have gone year after year dealing with the runny noses. Even if I can't turn away for the common cold symptoms, I will drill safety precautions into my families in the hopes to avoid this virus.
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Meyou 08:32 AM 09-09-2014
Is this the same virus that showed up in Colorado a few weeks ago that they were calling whooping cough and blaming unvax'd kids for spreading?
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TwinKristi 08:41 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by Meyou:
Is this the same virus that showed up in Colorado a few weeks ago that they were calling whooping cough and blaming unvax'd kids for spreading?
I don't know? Whooping cough is usually verified by a nasal swab and results sent to the CDC or local health department for statistics and such. It's also easily treated with a 5 day course of antibiotics so if those kids weren't getting better after that 5 day dose and tested negative I'm sure they went on to other sources of the illness and it's now been identified as Enterovirus.
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spinnymarie 08:45 AM 09-09-2014
Looking forward to seeing what y'all come up with as a handout -- I was hoping DCFS would contact me with something if they were really concerned about it...
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preschoolteacher 09:07 AM 09-09-2014
I'm so worried about this. My friend's daughter is in the hospital with it here in MN. My son experiences severe respiratory distress with the common cold.

I can't imagine how he'd do if he came down with it...
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Blackcat31 09:29 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by preschoolteacher:
I'm so worried about this. My friend's daughter is in the hospital with it here in MN. My son experiences severe respiratory distress with the common cold.

I can't imagine how he'd do if he came down with it...
Our licensor referred us to the Hennepin county infectious disease book we have in regards to how to manage this.

I posted the link to the pdf file above. From what we are being told here, it is just a more severe version of other enteroviruses...

I have several Public Health Nurse DCM's and they said that other than normal precautions and exclusion rules, there is nothing more or else we can do.
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AmyKidsCo 09:30 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I'm not worried. Sounds like there isn't much you can do other than be diligent about hand washing and excluding for symptoms covered in your illness policies.

Seems every year we have some sort of "health" scare in regards to a new illness or an outbreak of another...

Wash your hands, get plenty of good rest, eat well and spend as much time outdoors as possible.

^^^ Best way to prevent an illness in my opinion.

From what we've been told here, its similar to the other entero viruses and should follow the same precautions

http://www.hennepin.us/~/media/henne...-s6-entero.pdf
I was thinking the same thing. There was H1N1, which we didn't have here, and recently Hand Foot Mouth, which we didn't have either. I plan to keep washing, disinfecting, and boosting immune systems with lots of oranges and other nutritious foods. Unless you live in a bubble you're going to be exposed to stuff.
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Annalee 09:33 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by spinnymarie:
Looking forward to seeing what y'all come up with as a handout -- I was hoping DCFS would contact me with something if they were really concerned about it...
We have to have forms signed by parents each September where we give them flu info and I look for DHS to send us forms for this new virus as well.
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sahm1225 11:55 AM 09-09-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I'm not worried. Sounds like there isn't much you can do other than be diligent about hand washing and excluding for symptoms covered in your illness policies.

Seems every year we have some sort of "health" scare in regards to a new illness or an outbreak of another...

Wash your hands, get plenty of good rest, eat well and spend as much time outdoors as possible.

^^^ Best way to prevent an illness in my opinion.

From what we've been told here, its similar to the other entero viruses and should follow the same precautions

http://www.hennepin.us/~/media/henne...-s6-entero.pdf
This. One of my dcm is a doctor and she said that it's the media blowing it out of proportion. Last year there was another strain of Enteroviruses that went around and her dd (2 months) caught it & was hospitalized. We are being a little extra cautious & monitoring the ones with asthma (my dd and my dcm kids).

Just wanted to clarify that I don't think that it's NOT something we should worry about, but it's not a rare thing to have a contagious Enteroviruses going around.
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Thriftylady 01:47 PM 09-09-2014
I will add that one of my "secret" weapons is the spray bottle of bleach water that I use on all the door knobs and such each day. My licensing rep in Kansas taught me that and I really do think it helped to keep colds and such down. It only makes sense when you think about how many people touch them, and before I started daycare and my rep mentioned it, I had never thought of it. Now every darn time I touch a darn door knob, I cringe.
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daycare 02:12 PM 09-09-2014
I found this



http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...icle-1.1932338
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Chatter Box 09:22 PM 09-09-2014
I am seeing a lot of pictures and videos of friends in my home town who are experiencing this with their kids. I am involved in several lifestyle photography groups with people participating all over the country as well and many are posting images of their children in the hospitals with it.

I don't think this is being blown up.
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Unregistered 03:50 PM 09-10-2014
How long do you exclude a daycare kid who has this?
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TwinKristi 04:10 PM 09-10-2014
Originally Posted by daycare:
I found this



http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...icle-1.1932338
And most specifically this part...

Originally Posted by :
Hospital officials in Kansas City and Chicago notified the CDC of an increase in severe respiratory illnesses in children this past August.
If a hospital notified the CDC due to a large increase in hospitalization a then I don't think that's a media hype issue. They said they had far more cases of children meeting the criteria for PICU admittance so this isn't being exaggerated.
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TwinKristi 04:12 PM 09-10-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
How long do you exclude a daycare kid who has this?
Same as any other virus, once the fever breaks they're usually no longer contagious but if they require breathing treatments and are generally not feeling well it's up to you and your policy.
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Chatter Box 10:41 AM 09-11-2014
Ordered 2 bottles of elderberry syrup. Crossing my fingers it helps with my kids. I have heard good things about it.
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hope 10:46 AM 09-11-2014
Originally Posted by Chatter Box:
Ordered 2 bottles of elderberry syrup. Crossing my fingers it helps with my kids. I have heard good things about it.
What is this elderberry syrup? Please tell!
And I did tell everyone I would work on a handout and share. I promise I will have by end of weekend.
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Chatter Box 11:05 AM 09-11-2014
It is made out of a berry that boosts your immunity. It is sweet and has a great taste. Kids apparently like the flavor but there are a lot of reports that it actually does really well. Similar to the flu vaccine. ..if they are taking it and do get sick it usually is not as bad.

I have heard from friends it is very effective.
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-elderberry.html

there is a lot of info out there. I have also heard if they are already sick it shuts down the virus and bacteria growth and helps in those cases as well.
I'm crossing fingers.
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daycarediva 11:05 AM 09-11-2014
The state has said nothing to us. What I did was attach a copy of my illness policy to my Sept newsletter reminding parents of the exclusion rules/guidelines and that I will continue the frequent hand washing and sanitization procedures I currently use.

I have an asthmatic son and a preemie dcb with severe asthma. His mom is FREAKING OUT. (typical for her, I love her but mannnnn woman relax!)
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Chatter Box 11:07 AM 09-11-2014
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supple...ame=elderberry
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Blackcat31 11:11 AM 09-11-2014
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
The state has said nothing to us. What I did was attach a copy of my illness policy to my Sept newsletter reminding parents of the exclusion rules/guidelines and that I will continue the frequent hand washing and sanitization procedures I currently use.

I have an asthmatic son and a preemie dcb with severe asthma. His mom is FREAKING OUT. (typical for her, I love her but mannnnn woman relax!)
I have one DCM that is "nervous" too...

I can't believe how crazy some of this is getting.

According to the CDC and the info we've been given via licensing and public health, it's the same type of virus that causes HFM and other respiratory illnesses such as RSV....ALL things we see come through every year and if we are diligent about our cleaning, hand washing and exclusion policies we will be doing ALL we can...other than shutting down and just waiting it out.

As soon as they put a name to something, it makes it seem so much more severe... H1N1 for example. It was a strain of the flu. A bad strain but still the flu.

This particular virus is EV-68. HFM is EV-71.

Wonder why no one is freaking out about EV-69 and EV-70
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Chatter Box 11:11 AM 09-11-2014
I was looking for it locally but everywhere I called didn't know about it. I had to order it online. But now I'm wondering. I might have been able to get it at GLC or somewhere like thst. Someone recommended whole foods places ect.
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KiddieCahoots 11:15 AM 09-11-2014
Originally Posted by Chatter Box:
It is made out of a berry that boosts your immunity. It is sweet and has a great taste. Kids apparently like the flavor but there are a lot of reports that it actually does really well. Similar to the flu vaccine. ..if they are taking it and do get sick it usually is not as bad.

I have heard from friends it is very effective.
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-elderberry.html

there is a lot of info out there. I have also heard if they are already sick it shuts down the virus and bacteria growth and helps in those cases as well.
I'm crossing fingers.
OT
Not to be a smart a$$ or anything.........
BUT, Hershel on The Walking Dead used elderberries to make a tea to help people that had some sort of flu. Had no idea that was accurate, hmmmm.....
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SignMeUp 11:21 AM 09-11-2014
For H1N1, we were given stricter guidelines to follow. The same ones wouldn't apply, because I think it was specific to how that virus presented. But it was something pretty simple like, for cold symptoms, stay home for 24 hours. Then follow the normal child care guidelines - if there is a fever over 101, call your doctor and it may be the influenza virus. If temp is under 101, just follow normal guidelines for a cold.
My parents worried enough about that one that they followed it really well. I don't know that they would now -- too many "scares" since then
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Blackcat31 11:21 AM 09-11-2014
This same site/link says:

Because of serious potential risks, elderberry is not recommended for children or for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-su...ide-elderberry

I wouldn't be against giving my own child something herbal but I wouldn't give my DCK's this. NOT saying you are...just making the statement in case anyone is considering it.

I know many people who trust and have faith in herbal remedies but for every site you find that says how good it is, you can find another stating the opposite.

It's tough when there is so much info out there. Especially when it's conflicting info.
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TwinKristi 11:25 AM 09-11-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I have one DCM that is "nervous" too...

I can't believe how crazy some of this is getting.

According to the CDC and the info we've been given via licensing and public health, it's the same type of virus that causes HFM and other respiratory illnesses such as RSV....ALL things we see come through every year and if we are diligent about our cleaning, hand washing and exclusion policies we will be doing ALL we can...other than shutting down and just waiting it out.

As soon as they put a name to something, it makes it seem so much more severe... H1N1 for example. It was a strain of the flu. A bad strain but still the flu.

This particular virus is EV-68. HFM is EV-71.

Wonder why no one is freaking out about EV-69 and EV-70
Well to me it's kind of simple. I don't know of any kids hospitalized for HFM, and they said while EV causes illnesses every year, the number of hospitalizations is unprecedented. Same thing happened with H1N1. In my area several people died from it. My family got it and while it wasn't OMG sheer panic, we did have 3 ER trips for pneumonia, multiple rounds on antibiotics, multiple inhalers and countless dr visits between late Dec and mid-Feb. It was not fun! Also like Norovirus... We had a local school shut down because over half the students were out sick, 1/6 of our school's students were home in one day from Norovirus. In a week over half the kids were out at some point. Entire cruise ships infected in a few days. It's crazy! Some things come and hit harder than others and this EV 68 is pretty scary for some.
And of course what used to just be "the flu" now has so many different types snd strains, A, B, H1N1, bird, Noro, Entero....
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Chatter Box 11:28 AM 09-11-2014
Originally Posted by KiddieCahoots:
OT
Not to be a smart a$$ or anything.........
BUT, Hershel on The Walking Dead used elderberries to make a tea to help people that had some sort of flu. Had no idea that was accurate, hmmmm.....
This hilarious thing is...tthat is the very first thing that popped into my head when someone told me they give it to their kids every year.
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MOM OF 4 11:28 AM 09-11-2014
I'm in an area where it hit...plus it hit my 7yo dd. She's ok, but we thought for sure she'd need the ER. Rather, I took her to an urgent care after a terrible night where she could not breathe, and lots of albuterol, instead and had her checked there. She is on breathing treatments and treatments for symptoms of cold/cough, etc. My other kids have a 'cold' or somethng, but so far no issues, thankfully. But we caught it early enough, like RIGHT at the onset of symptoms (I just had a feeling due to her complaints/what I heard her doing) to where we just try to keep her symptoms at bay (which is ALL the ER will do, and even if they provided O2, so would the urgent care clinic and I can even get a script to administer at home). Poor thing had this BEFORE it came out all over the media. THANKFULLY none of the other kids have it, to our knowledge, though a couple others have a different virus going on (flu-like symptoms on them)
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Blackcat31 11:32 AM 09-11-2014
Originally Posted by TwinKristi:
Well to me it's kind of simple. I don't know of any kids hospitalized for HFM, and they said while EV causes illnesses every year, the number of hospitalizations is unprecedented. Same thing happened with H1N1. In my area several people died from it. My family got it and while it wasn't OMG sheer panic, we did have 3 ER trips for pneumonia, multiple rounds on antibiotics, multiple inhalers and countless dr visits between late Dec and mid-Feb. It was not fun! Also like Norovirus... We had a local school shut down because over half the students were out sick, 1/6 of our school's students were home in one day from Norovirus. In a week over half the kids were out at some point. Entire cruise ships infected in a few days. It's crazy! Some things come and hit harder than others and this EV 68 is pretty scary for some.
And of course what used to just be "the flu" now has so many different types snd strains, A, B, H1N1, bird, Noro, Entero....
I know...

I am being somewhat sarcastic about some of it...

Mostly because my point is we can only do so many things to be preventative and the rest (worrying) isn't going to help.

Be diligent about your illness policies, wash hands frequently and make sure you get the rest, exercise and proper nutrition needed.
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Blackcat31 01:07 PM 09-11-2014
Here is some really good info I just received

http://www.cdc.gov/non-polio-enterov...ut/EV-D68.html
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SignMeUp 01:09 PM 09-11-2014
I so agree with not over-reacting, but if I were a parent of a preemie infant who is in group care, I would certainly be worried too.
I was the parent of a preemie infant and that infant was in MY group care.
But that was before we worried about and named each individual virus in the world.
If I knew it were in my area and might affect my preemie baby, I would take the steps I deemed necessary to protect him. But I wouldn't put that on my provider Well, I sure hope I wouldn't I would hate to be "that parent".
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