A Pediatrician on Swine Flu
Posted on April 29th, 2009 – 10:31 AMBy May Chen
Two schools have been closed for the day in Cold Spring, about 80 miles north of the Twin Cities, because of a suspected case of swine flu.
It’s Minnesota’s first suspected case. As parents, we’re all understandably worried.
Cribsheet sat down with Twin Cities pediatrician Dr. Peter Dehnel to talk about what to look out for with the swine flu outbreak.
Dr. Dehnel explains what we know so far about this very new virus - including symptoms to look out for - and what we don’t know yet.
Click here to watch the interview.
9 Responses to "A Pediatrician on Swine Flu"
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That was great, thank you. Fun to see you in a new format, too. Here’s my question - if we aren’t supposed to panic and there are treatments available, why are people (like the 23 mo. old toddler in Tx) dying? And how can we be calm about something that is potentially fatal?
Thanks again.
Thanks for doing that piece, it mad me feel more at ease.
mad=made
I wasn’t too worried about swine flu until I heard about the Minnesota case, and then when I went to a routine doctor’s appointment this morning, they had masks at the reception desks along with hand sanitizers for patients to wear if they chose to. That was a bit scary! Like they really think we should be wearing these to be in the clinic. I just used hand sanitizer and washed my hands when I got to my office.
I really hope they can find out more about the causes for the swine flu soon, so they can work faster on the cure and put everyone more at ease.
Missy - the toddler who died in Texas had traveled from Mexico to for treatment. For some reason, people who’ve caught swine flu have gotten much sicker in Mexico than in the US. So far at least, the cases here have been mild.
Amy - I’m with you on hoping they find out more soon. So much of this evolving.
Erin - thanks for the thanks. I felt a little goofy in front of the camera. Good thing the pediatrician, Dr. Dehnel, was such a pro.
…trying to keep panic in check…thanks for the clarification on differences in severity.
How horrible for all those families.
I spent the morning at the hospital with my daughter for some routine stuff. They had signs re checking for flu symptoms but no masks.
Great video, May!
We spent the last two days/nights in the hospital with our daughter (not related to flu). But all I could think of as I walked the halls with her was: of course my kid has to end up in the hospital during a flu epidemic! Every time someone coughed I got wigged out. Don’t like hosptals to begin with - this time I could practically feel the bugs crawling on me!
I read somewhere (cnn.com, I think) that the Mexican toddler was traveling to TX for treatment of additional/underlying health problems and also had the flu. So it sounds like the poor child was more fragile than a typical 2-year-old already. Still, it is horrible for the family no matter the circumstances.
My two school agers got a quick lesson yesterday in “how to cough and sneeze” - using the elbow, not the hand. The teachers and aides are also getting on everyones’ cases about handwashing, etc.
Two of my three kids have sniffles, but so far it appears to be the spring cold/pollen thing they get every April/May. No temps or aches… Fingers crossed.
