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Treating the Novel H1N1
 If I have a family member at home who is sick with the novel H1N1 virus, should I go to work?
Employees who are well but who have an ill family member at home with the novel H1N1 virus can go to work as usual. These employees should monitor their health every day, and take everyday precautions as described above. If they become ill, they should notify their supervisor and stay home. Employees who have an underlying medical condition or who are pregnant should call their health care provider for advice, because they might need to receive influenza antiviral drugs to prevent illness.
What should I do if I get sick?
If you live in areas where people have been identified with the novel H1N1 virus and become ill you should stay home and avoid contact with other people. CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. Stay away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick. Staying at home means that you should not leave your home except to seek medical care. This means avoiding normal activities, including work, school, travel, shopping, social events and public gatherings.
We ask patient vistors with cold or flu symptoms to defer their visit until after symptoms have resolved.
What if my illness becomes severe?
If you have severe illness or you are at high risk for flu complications, contact your health care provider or seek medical care. Your health care provider will determine whether flu testing or treatment is needed.
If you become ill and experience any of the following warning signs, seek emergency medical care.
In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:
- Fast breathing or trouble breathing
- Bluish or gray skin color
- Not drinking enough fluids
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Not waking up or not interacting
- Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
- Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Sudden dizziness
- Confusion
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
Are there medicines to treat novel H1N1 infection?
Yes. CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with the novel H1N1 virus. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaled powder) that fight against the flu by keeping flu viruses from reproducing in your body. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. During the current pandemic, the priority use for influenza antiviral drugs is to treat severe influenza illness (for example hospitalized patients) and people who are sick who have a condition that places them at high risk for serious flu-related complications.
What is CDC’s recommendation regarding "Swine Flu Parties"?
"Swine Flu Parties" are gatherings during which people have close contact with a person who has the novel H1N1 virus in order to become infected with the virus. The intent of these parties is for a person to become infected with what for many people has been a mild disease, in the hope of having natural immunity to the novel H1N1 virus that might circulate later and cause more severe disease.
CDC does not recommend "Swine Flu Parties" as a way to protect against the novel H1N1 virus in the future.
While the disease seen in the current novel H1N1 virus outbreak has been mild for many people, it has been severe and even fatal for others. There is no way to predict with certainty what the outcome will be for an individual or, equally important, for others to whom the intentionally infected person may spread the virus.
Again, CDC recommends that people with the novel H1N1 virus avoid contact with others as much as possible.
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H1N1 Home
How is Mercy Preparing for the Novel H1N1 Virus?
Understanding the Novel H1N1 Virus
Preventing Novel H1N1
Disposal/Treatment of Infected Items
Exposures Not Thought to Spread the Novel H1N1 Virus
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