Cedar Rapids Weather
Is it H1N1 or Just a Cold?By Katie Wiedemann, Reporter
Dubuque - Anyone who's had a sniffle lately is wondering: is it H1-N1 flu or just a cold?
Doctors tell us there are some slight but important differences that could calm your fears. This is a common scene in crowded hospitals and clinics, doctors and nurses, checking patients for Influenza. Dr. Richard Fairly, M.D. said, "Upper repository systems such as runny nose or stuffy head, those are not influenza symptoms, those are symptoms of a cold." Doctor Fairly says two key symptoms distinguish the flu from a cold, fever over 100 degrees and an abrupt feeling of being ill. Dr. Fairly said, "Almost all influenza occurring in America today is H1-N1, none of the seasonal flu has come up yet." That's why doctors, with the support of the Center For Disease Control, are telling people who feel like they have the flu to stay away from their doctor's office. Doctors and nurses say they can sometimes diagnose H1-N1 over the phone. Dr. Fairly said, "We don't want to have a lot of sick people coming into a crowded doctor's office and spreading it to other people who may not have influenza but they have other chronic illnesses." If you do come into the doctor’s office, doctors are asking you put on a mask, so that you don't spread H1-N1 flu to other patients who don't have it. Doctors say they expect seasonal flu to show up in mid-December and peak some time in January. More Good Stuff |
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