Flu Season Update

12/8/09

Seasonal Flu - We are currently out of this vaccine.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

H1N1 (Swine Flu) - We are currently giving the H1N1 vaccine to any patients who would like it.

Please call the office for an appointment 603-642-6700.

Influenza: A Tale of Two Germs!

Seasonal Flu

This typically causes high fevers, intense muscle aches, fatigue, sore throat and headaches.  It can make one more susceptible to bacterial pneumonia which is why it is recommended for:

H1N1 Influenza

This influenza virus also causes high fevers, intense muscle aches, fatigue and sore throat, additionally it can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.  This strain of the flu appears to be more dangerous to pregnant women and those under 50.  Children and adolescents in particular can seriously be affected.  It is recommended that these groups in particular are immunized:

Both types of influenza can be treated with antiviral medications if treatment is sought with in the first 48 hours of the disease.  Treatment is much less effective if it is started after this 48 hour window.

It is important to know that the bacterial pneumonia that can follow both H1N1 influenza and the seasonal flu also presents with fever, but can be accompanied by shortness of breath, wheezing, chest pain and coughing up colored sputum.  Often what happens in people will actually start to feel better and than they develop new symptoms.  It seems that the influenza damages the lining of the lungs, making people more susceptible to pneumonia.  BACTERIAL PNEUMONIA CAN BE RAPIDLY FATAL.  If you develop these symptoms seek medical care PROMPTLY.  It is treated with different medications than influenza.  Let your primary care physician know right away if you develop these new symptoms even after being treated for influenza.

"If anyone who believes in Christ is a new creation.  The old is gone!  The new has come!  It is all from God.  He brought us back to himself through Christ's death on the cross.  And he has given us the task of bring others back to him through Christ.  God was bring the world back to himself through Christ.  He did not hold people's sins against them.  God has trusted us with the message that people may be brought back to him.  So we are Christ's official messengers.  It is as if God were making his appeal through us.  Here is what Christ wants us to beg you to do.  Come back to God!  Christ didn't have any sin.  But God made him become sin for us.  So we can be made right with God because of what Christ has done for us."
~2 Corinthians 5:17-21 New International Reader's Version