Facts To Know - Asked & Answered

We had questions and they had answers at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a pretty well hidden Frequent Questions (FQs) database that allows you to search for questions previously asked. Normally we email the CDC when we want to know the answer but today we braved the toll-free number and asked a real human being a question. Accessing a real live person was about as well hidden as the website answers.

Here are our nine (9) favorite questions and answers. There are actually eleven (11) questions but only ten (10) get answered but we're not certain about the tenth question. All provided by and found directly from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

1. What does the H1N1 vaccine cost?
    The federal government has purchased the H1N1 vaccine and is providing it to the states free of charge. This is different in many places from the seasonal flu vaccine. Public vaccination clinics (sponsored by local health departments at schools or other places) will offer vaccine at no charge. Some private providers may charge a small fee to administer the vaccine, but cost should not be a barrier to getting immunized. Many, many people and businesses have stepped up to the public health challenge we all face and are working together for the overall public good to make this vaccine free – or at least affordable – for all those who want it. 


2. Will people age 65 years and older be able to get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine this season?
   Yes, the U.S. government has purchased 250 million doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine, so anyone who wants to get the vaccine will have the opportunity to do so. While people 65 and older are not included in the groups recommended to get the earliest doses of vaccine, they can get the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine as soon as the high risk groups have had the opportunity to be vaccinated.
   Some communities and providers will offer the 2009 H1N1 vaccine to people 65 and over sooner than others, depending on how quickly they meet the needs of the initial prioritized populations. While the early doses of 2009 H1N1 vaccine are being given to those in high risk groups, CDC's priority for people 65 and older is to have them get their seasonal flu vaccine first, and to seek medical advice quickly if they develop flu-like symptoms this season. This will determine whether they need medical evaluation and possible treatment with antiviral medications.


3. Are natural remedies (also referred to as “complementary” or “alternative” medicine) recommended to prevent the 2009 H1N1 flu virus?
   The first and most important step to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated. Vaccination stimulates an immune response using a killed or weakened virus that uses the body’s own defense mechanisms to prevent infection. CDC's current recommendations to protect against 2009 H1N1 virus do not include natural remedies as a sole prevention method. If you want to use a natural remedy to reduce symptoms, CDC recommends that you talk to your healthcare provider about options.
   
   Alternative medicine should not be used as a replacement for proven conventional care, or to postpone seeing a doctor about a medical problem. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides information at http://health.nih.gov/topic/AlternativeMedicine on specific alternative options, including scientific information, potential side effects, and cautions for each.
   
   The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns consumers to be cautious about products that claim to prevent, treat, or cure 2009 H1N1 influenza, specifically products like pills, air filtration devices, and cleaning agents can kill or eliminate the virus.
   
   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to use extreme care when purchasing any products over the Internet that claim to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure the H1N1 influenza virus. The warning comes after the FDA recently purchased and analyzed several products represented online as Tamiflu (oseltamivir), which may pose risks to patients. For more information, see the news release. Consumers can also visit FDA's Web site for tips about how to protect themselves when buying medicines online.


4. How long (one season or more) will immunity be effective from the H1N1 vaccine? Will this be an annual vaccine like the seasonal flu?
   Influenza (flu) viruses change from year to year. You are unlikely to get infected with the same exact strain of influenza (flu) more than once. Most people with flu-like illness since spring 2009 don't know whether they were infected with 2009 H1N1 or another flu virus strain. If you think you had 2009 H1N1 infection, ask your doctor if you should be vaccinated. The only sure way to diagnose 2009 H1N1 infection is with real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
   
   Even if you had a confirmed case of 2009 H1N1 flu, you can still get infected with other flu strains. You should make sure you get the seasonal flu vaccine. If you had a flu-like illness since spring 2009 that wasn't diagnosed as 2009 H1N1 flu by RT-PCR, get the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines.
   
   Also, a vaccine made against flu viruses circulating last year may not protect against the newer viruses. That is why the influenza vaccine is updated every year to include current viruses.


5. What is the incubation period of the H1N1 (swine) flu? How long will it take to get the flu after being exposed?
   The estimated incubation period is unknown and could range from 1 to 7 days, and more likely 1 to 4 days.
   
   
   Persons with novel H1N1 flu virus infection should be considered potentially contagious (able to spread disease) for up to 7 days after illness onset. Persons who continue to be ill longer than 7 days should be considered potentially contagious until symptoms have resolved. Children, especially younger children, might be contagious for longer periods. People with influenza-like illness should stay home for at least 24 hours after their fever is gone (without the use of fever-reducing medicine). A fever is defined as having a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater.
   
   It's important to remember that we are still in flu and allergy season and it's not uncommon to have cold or flu-like symptoms. If you are sick, stay home from work or school to monitor your health. If you do have symptoms where you think you need urgent care, contact your doctor right away.


6. Can I get 2009 H1N1 more than once?
   Getting infected with any flu virus, including 2009 H1N1, should cause your body to develop immune resistance to that virus so it's not likely that a person would be infected with the identical influenza virus more than once. (However, people with weakened immune systems might not develop full immunity after infection and might be more likely to get infected with the same influenza virus more than once.) However, it's also possible that a person could have a positive test result for flu infection more than once in an influenza season. This can occur for two reasons:
   A person may be infected with different influenza viruses (for example, the first time with 2009 H1N1 and the second time with a regular seasonal flu virus. Most rapid tests cannot distinguish which influenza virus is responsible for the illness. and,
   Influenza tests can occasionally give false positive and false negative results so it's possible that one of the test results were incorrect. This is more likely to happen when the diagnosis is made with the rapid flu tests.
   
   More information about flu diagnosis is available at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/diagnosis/.


7. What are the initial symptoms of swine flu? How do we get it cured?
   The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal flu infection.
   
   (P)ersons with novel H1N1 flu virus infection should be considered potentially contagious (able to spread disease) for up to 7 days after illness onset. Persons who continue to be ill longer than 7 days should be considered potentially contagious until symptoms have resolved. Children, especially younger children, might be contagious for longer periods.


8. Do you have special recommendations for air conditioned buildings?
   The CDC indicates that the odds of transmission of the 2009-H1N1 influenza over significant distances through heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is extremely remote and special cleaning of air ducts is not required.


9. Does the flu vaccine work right away? How long before the vaccine takes effect after it is given?
   It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection. In the meantime, you are still at risk for getting the flu. That's why it's better to get vaccinated early in the fall, before the flu season really gets under way.

The tenth answer came by telephone from the toll-free flu line at the CDC. We've included the code prompts to get you to where you can get to a living being if you found questions not answered at the site or above.

Dial: 1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636). Where you'll hear:
"Thanks for calling the CDC H1N1 Info line"
"For English Press 1" and then you will be prompted to choose:
"All Others Press 3" (Doctors 1 / News Media 2) after which you'll be given:
"For H1N1 Press 8" and then another prompt will say:
"For more H1N1 info Press 1" after which you will be told:
"Please hold for a "brief" survey afterwards".

We spoke to a "BJ" "not a physician and can not answer any questions concerning your medical condition." We didn't hold after asking the question if we could purchase the H1N1 vaccine from a for profit source where we could pay to bypass the wait. BJ informed us that was not possible. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was the only source in the United States for the vaccine.

Just Answer the Fr!gg@ng Question!

We've tried to investigate every conspiracy theory we could find, all except the most outlandish of claims. We looked for hidden reports, other suggestions, etc and for the most part we report daily what we find. Again, we love conspiracy theories and "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get ya."

However, its hard to hold on to a thread. Dental floss is fairly strong and the more you weave it the stronger it gets but most of the theories are made out of "old" cloth instead of whole cloth.

If you think that the government is out to get ya. Yeah, you're pretty much on your own. To quote Ron White: "You can't fix stupid!" Not that we're calling you stupid. We wouldn't dare! We're just quoting someone who makes money being funny. We would never say such a thing.

Which brings us to the following. In this age of lawsuits (and we've had our share) and counter-suits every organization and government entity is more than cautious. They're down right evasive. It's that evasiveness that causes people, including us, to travel the conspiracy highway. Most of the new voices in this new administration haven't quite mastered the art of evasion. So they're more likely to speak the truth than post the truth to their official sites as the agency's official word. Case in point remember last week when we said we'd VERIFY VERIFY VERIFY.

We thought regular flu treatments are similar to the swine flu and would help protect us. We thought because the swine flu started earlier than the regular flu and has killed so many people so soon that this flu is worst than the seasonal flu. Are they right and We wrong we asked the CDC Info Email Address the official information request line of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)?

"The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization web pages found at non-Federal organization web links. You may want to contact the Chicago Sun-Times regarding the accuracy of their material.

However, with seasonal flu, we know that seasons vary in terms of timing, duration and severity. Seasonal influenza can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Each year, in the United States, on average 36,000 people die from flu-related complications and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related causes. Of those hospitalized, 20,000 are children younger than 5 years old. Over 90 percent of deaths and about 60 percent of hospitalization occur in people older than 65.

When the 2009 H1N1 outbreak was first detected in mid-April 2009, CDC began working with states to collect, compile and analyze information regarding the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak, including the numbers of confirmed and probable cases and the ages of these people. The information analyzed by CDC supports the conclusion that 2009 H1N1 flu has caused greater disease burden in people younger than 25 years of age than older people. At this time, there are few cases and few deaths reported in people older than 64 years old, which is unusual when compared with seasonal flu. However, pregnancy and other previously recognized high risk medical conditions from seasonal influenza appear to be associated with increased risk of complications from this 2009 H1N1. These underlying conditions include asthma, diabetes, suppressed immune systems, heart disease, kidney disease, neurocognitive and neuromuscular disorders and pregnancy."

"For treatment or prevention of influenza (flu), CDC recommends the antiviral medicines (drugs that fight viruses):

• Oseltamivir, brand name Tamiflu; and
• Zanamivir, brand name Relenza

Tamiflu is available as a pill or liquid and Relenza is a powder that is inhaled.

The 2009 H1N1 flu virus is resistant (does not respond) to treatment with the other 2 antivirals used to treat other flu illness:

• Amantadine (Symmetrel); and
• Rimantadine (Flumadine)

Three 2009 H1N1 viruses have been detected that are resistant to oseltamivir, but these are isolated findings. At this time, CDC continues to recommend the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with H1N1 viruses.

Flu antiviral drugs are prescription drugs (pills, liquid, or inhaler) that decrease the ability of flu viruses to reproduce. Getting a flu vaccine each year is the first and most important step in protecting against flu. But, antiviral drugs are a second line of defense in the prevention and treatment of flu."

The question we asked was based on the Chicago SunTimes column on Flu Facts and Fiction by Health Reporter Monifa Thomas. Yes, we know this isn't Chicago but theirs was the most comprehensive article on the web that made really bold statements. We thought we'd verify those statements with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The October 29th article said:

"Misinformation about swine flu seems to be spreading almost as fast as the virus. Here are a few things you should know about the H1N1 virus:"

Here are the things we had a problem with based on past CDC information.

Regular flu treatments won't help swine flu.
Fiction. Antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza can help speed recovery, no matter which strain of flu you get. They're most effective when taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, though -- which means you need to see a doctor right away...

...Swine flu is worse than seasonal flu.
Fiction. Swine flu has resulted in 1,000 deaths nationwide since it
first appeared in April, the CDC says. In a typical year, seasonal flu
kills 36,000 Americans.

We were wrong about the first statement but again it was based on what the CDC originally reported when they said that the seasonal flu vaccine would be available prior to the availability of the H1N1 vaccine. We felt certain we were right. But we weren't. We were right because of what the CDC said but the information was outdated - just that quickly.

The second statement, as of the information we have now, is incorrect - just as quickly.

The problem is the same question was answered and is now published online as part of the CDC's Frequent Questions. They could have pointed to the answer as part of their answer to our questions. They could also instead of having a search box with no easy way to ask a question do the ole standby of frequently asked questions (FAQs). But NOOOOOOOOO!

Just answer the D?!*&#$@ Question! Pardon our French! That would eliminate all but the most die hard conspiracy "fearists" and their crackpot theories. Then we could get on with the business of taking care of each other.