Immune Compromised and Swine Flu
If you take immunosuppressant drugs or are immune compromised due to chronic illness or cancer, should you be concerned about the Swine Flu? If you live in the US, right now the answer seems to be no. This flu is hitting healthy people. It is hitting people who have visited Mexico or have had contact with someone who were in Mexico recently. (This may change quickly though.)
Stay informed with the CDC Swine Flu website. The What’s New section is updated minute by minute. You can also follow CDCemergency on Twitter for instant updates.
Now, we know to take precautions all the time any way. We use good hand washing, avoid people who are sick and avoid large crowds. I am not ashamed to move away from someone who is coughing or sneezing. If it’s someone I know, I explain myself. If it’s a stranger, I may just move away quietly or I may say something like, “I’m coming down with something so I need to be careful.” Do what feels comfortable for you. If you think that you need to wear a protective mask, do so. If you feel like you’re not well and need to stay home, stay home. No need to stress over this.
I’m immune compromised due to the a kidney transplant and my immunosuppressant drugs. when I heard pandemic i got very worried due to my doctors always telling me how dangerous situations like this could be. After reading your blog I was calmed and it also opened up a new world of support. thank you for doing what you do.
Hi Connie,
Come on by and pick up an award I have waiting for you!!!
Hope you are doing well…
Shauna <3
Shauna’s last blog post..
Well written post Connie, So much of illness we all experience is stress induced. The stress of worrying too much about this will make us feel worse . As a nurse and someone with an autoimmune disease I particularly don’t want to get anywhere close to the swine flue. However, if I worry too much about it I’ll be sick from stress anyway!
Good hand washing and common sense approach is the best advice…Thanks