Stay calm. Wash your hands. And keep other people from freaking out over H1N1.
A Yale pediatrician dispensed that public-health Rx to some kids in Fair Haven Thursday.
“Everyone gets colds, but not swine flu,” he said.
Many people in Connecticut may have already experienced a mild, unnoticed case of swine flu, known to influenza specialists as H1N1, said Dr. David Sullivan, a second-year pediatric resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Sullivan (pictured with Bianca Osorio, 6) said he is systematically trying to tamp down an expected H1N1 frenzy — from student, teachers, and parents — when school starts this fall. As part of that campaign, he stopped by a summer program, Neighborhood Place, at Junta for Progressive Action on Grand Avenue.
“You’re going to hear a lot of crazy stuff” about influenza and the swine flu’s origin in Mexico, Sullivan told a room of eight students ages 5 to 7.
“I need you guys, my colleagues, to spread the message,” he said after discussing flu symptoms, prevention, and treatment.
The key is to wash hands thoroughly and frequently for about 20 seconds per wash.
For those without watches with minute hands, sing happy birthday twice, in your head, Sullivan suggested.
All the youngsters made washing motions with their hands. Good.
The children then asked Sullivan questions about shots, hospitals, and other tenuously related medical issues.
The Neighborhood Place welcomed Sullivan because of general concern about H1N1 and possible closing of schools, said Junta Executive Director Sandra Trevino.
The Neighborhood Place is partners with the Yale Child Study program, and has a waiting list of more than 100 families, she said.
Meanwhile, Sullivan, who clearly enjoys children, was pressing the youngsters on the nature of a fever of the symptoms of influenza. He queried Bianca Osorio, who cocked her head and looked at the doctor silently.
“I’m not here to give you a hard time,” Sullivan reassured her.
“A fever is when you feel hot,” he said. Other swine flu symptoms are sore throat, runny nose, headache, and upset stomach.
Sullivan instructed the children to tell their parents not to take them to the emergency room if they experience flu-like symptoms.
“Don’t rush to the ER. You could catch something worse there. Call your doctor, nurse or other health care provider,” he said.
“This year teachers will be nervous. Call the doctor if you feel sick, or tell your mom, grandma, or another adult that you know well,” Sullivan said.
“In the fall, all of the people in this room should get flu shots,” he said.
“Some will also get a swine flu shot, depending on what your doctor says. This year vaccinations are extremely important,” Sullivan said.
At last Sullivan had arrived at a subject of deep interest to the youths: hypodermic needles and where they are inserted. Babies are usually vaccinated in their legs, because those carry the infants largest muscles.
“You’re grown up, so you would get the shot in the shoulder,” Sullivan said.
A boy said he had received shots in his stomach. A girl related an injection into her leg.
“Some people tense up” in anticipation of the injection, which may make it seem more painful, Sullivan said. “Look somewhere else, not at the needle,” he advised.
Sullivan presented the same material, with an additional level of complexity to the 11 boys and girls 10 to 13 years old.
He warned the kids, many of whom are Hispanic, that they will hear malicious misinformation about Mexico and swine flu from their less sensitive classmates.
“There is nothing wrong with Mexico or Mexicans,” he said.
Ill people, children and adults, should stay home to contain the flu, he said. Treatment is mostly supportive, including rest, over- the-counter medications if suggested by a doctor, and possibly an antiviral drug, he said.
H1N1 is a mixture of avian, swine, and human flu, and is novel, so the population has no innate immunity, causing worry that the virus will become more virulent, he said.
“So far, swine flu in the U.S. is more mild than regular flu,” Sullivan said.
A girl mentioned that her grandmother holds a piece of paper towel to turn doorknobs.
Not necessary, if a person is otherwise healthy, Sullivan said. No need for the average person to wear a paper mask, either.
“Life has to go on,” he said.