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| Claire McCarthy, MD |
Claire McCarthy, MD, Medical Director of Children's Hospital Boston's Martha Eliot Health Center, answers the most asked questions about the H1N1 virus.
1. Pregnant women should be vaccinated for flu.
True. The physical effects of pregnancy put women at risk for serious complications of flu, and studies have found no harmful effects on the fetus associated with flu vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control says women who are at any stage of pregnancy during flu season should be immunized.
2. My usual yearly flu shot will also prevent the Swine Flu.
False. The seasonal flu vaccine, the one we usually get every fall is not effective against the specific virus that causes the Swine Flu or H1N1 infection. A separate vaccine is being made this year and it should be available mid-October. People in high risk groups because they have serious chronic illness, adults and children with asthma, children 6 months to 18 years and pregnant women are STRONGLY encouraged to be vaccinated for seasonal flu and Swine flu.
3. Washing my hands frequently, whether I am sick or not, is one of the most effective ways that I can prevent infection.
True. Hands are the most common way that bacteria and viruses spread from person to person. Anyone who touches what you touched can pick the bacteria and viruses up on to their hands and infect themselves. Touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching your mouth or nose may lead to infection. It is possible to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms of the flu develop and up to 7 days after becoming sick. This means the flu can be transmitted to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick.
4. Covering my cough with my hand stops infection from spreading.
False. Coughing or sneezing onto your bare hand will contaminate your hand with bacteria and viruses. If you don't wash your hands immediately, you will spread the bacteria and viruses to anything you touch. Anyone who touches what you touched can pick the bacteria and virus up on their hands and infect themselves. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Wash your hands. If a tissue isn’t available, use your upper arm to cover your mouth and nose.
5. Flu shots cause the flu.
False. This is probably the biggest myth surrounding the flu shot. You cannot get the flu from the vaccine. The injectable vaccine is made of inactivated viruses, so it is impossible to get the flu from the vaccine. The most common side effect is mild soreness or redness at the injection site, headache, low-grade fever, or a runny nose for a day after receiving the vaccine.
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