H1N1 and travelling with baby

What with all this craziness with H1N1, what are everyone's thoughts on travelling with your little ones? Are any of you avoiding travelling? Any extra precautions?

Not avoiding travel. Not taking extra precautions.


It's just the flu, not Ebola. Sure, it can be deadly, but so can any other flu strain. Granted, you can vaccinate against other strains but lots of people don't.


As risks go in life, the risk of dying from H1N1 is pretty low.

Agree with axpatguy38. Still travelling and doing regular life stuff. Flying to Vietnam next week

i'm not concerned with the flu, but AM concerned with the treatment we can expect at HKIA, when we return from Canada in August after 5 weeks away from HK...tho they seem to be easing up on the quarantining now...

Quarantining for people who test positive for any flu on a quick test ended last week. If you test positive for H1N1 I don't know if they still have it.

thanks, everyone. we are planning to do the same, travelling and going on with our normal lives. just wanted to know what other parents were up to. it's good to know what u all had to say about this. thanks!

H1N1 will soon become an 'ordinary flu' or in other words, the strict preventive measures now in place will be replaced with common sense and people will 'sit out' their infections at home. Despite our best efforts containing the illness, it is spreading, and will continue to do so.

The questions to ask are:

1. What if my child gets this type of influenza:

Overall, an Influenza infection is mild in children, however it can be confusing, as many other illnesses present with fever and being unwell, and can be a reason for hospital admission and investigations. Influenza in -rare events- be serious. There is however treatment available for children in the form of Tamiflu. In other words; most, if not all children will do just fine while going through an influenza vaccination

2. How can we prevent children getting this type of Influenza?

Your children may have received the seasonal flu vaccination, however this will not protect against this type of H1N1 Influenza. Hopefully a vaccination will be released end of the year for elderly and persons at risk. Thus the vaccination may not be available for healthy children and adults.

The best prevention are the rules of hygiene promoted again and again by the Hong Kong government.

3. What are the risks when flying?

Influenza is spread by droplets: If all persons who suffer coughs and colds (and Influenza) were to wear masks, spread would be close to zero. Unfortunately, people are not very reliable in wearing masks, and it is possible that you are seated within coughing range from other passengers who may have flu. The generally accepted safety zone is appr 1 m.

You could wear masks yourself to achieve protection, however this has proven to be very unreliable, if only due to the fact that children cannot be made to wear a mask for any length of time!


So what to do?

This is a personal decision and depends on the current health of your children and your level of tolerance for sickness:

- Influenza will be spreading, wherever you are in the world. There is a chance your children may catch influenza while staying in Hong Kong.

- Yes there is an increased risk catching an infectious disease while flying. General precautionary measures such as travelling with masks and using alcohol rub to keep clean are sensible precautions

- If you or your child catches influenza, you are likely to fully recover after 3-5 days of suffering ‘flu’. You will no longer be quarantined in most countries (with the exception of China)


Matilda Medical Centre

9 Queen's Road Central - 2537 8500



Matilda International Hospital

Hong Kong

http://www.matilda.org

Thimerosal has rather conclusively been demonstrated not to have a link with autism.


As for the rest of it, where would we be without vaccines? Tens of millions dead or crippled every year from cholera, polio, typhus, smallpox, etc... I'd rather take the shot thank you very much.