Influenza – MomVsFlu

Influenza

Being the mother of two munchkins one thing which matters to me a lot is my kid’s health and their activeness. With growing illness by Influenza, it is important to take care of your kid’s right from the beginning.

Have you ever thought what exactly Influenza is? I asked this to my Mommy friends and as expected they seemed to be unaware of what exactly it is.

Influenza Virus causes flu which is a contagious respiratory illness that infects the nose, throat, and lungs.

I still remember Swine flu (A/H1N1) was much talked about flu in between and caused so much harm.

With little precaution of taking flu shots and maintaining hygiene, we can save our kids and ourselves from the Flu.

At a recent event on influenza awareness, Dr. Mukesh Gupta (Gynaecologist) and Dr. Uday Pai (Pediatrician) spoke at length about the illness and educating all mothers on taking better precautions

Genelia Deshmukh, a fine actress from Bollywood fraternity and a mother of two cute kids too was present and shared her experience to mentioning that “We treated influenza as a common cold, we realized these two are very different. All mothers must go meet your pediatricians, gynecologist and get all questions answered about flu and staying protected with vaccination.”

Influenza

Influenza spreads faster than we think

  1. You will be surprised to know that it spreads even if you are 6 feet away from people who are suffering from flu, majorly when they cough and sneeze.
  2. Apart from this, it is widely spread by touching infected surfaces like tables, books, door knobs, currency notes or even a handshake with a flu-infected person whose hands were probably infected after covering mouth while sneezing or coughing.

Three categories of people are more sensitive and more prone to getting Flu infected-  Babies, Pregnant lady and senior citizen who can get affected faster than others as their immunity system is weak comparatively.

  1. Kids: No matter how much as moms we try to keep our kids safe and healthy, they are more susceptible to flu for their low immunity.

Severe influenza complications are most common in children younger than 2 years. Kids with chronic health problems like asthma, diabetes, brain, and nervous system disorders are at high risk of developing serious flu complications. I believe this very well answers why friends son who’s got Asthma has frequent bouts of flu.

Dr. UdayAnanthPai – Pediatrician (MD, DCH Distinction) told  As April, May, June is the best period to take influenza vaccination for children and the whole family for complete prevention against flu”.

  1. Pregnant Women: Women who are ready to bring more happiness to your family are actually at high risk of getting flu and can get into the serious problem.
    Because of the changes in the immune system in pregnant ladies, they are more prone to flu. Since during pregnancy, one has a limitation on medications to be taken, curing of flu gets difficult. This could lead to further complications with the fetus. As a preventive step, one may take the flu shot right at the preconception stage or at any time during the pregnancy.

Dr. Mukesh Gupta Gynecologist/ Obstetrician, practicing in Mumbai told “Pregnant moms can take influenza vaccine at any time during their pregnancy. It is absolutely safe.”

  1. Senior citizen: I feel old age is second childhood as kids have very less immunity so do senior citizens too. With heart problems, Sugar and other aging problems they are again most prone to get affected by flu and combat the illness.

How to check you are affected by Influenza- Symptoms of Influenza

Remember precaution is always better than cure. Check out if any symptoms occurring to you or loved ones

  1. Tiredness
  2. Fever
  3. A cough/ a Sore Throat
  4. A headache
  5. Running nose
  6. Body aches

Influenza

Precautions must be taken for Influenza

  1. We all learned since we were small to use Handkerchief while sneezing or coughing. So, cover your mouth every time you a cough or sneeze.
  2. Keep washing your hands with proper soap and water.
  3. Consult your family doctor about flu and flu vaccination.

To find a vaccinating doctor in your locality, check here:

Flu vaccination is really important to mark yourself and loved ones safe. Flu shots are there to protect you against the infection of Influenza virus. In a year twice new version of the vaccine is developed as Influenza virus rapidly changes. So get vaccinated every year to combat the illness.

As Genelia Deshmukh rightly says  “No mother must be a Worrier, she’s a Warrior. Best way to tackle your questions about flu is to talk to your doctor”

Influenza

For more information visit here.

“Disclaimer: I attended a discussion on influenza awareness facilitated by Abbott IndiaLimited. Any opinion expressed in this blog is my personal opinion and not the opinion of Abbott India Limited. Abbott India Limited does not assume any liability for the content of the blog. The blog post is not meant to be a replacement for a doctor consultation, nor is it a medical recommendation or prescription of treatment for babies having Influenza. Any reader of this

blog or their family members suffering from Influenza should specifically consult his/her doctor for the same and follow the suggested course of treatment.”

Copyright : ©Ruchie Verma

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ruchie Verma (WigglingPen) with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Ruchi Verma

Certified parenting teen practitioner, multiple Award winner, mother of two active kids believes in sharing the right source of information to readers which could help them in every possible way!!

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20 Comments

  1. Lots of relevant information in here, Ruchi. Should help Moms avoid Influenza.

  2. These are some great prevention tips. As a mom I always believe in prevention is better than cure. Thank for the informative post

  3. Health of the kid as well as Mom is very important. Influenza is one such disease that drains the child out of energy. One should consult doctor for vaccination of the same

  4. Its time to stop being worriers and become warriors!. A very informative post to all.

  5. Influenza is a not so feared illness because of lack of knowledge but it can worsen if not
    Taken proper care. These are some great pointers Ruchi.

  6. Influenza is a less feared illness due to lack of information. The blog covers some great points as to why we need to be careful with it.

  7. I never knew this so normal looking flu can cause so much abnormal issues. I loved the details description you shared of this event. the tips are definitely something i will follow and will take this issue seriously .

  8. A very important topic which will help many.Influenza awareness is much needed.Bookmarking this.

  9. Oh my. That’s some bunch of good information. Common cold and influenza are different makes complete sense to me now. That’s why it’s important to consult a doctor and not take a sneeze lightly.

  10. It’s so important to be a cautious mom wrt helathy of kids and influenza is something which cannot be ignored at any cost. Quite informative post

  11. Not every parents aware of this disease. Thanks for sharing this information with us. This post should be read by all parents

  12. I too thought common cold and influenza are same! God, this is really frightening! We just welcomed a baby in our family, this post really cleared a lot of doubts!

  13. Influenza is serious and cannot be taken lightly. The best part is that it can be prevented with proper precautions.

  14. The topic Influenza is been ignored completely now a days we need more of such blogs to spread awareness about the same, thank you for sharing such a beautiful piece of information

  15. It’s a very informative and helpful post. Influenza awareness is really needed for all. Thanks for sharing this information

  16. this is an informative post it’ll help many moms coz kids are susceptible to flu. flu vaccine is essential

  17. Yes influenza is a very common problem that most of us treat as simple. Today i got to know indepth detail about the same.

  18. The event was really great and have helped me tooo as i got information on what is actually reason behind flu

  19. Very relevant n important topic. Season changing times are most dangerous n we see influenza affecting a large number of people n quality of life. The awareness is much needed.

  20. It is important to treat Influenza as other serious illness. It can quickly go from bad to worse and as you said it can spread even if one is just 6 feet distance. So, its important to treat it as soon as one gets it. These are really good information on how to manage the flu.

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