Back-to-School
Karen Alexander, 09.04.09, 04:00 PM EDT With swine flu expected to affect one in three people this year, families need to plan ahead. Now's the time to start thinking about it.
As any working parent knows, a sick child in the family can pose a wrenching workplace dilemma. We've all been there: a deadline looming, a spouse with an important meeting planned, and a little one at home with a fever or a stuffy, runny nose.
But with experts predicting a potentially staggering outbreak--a pandemic perhaps--of the H1N1 flu virus this season, it has never been more important for working parents to plan ahead.
For one thing, the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, comes on suddenly, potentially leaving those who have been infected with little time to make arrangements. "This is not like a cold where you can feel yourself starting to get sick," warns Dr. Laurie A. Rubenstein, a pediatrician in Redwood City, Calif. "With this virus, you are probably just as sick on day one as you are on day six. You get a fever and chills, and you are glassy-eyed and uncomfortable for six or seven days." (Swine flu symptoms are the same as regular flu symptoms: fever, body aches, chills and sore throat with possible vomiting or diarrhea.)
What's more, with the nation's schools and daycare centers working keenly to prevent the spread of swine flu among their youngsters, there will be significantly less tolerance for people bringing mildly ill kids to school. "If your kid has a 100-degree temperature and a little cough, they are telling you not to come to daycare. Parents who used to just shrug that off as teething symptoms are going to find themselves at home with their children," says Rubenstein.
Although there is still no surefire way to protect ourselves or our families from the H1N1 virus, Rubinstein urges parents and children alike to get the seasonal flu shot as soon as possible. President Obama told reporters earlier this week that the federal government is ramping up a "voluntary but strongly recommended" vaccination program.
To that end, a swine flu vaccine is expected this fall, and children are likely going to be able to receive it at school (with parental permission).
Though the seasonal influenza vaccine won't prevent swine flu, preventing seasonal flu can, at least, potentially help reduce the number of potential sick days a family will suffer.
Knowing a patient has already been vaccinated for seasonal flu will enable doctors to more quickly recognize swine flu if those symptoms develop, explains Rubinstein.
Develop a Plan
Medical experts and workplace advisers suggest we stock up on canned soups, equip our kids with plenty of hand sanitizer, and start communicating directly with our employers and spouses about what will happen if the flu hits.
At home with her two young daughters, Michelle Rohrer has been emphasizing prevention. She plays counting games to make sure the girls wash their hands long enough, and Rohrer is talking with them a lot about how this can help keep the flu away. (A great book for preschoolers on the topic is Wash Your Hands! by Tony Ross.)
But in her job at Genentech ( DNA - news - people ), where Rohrer is the vice president of pharmaceutical development regulatory affairs, she says she will make sure the 130 people she oversees are always ready to work from home. Rohrer encourages her employees to bring their laptops home every night--just in case they need to stay there.
From her standpoint as an employer, Rohrer says she plans to be flexible. "I will have to be open to people getting things done at night if they have a child home sick, and I need to prepare for the likelihood that some people might not be able to work at all," she said.
Lisa Brosseau, an associate professor of public health at the University of Minnesota, specializes in industrial hygiene and workplace health. She suggests working parents create a divide-and-conquer plan in case someone in the family becomes ill.
"The predictions are that one out of three people in the U.S. is likely to get this flu," says Brosseau. "The best you can do is to limit your opportunities for infection. We should never imagine that we're going to protect our families completely."
And because the virus has already been known to strike adolescents and young adults particularly hard, Brosseau cautions parents to keep close watch on their sick children, even older teens who might otherwise be left home alone to recuperate on the sofa while their parents are at work.
Decide Who'll Be the Care-Giving Parent
In case a child does fall ill, Brosseau suggests that one parent becomes the caregiver while the other should assume responsibility for preparing food and caring for the rest of the family. A care-giving parent should also consider sleeping separately from the other parent to minimize the virus' spread, she suggests.
But who is that care-giving parent going to be?
Don't assume it's always going to be the mom,says pediatrician Rubenstein, whose busy practice is teeming with Silicon Valley power-couples.
"I made that mistake when my first child was born," admits Joanna Strober, a private equity professional and co-author of the book Getting to 50/50. She cautions women against believing they always need to be the ones to stay home when a child falls ill.
"We moms need to realize our husbands can do just as good a job," urges Strober.
Don't Go to Work if You're Sick
On the other hand, warns working mother Jennifer Dulski, don't go thinking you're so busy that you should come to work if you're potentially contagious.
A mother of two, Dulski is the CEO of Center'd, a local search and event planning Web site based in Menlo Park, Calif. She and her husband both have the flexibility to work at home from time to time, and Dulski says they generally manage to share unforeseen child-care responsibilities equitably.
But with only seven full-time employees at her fledgling company, Dulski urges the members of her team to be diligent about staying away from the office when they have been exposed to illness.
"We have a lot of parents here and when their kids get sick, they end up getting it too. I want to make sure people are set up to work from home so they don't make the rest of us sick," says Dulski. "When you only have seven people in your company, you do get concerned that the whole thing could get knocked down for a period of time."
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