The H1N1 virus had claimed its sixth victim here (news report here, as well as here, well-updated wikipedia article here and lots of disease information here)

The latest victim was an 11 year-old who was hospitalized 5 days ago and was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. He passed away following lung inflamation and breathing complications. This came after a 10 year-old died under similar conditions.

More than 1400 reported cases of H1N1 have been recorded, and locally transmitted cases are outnumbering imported ones.

As a father, I am concerned. If the H1N1 spreads as easily as common flu, then curtailment initiatives will be quite difficult to succeed. Avoidance still seem to be the best defence, yet normal life need to go on with final examinations looming towards the 3rd/4th quarters of the year. I wonder if other parents will take drastic pro-active action such as temporarily stopping schooling and tuition classes, or like me, they are still waiting for further signs – and how long should we wait.

In the meantime, we are

• ramping up the immune system with lots of vitamin, drinking water and adequate sleep
• will prepare for possible hospitalization – getting necessary info on availability of tests, treatment etc
• will minimize public exposure

Got to keep a close eye on this scenario. At this moment, it is worsening.

Related articles by Zemanta