Gearing Up for a Long Flu Season

We're working hard to keep up with the CDC and local recommendations, which means the majority of these patients don't need antiviral treatment. This is the art of medicine - knowing which patients need antiviral treatment and which need a big dose of reassurance and education about the expected course of the illness and helping patients and parents understand this. Then, come November or so we'll likely still be dealing with novel H1N1 and have the seasonal influenza as well, plus the possibility of a different H1N1 strain with different antiviral resestance. Meantime, we're trying to get folks their seasonal flu vaccine (before we run out) and still waiting to receive two kinds of novel H1N1 vaccines. The bright side? A big increase in patient volume has our residents, nurses, office staff, and faculty physicians pulling together, working more efficiently, and getting the job done! Then come spring maybe we can all begin to relax a bit...