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Treatment
Children
The experts agree that children who are sick should be kept home, especially if they're running flu-like symptoms such as high fever, vomiting or diarrhea. They should also be kept away from other children. While most experts suggest seeking medical care if a child becomes sick, they also stress not to take children with flu-like symptoms to the emergency department. "That's the worst thing. They may not have swine flu but they could get it [there]," one expert stated. Instead of rushing to the emergency department, "people need to call their physicians or call a hotline." They also state that any child who has been sick should be fever-free for at least 24 hours (without the aid of medications) before returning to school.[53]
Home treatment remedies
The Mayo Clinic and Medline list a number of ways to help ease symptoms, including adequate liquid intake and rest, soup to ease congestion, and over-the-counter drugs to relieve pain. Aspirin, for instance, "is very effective for treating fever in adults" [68] although in children and adolescents, aspirin is not usually given due to the risk of Reye's syndrome.[69] While over-the-counter drugs relieve symptoms, they do not kill the virus.[70] Most patients were expected to recover without medical attention, although those with pre-existing or underlying medical conditions were more prone to complications.[71]
You cannot prevent or treat the flu, colds, or sinus problems by taking antibiotics, large doses of vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C or zinc, or taking herbal remedies, such as echinacea.[72]
Antiviral drugs
See also:CDC guidelines on prescribing antivirals
According to the CDC, antiviral drugs could be given to treat those who become severely ill, two of which are recommended for swine flu symptoms: oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza). To be most useful, they were to be given within two days of showing symptoms and "may shorten the illness by a day or so," according to the Mayo Clinic. To help avoid shortages of these drugs, the CDC recommended Tamiflu treatment primarily for people hospitalized with swine flu; people at risk of serious flu complications due to underlying medical conditions; and patients at risk of serious flu complications. WHO likewise recommended that Tamiflu only be given to particularly vulnerable people and noted that healthy people who catch mild to moderate cases of swine flu didn't need the drug at all.[73]
The CDC warned that the indiscriminate use of antiviral medications to prevent and treat influenza could ease the way for drug-resistant strains to emerge which would make the fight against the pandemic that much harder. In addition, a British report found that people often failed to complete a full course of the drug which encouraged resistance.
Both medications can cause side effects, including lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and trouble breathing and it was recommended that patients discuss possible side effects with their doctor before starting any antiviral medication. Children may be at increased risk of self-injury and confusion after taking Tamiflu.[68] WHO warns against buying anti-viral medications from online sources, estimating that half the drugs sold by online pharmacies without a physical address are counterfeit.[74]
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