I don't mean to start the Swine Flu Virus panic again, we've had more than enough of that. But it has come to my attention that, even with the threat of a major pandemic still looming, some people feel it is not important to share with others when someone has fallen ill with the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. It appears that in some cases, like in your children's school perhaps, the fear of losing money takes priority over the health and well being of the children. Well at least in one Southern California school that is the case.

Just this past week, the Southern California junior high school my nephew goes to has had knowledge of at least one of their students having the H1N1 virus. I am leaving the name of the school out purposely because it is not going to stay in one school. We all need to be aware and in contact with our children's schools. Unfortunately, I am only aware of this particular case because my nephew now has the virus.

To make matters worse, they (the school administration) didn't want to cause any kind of panic so the school health clerk downplayed my nephews 104.9 temperature and told my sister not to worry. She even had the nerve to encourage her not to take him to the doctor, saying it was not necessary.

Thankfully, my sister is not the kind of person to take advice from other people when it comes to her own children and decided to contact her doctor anyway. The doctor, although unable to see him personally, encouraged my sister to contact our local Urgent Care facility and get him there immediately. When they arrived, the staff were notified of a possible H1N1 case and actually met them in the parking lot where his temperature was taken and he was given a mask to get him through the waiting room and into an exam room. After his exam, it was confirmed, he did have the H1N1 virus.

When they were done at the urgent care facility, my Sister decided she should call the school to let them know that he did, in fact, have the H1N1 virus so they could let the other parents/students know. They said they already knew because another child had already been diagnosed with it. She asked why they hadn't told anyone about the other child and their response was that they didn't want to alarm anyone unnecessarily. What the heck??? I understand not wanting to cause an unnecessary panic for some things, but this H1N1 thing is completely different. The moment you become infectious, everything you touch becomes highly infected. That's how it spreads so rapidly. I will discuss warning signs and symptoms later. But with a virus so potent, anyone who had direct or indirect contact with either my nephew or the first child could be infected as well. The schools decision not to notify anyone, in my opinion, is completely irresponsible.

It makes you wonder why, doesn't it? Why would they put the rest of those kids at risk without any knowledge of what was going on? Why would they not allow them to make an informed decision with their parents about whether they should go to school or not? Why would they not give them information on how to protect themselves so they could still attend and feel safe in the classroom? The answer is easy...Money. The school is worried they would lose money from kids staying home. The almighty dollar proves once again to be even more important than the health and well being of our children.

Very upset with how the school handled the situation, my Sister decided that the word must get out about this entire ordeal. She contacted the Orange County Register and spoke with the representative on the phone. After listening to the entire story, the rep on the phone told my Sister that they just couldn't run another story about the Swine Flu. She told her that the media had already blown it out of proportion once and they just couldn't allow it to happen again. Then she said they would not be able to tell her story.

When I heard this, I became enraged. How can this be happening? Those families deserve to be told they are in danger. We all have the right to know if we or our children have been exposed to such a dangerous virus. And the reason nobody will do anything about it is for money and fear of causing a panic? Well I say TO HELL WITH THE MONEY! MAYBE WE SHOULD PANIC! Someone needs to tell those families what is going on and at least give them a chance to protect their kids. My Sister never had a chance to protect her son from it and now look at him. Thankfully, he went to the doctor and received medicine specific for the H1N1 virus. But what if my sister had listened to the health clerk? Who knows how sick he could have gotten? And what about the school who thinks that the money is more important than protecting the kids? When is the danger big enough where the children's safety is considered over money? A bomb scare perhaps? I dare say that even with a bomb scare, the concern may not be with the children's safety but with how much money would be lost from damage to the school.

And what is possibly worse than all of that is the inability of regular people, like you and me, to get the word out about this injustice. The Orange County Register should be ashamed of it's stance on this matter. Did they really think word wouldn't get out of another outbreak? Did they not think it was important to notify people what areas the virus has spread to so others could protect themselves? Thank God for the Internet and for Hub Pages! At least here I get to say what I want and nobody can stop me. I don't know how many people will actually read this, but even if it helps one or two people protect themselves and their children it will have been worth the effort.

Signs and Symptoms of the H1N1 virus is still being researched for my next Hub.  Please be on the look out for it.  In the meantime, there is plenty of information on this nasty little bug on the Internet.  Take the time to do some research and protect yourself and your family.  God bless.

JB