In the dead of winter, stripping down to stay healthy may sound counterintuitive, but for Shermain Jeremy, a 36-year-old travel communications manager and mom of two, it’s an essential strategy for warding off the flu virus.
“As soon as my children come home, we change their clothes and do baths and pajamas immediately, even before dinner,” says the Freeport, NY, resident, whose oldest daughter got the flu earlier this season despite getting the flu shot, with a temperature nearing 104 degrees. “The flu has changed our whole nighttime routine.”
In addition, Jeremy, who commutes daily on the Long Island Rail Road into Manhattan, has begun washing her winter coat at least once a week. She also doses both her children, and herself, with a teaspoon of cod liver oil. “I had to get it shipped from the UK, but I feel like this is an Old World remedy that works,” she says.
Parents are panicking about protecting their kids as the flu has reached epidemic proportions: On Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo authorized emergency funds to combat the flu, following a Jan. 25 executive order to broaden child access to vaccines. As of Monday, four children in New York City have died of flu-related illnesses. And even parents such as Jeremy, whose children were given the flu vaccine, are worried that it may not be enough.
“I’m reading the news all the time, and it’s terrifying,” says Carolyn Montrose, a 39-year-old brand strategist in Haworth, NJ. “We skipped a family trip to Denver earlier this winter because I didn’t want my 3-year-old exposed to germs.”
To further eliminate the possibility of the virus invading their home, Montrose has been skipping boutique group fitness classes in favor of running outside, and asks that her husband, who travels frequently for work, remove all his clothing before he enters the house.
“I give him a trash bag and ask him to strip down, throw his clothes in the laundry and take a shower before he hugs or kisses our daughter,” she says.
“I don’t care if it seems crazy. I feel like the people who say ‘This is BS’ are the ones who are going to work sick, or sending their sick kids to school, so I feel like it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
As flu panic swarms across Facebook groups and mom meetups, more and more parents are saying no to play dates and birthday parties.
Maria Colaco, 39, a social-media strategist who is in her last trimester of pregnancy, has limited play dates for her two children, both of whom have had flu shots, in the hopes of limiting the spread of germs.
“My son still ended up getting the flu, but luckily his symptoms were relatively mild,” says Colaco, a resident of Katonah, NY.
‘I don’t care if it seems crazy. I feel like the people who say ‘This is BS’ are the ones who are going to work sick, or sending their sick kids to school.’
Other parents are swapping tips, home remedies and New Age treatments — a development the medical community finds worrisome. A recent survey from South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, NY, found that almost half of metro-area New Yorkers take supplements to avoid colds and flu, but that a whopping 39 percent of supplement-takers skipped the flu shot.
While doctors say some remedies may have medical validity — for example, a 2006 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Infection found that the vitamin D in cod liver oil may reduce instances of viral respiratory infections — they are no substitutes for a flu shot.
“The only tried and proven method to prevent the flu is the flu shot,” says Dr. Aaron Glatt, chairman of the department of medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospital.
Mary Apple is a 36-year-old Chelsea mom whose family avoids the flu shot because she once had a “bad reaction” to it while pregnant a decade ago. She says she’s trying to limit germ exposure to her 7-year-old and 11-year-old by avoiding restaurants and takeout. “You don’t know who in the kitchen is sick or hasn’t washed their hands,” she says.
But doctors say reactions are rare, and most tend to be discomfort and pain at the injection site. Even mild symptoms, such as a slight fever or body ache, pale in comparison to the actual flu.
“You cannot get the flu from the flu shot,” says Glatt. “In some cases, your body may have been incubating the flu already, and the timing lined up to when the flu shot was administered.
“The potential of your child contracting a fatal illness has to be weighed against the temporary discomfort your child might feel after a shot.”
One place parents definitely shouldn’t avoid for fear of getting sick is the doctor’s office.
“A lot of pediatrician offices have sick areas and wellness areas, some offices offer masks, and you may be able to call ahead to ask to be placed immediately in the exam room,” says Dr. Mary Cataletto, a pediatric pulmonologist at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, NY.
Experts stress that parents don’t need to go to extreme lengths, such as avoiding play dates and travel or taking supplements, to avoid the flu.
“Getting the flu shot, even now, is a great strategy,” says Cataletto, who adds that “washing your hands, keeping your kids home when they’re sick and disinfecting toys are all your first lines of defense.”