Swine flu, also known as H1N1, may infect as much as half of the population and kill 30,000 to 90,000 people in the United States, according to the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. About 36,000 Americans die and 200,000 are hospitalized from the normal seasonal flu each year. As ominous as that may sound, there is no reason to panic.
Loyola physicians and researchers, both English- and Spanish-speaking, are available to answer questions about this coming flu season, such as:
* Are we in for a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions of people worldwide?
* What are the signs and symptoms of H1N1 (swine) flu?
* What to do if you get infected with H1N1 flu.
* Which has been deadlier -- swine flu or the regular seasonal flu?
* The pros and cons of the flu shot vs. the nasal flu vaccine (FluMist).
* Who should get a regular flu vaccination?
* Who should get the new H1N1 vaccine. Why you’ll need two doses. And is it safe?
* Will there be enough of the H1NI and regular flu vaccines for everyone?
* Why young children and pregnant women are at greater risk from both regular flu and swine flu complications.
* The key symptom that can tell you if you're coming down with a cold or the flu.
* How to protect yourself and your family and your co-workers.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.