Swine Flu: Vital parenting information from Eyewitness News

The swine flu can attack anyone... and doctors are urging precaution with good reason.

Dr. Joe Matusic, MD, Pediatrician
It's a brand new virus. We have no immunity to it. It's not even close to the other viruses that we've had around.

Dr. Joe Matusic
If you look back to the Spanish flu that killed eight to ten percent of the worlds population, the highest risk of death was young healthy people, exactly the same thing is happening with swine flu.

They have this massive, overwhelming response to it. Their lungs fill up with fluid they get pneumonia and they die. That's why we're so worried about this.

There are control methods in place by the World Health Organization and CDC... and hospitals are prepared for severe outbreaks. Health officials are just waiting to see how the virus develops- how many people come down with swine flu.

Dr. Matusic says if you think your child may have the virus to first, research... check the symptoms of influenza... he recommends cdc.gov. Then if you think your child's illness fits that criteria, call your doctor- discuss the symptoms over the phone- it's the safest thing to do.

Dr. Matusic
If I thought my child had swine flue I would not rush to the doctor. Call your doctor first and see if they think their symptoms fit swine flue. If it does, the doctor is going to want to bring you in to check you out. But they won't want you infecting the rest of the office.

Remember with influenza, you're contagious a day before you get sick... and it's easy to pick up those flu germs. Overall... dr. joe recommends staying calm-- just keep watching the news for developments with swine flu... and be smart when it comes to close contact with others- and maybe forget shaking hands for a while-- and wash your hands and use sanitizers to keep the spread of germs to a minimum.