When to Call a Doctor

For your child

Call or other emergency services if:

• Your child has severe trouble breathing. Signs may include the chest sinking in, using belly muscles to breathe, or nostrils flaring while your child is struggling to breathe.

Call your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if your child:

• Has a fever with a stiff neck, a severe headache, or a rash.
• Is confused, does not know where he or she is, or is extremely sleepy or hard to wake up.
• Has trouble breathing, breathes very fast, or coughs all the time.
• Has signs of needing more fluids. These signs include sunken eyes with few tears, dry mouth with little or no spit, and little or no urine for 8 or more hours.

For you

Call or other emergency services if:

• You have severe trouble breathing.

Call your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if you:

• Have increased trouble breathing.
• Have a fever with a stiff neck or a severe headache.
• Feel extremely sleepy or confused.

If you think you have the symptoms of H1N1 flu or are worried that you have been exposed to the virus, call your doctor or go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu) for more information on what to do.

Exams and Tests

If your doctor thinks you have H1N1 flu, he or she will do a physical exam and ask you questions about your symptoms and past health.

Your doctor may also take a nasal swab to do a culture or PCR test for the virus. If one of these tests is needed, it is usually done within the first 4 or 5 days of illness.