Live Well 8: Kids Can Avoid Spread of H1N1

Fighting the spread of H1N1 flu in kids could be as easy as clicking a computer mouse. The U of R Medical Center is prepared to use its telemedicine centers around Rochester in case of an outbreak.

Robert Rodgers took his 9-month-old son to the doctors the old fashioned way. He took a day off from work and brought him to the doctor’s office at Strong Hospital.

“It can be a pain but whatever,” Rodger said. “It's what you have to do."

Telemedicine takes away the inconvenience. But Rodgers says he likes it for another reason.

“The fact that you don't have to necessarily expose your kids to more sick people if you don't have to,” he said.

Since the summer, doctors have asked people who think they may have H1N1 flu not to come to the hospital. Telemedicine gives parents and kids one way to avoid the Emergency Department.

“It reduces the likelihood you'll have contact with flu or pass flu on to somebody else,” said Dr. Ken McConnochie, a pediatrician at the U of R Medical Center.

The U of R Medical Center has been diagnosing children with telemedicine for the last eight years. Parents take their kids to a designated childcare center. Over the internet, a physician like McConnochie analyzes symptoms through photos and video of the child from his office.

He says it would be especially effective with H1N1 cases.

"You can diagnose H1N1 by using this as well as you can in person without the microbiology lab,” McConnochie said.

Rodgers says he's not concerned about H1N1, but the next time Robert gets sick, he says he may try out telemedicine to be safe.

“If somebody can say we’ll do this and that at home and we don't have to see them...so we don't have to expose him to other sick people, that's great,” Rodgers said.

If parents need to take their child to a childcare center to schedule a telemedicine appointment, they're asked to call 220-2890. Childcare centers are open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. during weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.