News/Campaigns

Potential MN GOV candidate has swine flu

You read that right. If you don’t know anyone who’s had it, now you do … kind of.

And don’t worry, she’s going to be OK.

Tom Scheck’s great Polinaut blog at Minnesota Public Radio has the story:

Former State Auditor (and possible GOP candidate for governor) Pat Anderson reports on her Facebook page that she has swine flu. I posted her entries chronologically.

“Pat Anderson Gallwas and her 16 year old daughter (name redacted by me) were diagnosed with “Swine Flu” a few hours ago. Not kidding. Apparently it’s going around MN like crazy. The doc said it’s a “good thing” because people are recovering just fine in about a five day timeframe. If you follow the 1918 influezna, the “second wave” that came in the fall was the most deadly.”

“Adult and kid symptoms are different. Adults have severe body aches, bad count, and may or may not have vomiting, etc. ‘I don’t, thank god.’ The kids have very high fevers, severe cough, sore throat and the inside of their eyelids are all red. The doc at Woodbury HP said he personally had 10 cases yesterday and we were the 5th and 6th on Sunday morning.”

“I am hoping the rest of my family catches it as they think you become immune should the virus get worse.”

I talked to Anderson this afternoon and she confirmed that she and her daughter have been diagnosed with H1N1. “It isn’t any worse than the normal influenza,” Anderson said.

When asked, Anderson also said it doesn’t change her thoughts about running for governor but joked that she won’t be making a decision this week.

“I haven’t been thinking that clearly in the last couple of days so I won’t be making a decision anytime soon,” Anderson joked. She said she would make a decision in the next month or two.