Flu-like symptoms could be something worse

You wake in the night, your head pounding, your stomach queasy.

But you fell asleep just hours before, feeling fine.

It’s flu season. Could you have the flu?

Maybe.

But it could be something else, something that kills nearly 500 people in America each year — carbon monoxide poisoning.

Carbon monoxide poisoning results from the inhalation of a colorless, tasteless and odorless gas produced when fuels burn incompletely. In a statement released Tuesday, the Nebraska Regional Poison Center warned against practices which can cause formation of carbon monoxide, including lack of ventilation in a car; using a charcoal grill indoors; using heating equipment that is in poor shape; and using unvented space heaters.

Such heaters aren’t even legal in the city of Fremont, said Keith Everly, co-owner of Everly Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning.

The wall-mounted room heaters may meet national codes, Everly said, “but Fremont’s codes are stricter.”

While prevention, through proper heating techniques and the use of carbon monoxide detectors, is the best treatment for poisonings, incidences do occur.

The Poison Center said it received 340 calls in 2006 concerning carbon monoxide exposure.

“Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include sleepiness, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, shortness of breath and convulsions,” the center statement said. “The first step in treating carbon monoxide poisoning is getting the victim to fresh air. Then seek medical attention immediately.”

The Poison Center offered several suggestions to help prevent such poisonings, including never using a gas range to heat a room, never using a charcoal grill or hibachi to cook indoors; and regularly inspecting all fuel-burning equipment.

Everly said his company routinely checks customers’ furnaces, usually in the autumn months before cold weather sets in.

The company also sells battery-operated carbon-monoxide detectors which manufacturers recommend placing no more than six feet from the floor, in areas around bedrooms and also where furnaces and other fuel-burning devices, like hot water heaters, are located.

The Poison Center also offered tips on motor vehicles and the prevention of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“Never leave a car running in an attached garage, even with the garage door opened,” the release stated. “Have the muffler and tailpipe checked regularly. Open your car windows if the car is stopped for any period of time while the engine is running.”

For more information about carbon monoxide poisoning, contact the Nebraska Regional Poison Center at (402) 955-5555, or toll free at 1-800-222-1222.