EAST WENATCHEE — Jeff Slough has good reason to worry about his kids getting the H1N1 flu.

He would probably get it too, and become very ill.

“I’m immunosuppressed because I’m a transplant patient,” the Wenatchee man said.

On a worry scale of 1 to 10, Slough placed his at a 7. But 18 other parents interviewed at Kirby Billingsley Hydro Park east of East Wenatchee Saturday had worry levels much lower, between 3 and 5. The parents were interviewed during a soccer game at the park. Each was asked, on a 1-10 scale to rank how worried they were about their kids getting H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu.

“I’m not worried at all,” said Brent Johnston of Wenatchee. “I know flu is out there but if you wash your hands, eat healthy and get enough rest you should be OK.”

“Nobody we associate with has been adversely affected by it,” said Megan Lamon of Wenatchee.

“I just see it as just another strain of flu,” said Nat Bergstrom of East Wenatchee.

Shela Hemstrom of Cashmere said she knows people whose children have had the H1N1 flu and “their kids made it through.”

“I think it’s a bunch of hype, really,” said Katie Maxey of East Wenatchee.

“I think the pharmaceutical manufacturers made it up to make us scared so we’d buy their stuff,” said Carlton Whitmire of Wenatchee.

In the minority were people like Guy Caldwell of East Wenatchee. He placed his worry level at a 7 and said the H1N1 flu “is getting pretty prominent out there. It’s very contagious and it’s not going away.”

Kirsten Ryles of Wenatchee put her worry level at an 8, and said it’s because the H1N1 flu is prevalent in the Wenatchee Valley and it “tends to attack healthier people, and more severely.”

Jenny Davis of Wenatchee thinks she had H1N1 flu. She said she thinks it’s a serious concern, about an 8. “It moved into pneumonia and I’ve been sick for about a month,” she said.

Dawn Gangle ranked her concern level at a 5 and said she wants more information on flu symptoms and the course the illness usually runs. “At what point do we get before we take our kid to the doctor?” she asked. “If you wait, then, all of a sudden, after three days, I might find myself taking my kid to the hospital because it’s too late.”

Parents also were asked if they would have their children vaccinated against the illness. Out of the 19 people questioned, nine said yes, three said no and seven said maybe.

Hemstrom, like most of the “maybes,” said she wants to wait to see if there are any side effects from the vaccine.

Dee Riggs: 664-7147

deeriggs@wenatcheeworld.com