SHAFTER, Calif. -- The death toll for the swine flu in Kern County now stands at 10. With this news, officials at the Department of Public Health said people are starting to panic.

Armida Martinez spent nine days in the hospital fighting off an illness she didn't know she had.

"They were just stuffing me with medicine to see what would work,” Martinez said. “They thought it was valley fever, or some other valley disease, but it wasn't."

Martinez said she felt flu-like symptoms, but doctors hadn't diagnosed it as the H1N1 virus.

After more tests and medicine, Martinez told ABC23 that she seemed to get better and was released from the hospital.

"The doctor's assistant called me and told me, ‘I have good news and bad news,’” Martinez said. “’The bad news is, you had swine flu,' so, I asked, ‘what's the good news?’ She said 'you're a survivor.'"

Since her family thought she had a respiratory problem, they took precautions when they visited her at the hospital by wearing masks and washing their hands.

"I hated to wear the mask,” said Rosa Martinez, Armida’s daughter. “It was hard to breathe."

Officials with the DOPH said the family did everything right and they urge the public to do the same.

On Wednesday, the family tried to get a shot in the arm, but by 9 a.m., the line was already too long.

Five-hundred vaccines were available and those standing at the end of the line were holding on to hope.

As for the Martinez family, they said while they know the virus can be deadly, but they want others to know that you can beat this flu.

"If you happen to get it, have faith," Rosa told ABC23.

Health officials warn that before you run off to the emergency room, try to treat your flu symptoms at home.

If that doesn't work, call your doctor to help you make a better assessment as to when you should pay him a visit or when you should go to the hospital.

For more information on the H1N1 virus:

Swine Flu Versus Regular Cold Flu Symptoms.

Updated: 2009 H1N1 Vaccine Clinics

Local Public Health Offices