Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Looks like the timely Tamiflu did its job...
Source: http://www.birminghammail.net/news/...reporter-coped-with-swine-flu-97319-24326962/
How Birmingham Mail reporter coped with swine flu
Aug 6 2009 by Christina Savvas, Birmingham
AS I stood in arrivals at Birmingham Airport waiting for the first tourists to arrive back from Mexico ? the origin of the deadly swine flu outbreak ? I didn?t realise how up close and personal I would eventually get to the story.
I was at the centre of a media scrum with a barrage of questions; what are the symptoms? how does it feel?
Four months on it would be my turn to provide some answers, albeit in a quite different situation.
Not only are we no longer able to contain the illness, we are faced with the problem of how to react sensibly to a virus that is no worse than a heavy cold for the average healthy person.
Although medics assure us that the strain is mild and there is more chance of dying from meningitis, headlines about swine flu deaths remain in everyone?s minds.
I consider myself to be a fit and healthy 27-year-old journalist, so I was not particularly worried about catching swine flu. My main concern was pregnant friends and vulnerable relatives with other health issues.
The illness began with the usual cold symptoms ? coughing, sneezing and a runny nose. My appetite was affected but I put that down to feeling under the weather.
Then suddenly my temperature soared, my back began to ache and my lips became incredibly swollen. Because of all the publicity about swine flu ? I had worked on the story about the UK?s biggest outbreak at Welford School in Handsworth ? I consulted the NHS Direct website.
I mentally ticked off the symptoms and called the helpline number. ?We believe you have the swine flu virus,? said the operator a few moments later.
Then I began to panic. Two close relatives were being treated for cancer and my 11-year-old cousin has spinal muscular atrophy ? a genetic disorder that affects nerve cells so that muscles cannot be used.
I felt guilty I may have already passed on the virus to others.
I was told to contact my GP and, after verbal diagnosis, prescribed the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
I sent a ?flu friend? to collect my prescription from one of two collection points in Tamworth.
Meanwhile, I had taken up residency in my bedroom to begin a week in quarantine that saw my husband banished to the spare room.
My temperature continued to soar, limbs ached and I felt very weak. I also felt pains in my chest and was short of breath.
I slept most of the day and began the course of Tamiflu drugs. After four days I felt I had recovered and rang the doctor to see if I could leave my house ? but I was told to stay in quarantine for a week. Boredom had well and truly settled in.
It was worrying but would I have been as worried if it hadn?t been for all the media coverage and hype?
After all, many people get flu and no one I know has died from it, or even come close.
Source: http://www.birminghammail.net/news/...reporter-coped-with-swine-flu-97319-24326962/
How Birmingham Mail reporter coped with swine flu
Aug 6 2009 by Christina Savvas, Birmingham
AS I stood in arrivals at Birmingham Airport waiting for the first tourists to arrive back from Mexico ? the origin of the deadly swine flu outbreak ? I didn?t realise how up close and personal I would eventually get to the story.
I was at the centre of a media scrum with a barrage of questions; what are the symptoms? how does it feel?
Four months on it would be my turn to provide some answers, albeit in a quite different situation.
Not only are we no longer able to contain the illness, we are faced with the problem of how to react sensibly to a virus that is no worse than a heavy cold for the average healthy person.
Although medics assure us that the strain is mild and there is more chance of dying from meningitis, headlines about swine flu deaths remain in everyone?s minds.
I consider myself to be a fit and healthy 27-year-old journalist, so I was not particularly worried about catching swine flu. My main concern was pregnant friends and vulnerable relatives with other health issues.
The illness began with the usual cold symptoms ? coughing, sneezing and a runny nose. My appetite was affected but I put that down to feeling under the weather.
Then suddenly my temperature soared, my back began to ache and my lips became incredibly swollen. Because of all the publicity about swine flu ? I had worked on the story about the UK?s biggest outbreak at Welford School in Handsworth ? I consulted the NHS Direct website.
I mentally ticked off the symptoms and called the helpline number. ?We believe you have the swine flu virus,? said the operator a few moments later.
Then I began to panic. Two close relatives were being treated for cancer and my 11-year-old cousin has spinal muscular atrophy ? a genetic disorder that affects nerve cells so that muscles cannot be used.
I felt guilty I may have already passed on the virus to others.
I was told to contact my GP and, after verbal diagnosis, prescribed the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
I sent a ?flu friend? to collect my prescription from one of two collection points in Tamworth.
Meanwhile, I had taken up residency in my bedroom to begin a week in quarantine that saw my husband banished to the spare room.
My temperature continued to soar, limbs ached and I felt very weak. I also felt pains in my chest and was short of breath.
I slept most of the day and began the course of Tamiflu drugs. After four days I felt I had recovered and rang the doctor to see if I could leave my house ? but I was told to stay in quarantine for a week. Boredom had well and truly settled in.
It was worrying but would I have been as worried if it hadn?t been for all the media coverage and hype?
After all, many people get flu and no one I know has died from it, or even come close.