tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Soc Sci Med. 2013 Dec;99:49-55. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.10.011. Epub 2013 Oct 24.
"I was pretty sure I had the 'flu": Qualitative description of confirmed-influenza symptoms.
Jutel A1, Banister E2.
Author information
Abstract
Influenza is a common infectious disease, yet its diagnosis is rarely confirmed, rather is presumed in the presence of non-specific clinical symptoms. Public health organisations enlist the lay person in the diagnostic process, as infection containment initiatives focus on encouraging individuals with influenza-like illness to stay at home, seeking medical attention only in the presence of complications. While lay self-diagnosis of influenza has been confirmed to be neither specific nor sensitive, little is known about how people with confirmed-influenza infection describe their illness. In this article we report the descriptions of influenza by 21 individuals with rapid antigen test-kit confirmation of influenza A or B and we discuss their recommendations for management of future influenza infection. Semi-structured interviews reveal that the variability in symptoms and severity of disease makes a standard description of influenza elusive. Almost all participants had a cough, sweats, runny nose and muscle aches, but the prominence of these symptoms varied significantly between participants. Most participants were preoccupied with diagnostic certainty, and would seek medical attention in a future similar illness episode. This study underlined a conditioned recourse to medical authority for confirmation of diagnosis which challenges current public health strategies and should be further explored in order to determine its wider impact.
Copyright ? 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Diagnosis, Influenza, New Zealand, Self-diagnosis
PMID:
24355470
[PubMed - in process]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24355470
"I was pretty sure I had the 'flu": Qualitative description of confirmed-influenza symptoms.
Jutel A1, Banister E2.
Author information
Abstract
Influenza is a common infectious disease, yet its diagnosis is rarely confirmed, rather is presumed in the presence of non-specific clinical symptoms. Public health organisations enlist the lay person in the diagnostic process, as infection containment initiatives focus on encouraging individuals with influenza-like illness to stay at home, seeking medical attention only in the presence of complications. While lay self-diagnosis of influenza has been confirmed to be neither specific nor sensitive, little is known about how people with confirmed-influenza infection describe their illness. In this article we report the descriptions of influenza by 21 individuals with rapid antigen test-kit confirmation of influenza A or B and we discuss their recommendations for management of future influenza infection. Semi-structured interviews reveal that the variability in symptoms and severity of disease makes a standard description of influenza elusive. Almost all participants had a cough, sweats, runny nose and muscle aches, but the prominence of these symptoms varied significantly between participants. Most participants were preoccupied with diagnostic certainty, and would seek medical attention in a future similar illness episode. This study underlined a conditioned recourse to medical authority for confirmation of diagnosis which challenges current public health strategies and should be further explored in order to determine its wider impact.
Copyright ? 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Diagnosis, Influenza, New Zealand, Self-diagnosis
PMID:
24355470
[PubMed - in process]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24355470