Dodgy swine-flu stats

Tonymufc

I came home from work early last Thursday, feeling like sh1t and burning up. When I got home I went straight to bed. My wife came up with a glass of water and 2 paracetamol. She also took my temp which was 39.8c at which point she panicked and contacted the swine-flu helpline. They gave her the number of a local chemist that would give her the anti-viral Tamiflu. After reading the possible side effects I decided not to take them straight away, but to contact my doctor the following morning. "We don't reccomend that you come into the surgery" I was told by the well versed recepionist. So my point is this. Not one doctor had seen me or spoken to me yet they handed over this anti-viral. So even though I don't have Swine-flu (still recovering from whatever I have got) I've been added to the ever increasing stats of reported swine-flu cases. I think there were 14,000 cases last week. How many of them were like me and never actually had it.

STEFANOS4784

I , for one, can't wait for a few extra days off 8)

Red Rock

The number of friends and family I have who've done just like you and then found out it was nothing at all - yet the surgery issued anti-viral drugs and recorded it as swine flu - is enough proof to me that the recorded cases are way, way to high. The whole thing has been handled with a ridiculous level of medical incompetence, leading to people with other more serious conditions being ignored/diagnosed as swine flu.

As far as I understand the only confirmed cases are those where someone as died and an autopsy is required to confirm the cause of death.

davelakers

I had all the symptoms a few weeks back, temperature, sore throat, chesty cough, aching joints etc etc

I visited the website and was told I had Swine Flu and to get tamiflu. Felt right as rain next day and went to work, but Im another statistic!! Its ridiculous.........

STEFANOS4784

Problem is hypochondriacs. To many people to quick to rush to the doc imo. That said when i had appendicitis thought it would pass until it burst, that was a close one, apparently......

gkerr4

in fairness you may well actually really have it!

You are too early in the year for seasonal flu and your symptoms / temperature are caused by something - given that 'most' people are experiencing fairly mild flu-symptoms from H1N1 - it is very likely that you really do have it.

Being a cyclist (on here) you are probably in fairly decent cardio-vascular fitness so it is unlikely to cause you too many problems. But a visit to a doctors surgery means you might pass it to someone who isn't as fit as you and may develop a respiratory complication and have some serious treatment requirements. This is why it is important to stay off work (no, really) and just relax until it passes.

the side effects of tamiflu aren't too bad as long as you are eating btw - taken on an empty stomach they just clear your entire digestive system out in about half an hour!
I contracted type A seasonal flu in december last year while on a work trip to Seattle (Typical!) - paid $450 for a swab test which proved it and a further $140 for the pack of 10 tamiflu! - they did reduce the time I was ill it has to be said - i came down with it on Monday and was able to fly back (after a very late check-out from the hotel - i.e. I rolled out of bed into a cab to SeaTac airport) on the Thursday night. I had lost over a stone in weight that week and looked like death at heathrow
(apologies to all the people I infected while asleep on that 10.5hr flight from hell btw!)

finchy

^ +1. Different people show different symptoms to every illness. I read on the NHS website that most people who contract the 'flu virus don't actually show any symptoms at all.

There's been something in my family this past week - unusually aggressive, getting my Mum, step-Dad and girlfriend within a couple of days. The school nurses where my step-Dad teaches told him it probably is swine 'flu and sent him home.

I thought that here's my chance to get it in the mild form and build up immunity for winter, as well as a few days off work. Unfortunately, persistent kissing of my girlfriend hasn't led to me getting it (or at least as far as I'm aware).

Mothyman

not sure it makes much difference to the individual whether we call it swine flu or not....as long as the authorities have enough evidence its a mild form of flu, and isnt mutating, then I dont need a label..and being healthy, dont need tamiflu.

topcattim

As I understand it, the figures are very rough. They used to estimate it by looking at the number of people who consulted ther GP with flu-like symptoms, but of course they are now encouraged not to go to their GP. Instead, they now use the figures from people who are sent swabs by the HPA, Health Protection Agency. Apparently they send out about 200 tests per day, of which about half are returned. Back in late August, analysis of returned swabs suggesed that over 90% of who are authorised to have Tamiflu don't actually have swine flu. (Real figures are likely to be even lower, since I'd suggest that the half of people who don't return swabs are likely to be experiencing less severe symptoms).

So, if you think you've got swine flu, even if you've been given tamiflu, you probably haven't.

Cressers

But they have to justify their panicked stockiling of Tamiflu and vaccines...

DrewDubya

UK don;t report swine flu - they report "flu-like illness" which the OP obviously had. This is then (mis)represented in the press as the number of swine flu cases

Interestingly the US report Swine flu cases - which have to be confirmed via tests, and there numbers are somewhat different

Mothyman

My friend says he'll only worry when they start slaughtering the pigs.....he like a bacon sarny

ride_whenever

Mothyman wrote:

My friend says he'll only worry when they start slaughtering the pigs.....he like a bacon sarny

My housemates loved it when if was first announced, plenty of reduced pig products.

teagar

Mothyman wrote:

My friend says he'll only worry when they start slaughtering the pigs.....he like a bacon sarny

Only slightly related and only midly interesting.

In the Netherlands it's known as Mexican flu...

Anonymous

I think the Government are telling the public porkies..................groan.