Gettin there. The tests got lost somewhere in the bureaucracy, so it's unknown whether I had swine flu now, or a bad flue/pneumonia/asthma thingy. So I'm going back to work tomorrow, having been out a week with my kids running wild. Gotta get back in and crack the whip. Yeah, that's me, old whip-and-cane chair Johnny. They'll fall over giggling, the little swine.

Good to hear you are doing well, John, and will be returning to work.

It was kind of odd, my brother and I were recently discussing this whole swine flu thing. He was concerned whether he should allow his children to get the flu shot at school, or if he should take them to the Dr. himself. He lives in a small town and had wondered if he should have them get the shot at all...we both had admittedly not heard of any anecdotal evidence of anyone we knew getting the swine flu. The next day we hear of another of our brother's son just getting over it. Then two days later one of my grandchildren was diagnosed as having it...then another grandchild, her sister. Then there's you who also contracted the swine flu. However, from what you have said I am wondering if my relatives were actually tested, or if they were diagnosed from afar. It's hard to say, could alot of the cases of "swine flu" merely be the regular flu but diagnosed as swine flu from afar. There have been death's attributed to the swine flu, but people die from the regular flu every year. Are doctors differentiating between the two, or all the deaths now attributed to swine flu...who knows. I do know quite a bit if histeria has been fomented by the gov't, and I am one not to automatically trust the gov't. In fact, I tend to distrust the gov't, as some of you well know.

If you had the same bug as I did, John, you could probably do with a further week of convalescence.

All the best.

My friend's nephew died of it the other day. He was 27 years old and lived in Mexico.

In this area, they just treat whatever you've got as swine flue til proven otherwise. My test data got lost along the way. No kidding.

Bloody Hell! And people moan about the UK's National Health Service!

I've NEVER heard of the results of a lab test being lost. Occasionally one reads of the results of a batch of tests being questionable- usually due to either faulty equipment or incompetent staff- and the whole batch of tests has to be done all over again.

But LOST? Never.

No kidding. There's a rocket due somewhere in the hidden depths.

In-coming?

If they treat it all as swine flu anyway, it doesn't seem a big deal if the tests were misplaced, I don't guess. Which is what they often seem to be doing, guessing or going under the assumption that it is swine flu. So if the test(s) get lost or are thrown out altogether, no big deal, you've already been treated as if it were the swine flu. The only value to the test then would be to keep track of the numbers..the stats...which are already skewed because so many have, as Eddie has said,...

Quote:

That means that you effectively get diagnosed online- i.e. without actually seeing a doctor- by filling in a questionaire and, if the symptoms match, you're assigned a reference number to pick up the anti-viral Tamiflu from a local centre.

So Eddie goes on the list, the statistical list as having swine flu, though it was never confirmed by testing. Of course the important thing is that people are treated if they are ill, and that whatever flu they have is not spread. But the sad truth is, people every year die of the normal flu. But with the lack of verification, how accurate will the historical record be..."In 2009-2010, ______ thousand/million people worldwide died of the swine flu."? Does it really matter? I suppose it does if you prefer that the historical record is accurate, your field is to study diseases, or you wish to predict the potential for the spread of infectious diseases in the future by using an accurate historical record. As it is being handled the numbers will definitely be inflated.

I don't know that it really matters, maybe i'm just being a bore. But I do think among the general population(s) keeping things in perspective is important, to a degree.

Common sense applies....don't pick your nose or stick your fingers in your eyes. Wash your hands, often. If you have to cough, cough into the inside cusp of your elbow, not your hand. If you're in a high risk group get the shot. If you have children/grandchildren or are around children you're probably going to get something, a cold, flu or swine flu. Sometimes it's just as well that children are exposed to diseases so their immunity system will develop. And sadly, people die. I don't say that lightly, i'm just a realist.

When an earlier version of H1N1 hit us back in '57, we called it "Russian Flu."

[Them reds did it--I know they did, them hard-core ones ]

It got us out of school for a few days. We'd try to drag it out for a full week, but our parents were onto us. They'd take the malingerer's temperature, see that the fever had broke, and it's off to school you go.

I can scarcely believe this, but just a month after recovering from what statistical/anecdotal evidence leads me to believe was indeed Swine Flu I've been attacked by the more conventional November Cold/Flu bug.

I can only assume that my immune system was shot to ribbons after the last bout.

I'm struggling into work because I can still function- you can be pretty sure you have the Swine Flu when you can't function. This goes against all common sense because if I'm a walking germ factory I shouldn't be at work at all. The ridiculous thing is that my firm's Draconian Sickness-and-Attendance procedure means that I'll receive an official written warning if I DON'T make it into work because I was off sick just a month ago.

You don't have to tell me how absurd is this disciplinary procedure. I just hope I manage to sleep it off and get through tomorrow without rendering other colleagues- and customers- hors de combat.

THey found the tests; it's official. H1N1. And I skipped my show this morning cause last night I knew I couldn't get it together at 4am to get moving. This bugger is long-lasting; going to clsss yesterday was a real drag, but I had three sets of papers to pick up and, I hope, get back by Tuesday. We'll see.

Bummer, Eddie. How can you be sure this one isn't the swine flu rather than when you were sick a few weeks ago? Are they actually going to allow you to see a Dr. this time?

It's interesting the difference between the UK's NHS and the healthcare in the US.

John, in the US, was tested. While waiting for the results of the test to come back they just went by the assumption that it was swine flu and he was treated.

Eddie, in the UK, wasn't allowed a Dr. visit or testing, filled out a questionaire, and was diagnosed online. He was given a number, and provided meds from a local center. He can't say for sure if he actually had swine flu. Now he's sick again.

Will Eddie be included as a number(not the one the NHS gave him) on a statistical chart for the swine flu cases of 2009-2010?....and would that be for lasts month's illness, or this month's...or both?

Glad they found your test results, John. It's probably a good thing for a variety of reasons to know whether you had swine flu or not.

You raise interesting issues there, MacD.

In the UK they seem to reserve the high-grade, fast-track treatment for the most vulnerable demographic groups- and I don't fall into any of the high-risk categories. This seems sensible enough.

A difficult day at work today: a 10 hour shift in cold temperatures. Demanding, too, because the usual 2012 Olympics-related weekend engineering renovation work always closes several tube lines and punters need one-to-one travel advice.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Well, age 70, high temp, possible heart-attack, I got the fast-track - as fast as could be, given the emergency room had about 95 snifflers in there. I didn't mind the wait one I got in there, but they could have kept track of which doc was assigned to me after 24 hours when they went from observation to admittance.... It's a madhouse, when epidemic strikes, really.I've had a bit of a recurrence, mostly exhaustion, but I'm husbanding my strength for going back to class next Tuesday. Then we'll see from there. My kids were looked affer while I was gone, but I'm glad to say they were releved to see me coz we had things going pretty smoothly before I got ill. Things will work out OK.