SWine Flu?

[LuLu Too]

I am today afflicted by this acute malaise that I suspect may have been caused by an excessive consumption of Sparkling Wine.

Symptoms include headache,dehydration,shivers and general patheticness. No fever.

Anti-virals will not help. Chocolate might.

There is no cause for public alarm.

Normal Infection Control measures apply.

Anyone else in the ED area similiarly suffering? Could it be the beginning of a pandemic?

[woofmarkthedog]

See the Wine o'clok thread

That'll sort you out!

[PeckhamRose]

May I turn this thread around and be serious about a swine flu debate?

I am not panicking, and I am not paranoid, but I do have a serious underlying health condition with my lungs so I am being actively cautious and not going on busses or tubes unless it is imperative I do so.

In September when the vaccines are available I shall be offered one by my surgery Nunhead Surgery.

I have a flu jab each year but they are synthetic ingredients. When they were 'live' ingredients they used to make me horribly ill for up to 10 days afterwards so I stopped having them till my doctor said they were now made with synthetic ingredients. I am wondering therefore if the swine flu vaccine will be live at the beginning and thus how I will react. I really ought to have one, but I am anxious!

But as for getting the flu itself - what does anyone else feel?

Just asking! (But I did like the tone of the original poster, it did make me grin!)

[mockney piers]

We've a suspected case at the office. Ordinarily the chance of a mild flu during an ashes test would be great, but I've a wife in the family way and I will confess to a few pangs of anxiety now and then.

Does anyone know if the vaccine will be safe for anyone up the duff or will relenza be the only hope?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Ooh - many congratulations!

[bigbadwolf]

Congratulations Mockney, three cheers all round!!!

[Nero]

Keep clean and carry on.

Wash your mitts (including fingertips and wrists) often and in warm, soapy water. Dry well. Sneeze and cough into a paper hanky, which you then dispose of quickly and safely, or into a crooked elbow (the vampire sneeze). Keep as well as possible so as to avoid unnecessary opportunities for the virus to take hold. If you do catch it, or suspect you have, then stay off for a week and catch up on all those Brothers and Sisters/Wire/etc DVDs.

[mockney piers]

Thanks, all very exciting :D

[Curly]

I've had swine flu and it wasn't mild at all. Took three weeks to get over it.

[LegalEagle-ish]

Congrats to the Mrs, Mockers!

[????]

My little girl's got a temperature this morning but no cough and she's not too bad...watching Cbeebies in her pyjamas

If we phone the Doctor they'll say "It's Swine flu" ; I know of several people who that's happened too...and then it's not...or if we take her round there's more chance she'll get it...

I guess we are going to keep a careful eye on her and use the Calpol/Nurofen combi - feels sensible although I'm sure others would say we are being irresponsible??

[Santerme]

Congratulations MP

15 year old daughter had it in the middle of last week and kicked it off in a few days.

Only as far as me though.

So, the weekend a bit of a blur.

Just a bit achy and funny tum left to recover from.

But the egg and soldiers from my, not so, little girl on Sunday morning went a long way to aid recovery.

[PeckhamRose]

How can you guys be sure it was swine flu that you/yours got.

I have had a flu jab so if I get flu I guess it will be definition have to be swine flu.

But not necessarily. Different variations are growing all the time.

I'm not panicking, truly I am not, just trying to start the discussion.

[annaj]

Congratulations Mockney!

I had heard the happy news, but haven't seen you around to congratulate in person.

As far as swine flu goes, Nero's advice is pretty much spot on. The advice for pregnant women has been contradictory and unhelpful. To say that pregnant women are more susceptible to infection is simplistic, not strictly true and alarmist in my opinion. The immunological changes that allow a women to carry a child and not respond to the paternal antigens are extremely complex and not fully understood and there are some infections and immunological conditions that are more severe during pregnancy. No infection is ideal during pregnancy and pregnant women probably are a little more susceptible to swine flu, but the vast majority will have a mild flu illness without complications. In other words, don't confine Mrs Mockney to the house just yet!

As for Oseltamivir in pregnancy, like many drugs, it's completely untested in pregnant humans. Animal studies have shown no teratogenic effects and surveillance of pregnant women who have taken it hasn't shown any adverse effects, but it can't be guaranteed to be safe and so is not licenced during pregnancy. This is an extremely common situation with lots of drugs, because it's not regarded as terribly ethical to conduct randomised controlled trials on pregnant women, and the decision to treat (off licence) or not to treat is made on an individual basis based on risks and benefits.

This best source of information, in my opinion, is The Health Protection Agency Website

Quids, I don't see anything wrong with your calpol and cbeebies approach, the chances are it is swine flu, because there's a lot of it about, but she's likely to be fine. The only advantage in calling the GP is that you may get oseltamivir for the rest of the family and possibly avoid you all getting it.

PR, if you're prone to respiratory problems, it's not unreasonable to regard yourself as high risk and act accordingly. As for the question of how you know it's swine flu, well, you don't for sure, but it's not flu season and there are or have been lots of confirmed cases out there, so if you get a flu at the moment there's a good chance it's swine flu.

The bottom line is still don't panic, people have died and will die from this flu, but people also die from normal flu and its complications all the time. It's just not reported. This flu is likely to continue to spread and more people will be affected and some will develop complications, but most will have a week off work feeling groggy and then go back to normal.

[bigbadwolf]

Phew...thank heavens for Annaj.

I was just about to go round and dart the neighbours and sit in a Hazmat tent until Winter.

[PeckhamRose]

Yep, thanks annaj and it's what I felt too.

No, not suffering any symptoms at all.

And not spending all my time thinking about it, but am concerned for when the (live) swine flu jab is offered to me for reasons mentioned above.

[Ladygooner]

Congrats to Mr and Mrs Mockney and well done to Annaj for all the great information. I mentioned at work last week that my great nephew who is 3 had swine flu and a few others in the office mentioned their children/people they know had had it. For some reason people seem loathe to admit to having it or their family having it? Luckily my great nephew only had a high temperature for a day or two but the tamiflu seems to have done its work and he is now back at playschool.

[antijen]

According to Roche, the major bottleneck in oseltamivir production is the availability of shikimic acid, which cannot be synthesised economically and is only effectively isolated from Chinese star anise, an ancient cooking spice; the herb is also used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Although most autotrophic organisms produce shikimic acid, the isolation yield is low. A shortage of star anise is one of the key reasons why there is a worldwide shortage of Tamiflu (as of 2005). Star anise is grown in four provinces in China and harvested between March and May. It is also produced in Lang Son province, Vietnam. The shikimic acid is extracted from the seeds in a ten-stage process. Thirteen grams of star anise make 1.3 grams of shikimic acid, which can be made into 10 oseltamivir 75 mg capsules. Ninety percent of the harvest is already used by Roche in making oseltamivir.

This is quoted from a google search, google star anise and oseltamivir, there is great controversy over this drug, i'll try and put another link. Many people I know drink star anise, coltsfoot, hyssop and horehound as a tea, back to the same old subject, can we trust others with ou health.

[PeckhamRose]

That's a whole nother subject, and all I know is that without doctors and science and drugs my body would have given up on me many many times over.

[antijen]

Why is it another subject pr, as ????s uses calpol/ibrupofen, and has own belief in how to deal with flu, I have put mine.

[Asset]

I've caught flu once I reckon. It was in 1999. If that is how often I get seasonal flu, how likely am I to get swine flu? Doctors?

[lozzyloz]

Do you regularly drink apple juice Asset?

[Asset]

no - why? Is that the secret?

[lozzyloz]

Just a long shot. Remember reading about some research that showed children that drank (proper) apple juice developed healthier respiratory systems and were less likely to get problems like Asthma. Deduced that since Swine flu attacks the respiratory system there might be a connection. So far my theoretical test case (You) has failed. How much Watercress do you eat?

[PeckhamRose]

Both my parents smoked and that did it for me.

I think it would have taken more than apple juice, unless I used it to put out their cigarettes, which is hard when you're in a pram and you're 2 months.