Monday, July 27, 2009

South African shares his swine flu experience

The Times.co.za: “After a day or so, the medication started kicking in and I was able to get up and walk around my room a bit. My body took a really hard knock and I lost a couple of kilos, but luckily not too dramatic.

“My parents had to wear face masks when they came into my room. My biggest concern was [the risk of] passing the virus on to them.

“Of course, I’ve heard the things in the media about this swine-flu outbreak, but you don’t actually think you’re going to get it.

SHOOT: Tamiflu is effective if treatment occurs in the early stages. The problem is when the numbers rise, and the numbers of Tamiflu doses begin to run out.

Note from the account below that this isn't a 'normal' flu after all:
- weight loss
- chronic body ache
- 'terrible' fever alternationg between cold and hot sweats
- high heart rate
- insomnia
clipped from www.thetimes.co.za

“I went to the sports tournament, though I was still recovering from flu. I’d been on antibiotics and I guess my immune system wasn’t as strong as usual.

“I don’t know exactly how I got the virus, but it must have been from one of the other guys I came into contact with.

“On the Thursday night, I started feeling sick and, by the next morning, three of my friends and I were really feeling shoddy.

This is the sickest I’ve ever been. My body was aching and I had a terrible fever.

“We all went to the Sandton Clinic and the doctors did some tests. My heart rate was very high, about 118. We were all put on Tamiflu [the drug used worldwide to combat severe swine flu] .

“By then I was really sick. Believe me, if you have [swine flu] you will know it.

“I was told to stay in bed. My body was sore and my temperature went from one extreme to the other.

“I battled to sleep. I would wake up [turning] clockwise every hour, either sweating or freezing.

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