[ My Tryst with the H1N1 virus]
If you are a parent, and live in regions where Pigs can fly [ I mean their germs], then you must read this. It may look long, but please take some time off to read this.
It is about trusting your own instincts & judgement over expert advice.
About 3 weeks back my daughter caught a flu - Cough Cold and all that stuff. Then it subsided but came on again. No fever, little bit of cough and nose blockage. However in the third week she started complaining of fatigue and headache, which seemed to be a bit unusual from her otherwise normal bouts of flu.
# Imp – Watch your children carefully when they fall sick because no two sicknesses
are the same.
Specially in this era when all the domestic animals have ganged up and are hell bent
on taking revenge against humans for butchering them mercilessly all this while.
First it was the Cows with Mad Cow disease, then the Chickens attacked us with Bird Flu and
now we have the Pigs getting back at us. It is only the sheep and goats that are left, I wonder what they are upto. Wait for the next Friday Release of the Animal Farm R&D.
Anyways getting back to the episode, I will list out the events day-wise :-
Tuesday – 17th- Flu continues. Daughter complained of fatigue after school. I started feeling uneasy. Swine Flu’s second wave was on especially in Delhi. Media either makes too much noise over something or too less. The swine flu second wave reporting seems to be on the ‘Too less’ side.
Wednesday – 18th- Flu continues, fatigue, tiredness increases [ temp 99]. After the school she just threw the bag down and was looking extremely worn out. New symptom started -Headache. Okay we know that ladies have a perpetual Headache issue which gets resolved by the Gold & diamond therapy, but my daughter probably hasn’t reached that stage yet.
Thursday – 19th – Flu continues, fever [101], Headache, dizziness are new symptoms. Something in my mind kept telling me that this is not normal. I know my daughter is very tough and if she complains of any pain, then it means she has already gone over a very high threshold by then. Other important symptom – Ever since these kids grow into Teens, they dislike hugging etc but since past two days she has been sitting next to my wife and putting her head in her lap and asking for head massage etc.
It was then I realised that I must get her tested for Swine Flu, although all the symptoms were not matching, but still I knew this bout of illness was extremely abnormal.
The Army Medical Setup- In the morning I went to the ECHS facility out here and asked them about the Swine Flu testing and quite predictably, they knew nothing and told me to go to R&R Hosp in Delhi.[ 1.5 hours drive away].
Then I went to the nearby Army clinic and asked for advice from the Doctor on duty. Instead of listening to me, he thought that here was another silly overanxious parent suspecting Swine Flu at the first sneeze of the child. He kept asking me those UN-WHO check-list of questions about Foreign Travel – High Fever – age.. bla bla and declared that all my fears were imaginary and to take it easy.
Then he took off on a lecture about Flu and some damned statistics about how more people die of normal flu and malarial flu and all that stuff, and swine flu is a lesser threat. I realised that, of course births and deaths would only be ‘Statistics’ to him till the time his own son/daughter are not affected.
Anyways, I thought of going to the Army Set up in the evening with my daughter but she was quite down, so I didn’t want to take her on a 4 hour round trip and at the end some doctor would tell me that her sickness doesn’t meet the WHO guidelines and packs me off with some Paracetmol and cough syrup.
The Civil Doctor – In the evening we went to the local private hospital nearby, which has been quite reliable otherwise based on my past experience. I explained all the symptoms and also about my suspicion about H1N1. He examined her and he too concluded that it could not be Swine Flu since, the flu was active since three weeks and as per UN_WHO checklist the Swine Flu must strike in 4-5 days. So no need to for the test he said. Her condition seemed to be fine to him, he said. [That is one big problem with healthy people, they don’t look sick enough even when they are.] So I thought, "Fine, since the expert says so, no need for the test."
The issue about The H1N1 Test – This test is conducted in only govt hospitals, I am not aware about the Army setup. Amongst private labs only Dr Lals Pathlabs are authorised to do the test and it costs Rs 4,500/-. So basically you can’t go in for the test at the jump of a hat. I had a hunch to get the test done on my own without doctor’s reference but avoided it since the Experts felt no need for it. My wife too was not convinced about the severity of the symptoms. After all what you see in the newspapers seldom actually reach your house. So also with the Swine Flu, it was a news item, not something which could affect us, we thought.
FRIDAY the 20th – Daughter was not feeling too well hence didn’t go to school. Temp was little high, again complained of headache, dizziness and extreme fatigue. Medicines didn’t seem to be making any difference. My gut feeling kept telling me that its time to get the test done regardless of what the doctors say. Why should I have second thoughts about the test just because the cost is a little higher than normal.
Having read so much about the Swine Flu from the net, my conclusion was that either you can do the test too early or too late. Most of the people who succumbed to the flu were people who didn’t meet the UN_WHO Age criteria or other checklists and got the test done after it was too late, after their condition turned critical. Another important thread connecting all these cases was that their doctors didn’t feel the need for the test till the patient was literally on the deathbed.
By noon when I found no improvement in the symptoms, I finally called the Dr Lals’ pathlab helpline for the test. The person came to home for collection by 6.30 pm. He was quite professional. He had the complete disposable kit and head to toe protective dress, the ones you see in the English sci-fi movies. He took the mouth and nose swabs and told us to that results will be available after 18 hours.
SATURDAY – 21ST – Symptoms – continued. Fever. Cough, Headache. Dizziness
Waited for the results till evening. The results came in the evening. Checked online and found that she had H1N1 Virus. [ tested positive]. Immediately rang up the Civil Doctor, he told me to take the report to the Govt Hospital in Mayur Vihar, where I would get the medicines.
I rushed there and SURPRISINGLY, the system there was Well Organised despite being a Govt Hosp. The doctor saw the report and gave the Medicine-Tamiflu; 5 days dose for daughter and 5 days half dose for me and wife. Told that she has to be in quarantine for 10 days.
SUNDAY onwards… The effect of the medicine was magical – literally – most of the symptoms reduced by Sunday Noon and by Monday she was nearly okay. By Tuesday all her symptoms nearly disappeared. Now she in only battling with Boredom[ 10 day home jail] , switching between Internet, TV, Newspaper, Snacking, talking to friends on phone, who keep asking her ‘Aapko kaisa mahsoos ho raha hai?’
What I learnt out of this experience and want to share.
1. Trust your instincts as parents about your children. You can subcontract problems to doctors, but don’t do complete outsourcing and switch off.
2. Nobody is an expert, everyone is learning. You can do your own research through Internet which proved to be a big boon in my case.
3. You would rather be an overanxious parent concerned about your child’s well being rather than become a statistic in the health ministry records.
ABOUT The UN-WHO – Indian Health Ministry checklist for H1N1 Virus
1. FOREIGN TRAVEL – the Germs don’t check your visa before they attack you. Frankly they don’t care.
2. AGE CRITERIA – You are definitely vulnerable - If you are above 30, or below 30, or even 30. The germs are quite illiterate when it comes to verifying your birth certificate.
3. SYMPTOMS - The germs have no Consultants to tell them to go as per the Checklist. Every patient has different combinations of symptoms.
Last but not the Least – 2012 is the year when all the Cows and Pigs and Hens and Goats will attack us together, so the whoever is building the next Noah’s Ark, Please keep a separate ship for Vegetarians with no animals around, because only that ship has a chance of survival.
