Swine Flu Situation

Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to look “middle-eastern” during the 9/11 attacks? Or what it was like to be big boned in an era of obesity? Me neither. Until I was forced to.

For two weeks, I was treated like an outcast as a result of the media’s latest fear frenzy – the swine flu pandemic. My runny nose, coughing and sneezing was as threatening to the people around me as a man with a machine gun.

It all started on the 28^th of April 2009. That’s when my sneezing began. I palmed it off as a case of hay fever, and went about my day: 9AM breakfast with Mel; 10AM lecture; 3PM lunch with friends; 7PM dinner with the family. By this time, my sneezing had turned into a runny nose. We were about half way through dinner when mum raced to the television.

'There’s a special report on the swine flu.'
She changed the channel to A Current Affair where Tracey Grimshaw was interviewing a New Zealand family outside their house. A husband, his wife and son answered questions from a window on the second floor. They all wore masks.
‘You know five people in Australia were quarantined too,’ mum said. ‘Four live in Sydney. It was in the Telegraph today.’
I left the kitchen table to grab a tissue.
‘Are you sick?’ mum asked me.
‘It’s not swine flu - if that’s what you’re thinking.'

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S, ‘swine flu’ or the A(H1F1) virus, is a composite virus made up of two genes from flu viruses normally found in pigs in Europe and Asia, and also contains avian genes, and human genes. The swine flu is as contagious as the common flu. But, the swine flu has proven to be deadly to humans in several cases in Mexico. The World Health Organisation has also confirmed 79 cases of the disease world wide, and fear there are many more to come.

When I walked downstairs the following morning, I saw a small jar of vitamin C tablets, and packet of Lemsip on the kitchen table. Mum’s always made an effort to watch A Current Affair. It’s all her workmates talk about on their lunch break. I left the cold and flu treatments untouched on the table, and headed into the city.

My nose had become worse since yesterday. I pulled about twenty tissues from a box at home, and I needed more by the time I reached central station. I walked into the railway square pharmacy, grabbed a pack of tissues, and stood behind a man talking to the pharmacist at the counter.

‘Do you have any medical masks?’
‘Nah, sorry. We’ve sold out.’
The man sighed. ‘I’ve been to about six other pharmacies in the city, and they’re all sold out too. Well, thanks anyway.’
I handed over my tissues, and asked the girl how long had she had been sold out of masks.
‘About a week, now. You can’t get masks anywhere in the city at the moment. We’ve got access to two wholesales, and both of them are completely sold out.’
‘Has anyone come in that you thought might have the swine flu?’
‘No, it’s mostly travelers asking for them.’

There was no one left in the store, so I continued to chat to her.

‘I was watching some news programme the other day, and they said there’s already a drug for the swine flu, called Tamiflu.’
‘Yeah, it’s old. It’s an anti-viral drug that can treat the swine flu. But, it’s not a cure. We’ve also heard that some news programmes have been saying Tamiflu is a vaccination for the swine flu, but that’s wrong. It’s been such a big deal that we were even sent an email by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia on how to deal with customers that have been given incorrect information by the media’
‘Do you stock it?’
‘Yeah, we do. We usually have heaps in stock. But, not anymore. What we had we sold, and I think now there’s been some arrangement by the government with wholesalers to control the sale of the drug.’

According to ABC news, about 10 000 courses of Tamiflu is sold in Australia’s normal flu season. But, 120 000 courses of the drug were sold over the past seven days. Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, has stated to the public that the Federal Government is concerned some doctors may be mis-prescribing Tamiflu. Now, hospitals and doctors will have to approach the manufacturer, Roche, to access the drug for patients diagnosed with the swine influenza.

Later that evening, when I returned home mum asked if I had taken the vitamin C and Lemsip. She noticed my new cough.

‘No, I was in a rush. What are you watching?’
‘What’s good for you,’ mum said. ‘There’s a special on how to protect yourself from the swine flu’

…The people we’re most concerned about are the ones that fall into a very specific criteria at the moment. Those people are the ones with an influenza-like illness, and when I say that I mean fever, cough, fatigue…

‘Do you have a fever?'
‘No. Mum, I’m fine.’
‘You look tired.’
‘I got called into work at six o’clock this morning!’

...shortness of breath, chest pain and those people also must have traveled to the United States or Mexico in the last seven days…

‘See, Mum? I can’t have the swine flu. I haven’t traveled to the US or Mexico. Not in the last seven years, anyway.’
‘But, how do you know you haven’t caught this flu from someone who has been to America and Mexico?’

I tried to tell mum that all these stories were rubbish; that the media was just fear mongering, and that producers incorporate stories like these in their shows because they get fantastic ratings.

‘You just shouldn’t watch all this stuff, mum.’
But, she just ignored me. ‘Julia, it’s true. We have to protect ourselves from this flu. I only wish I knew these tips earlier. I mean, look what’s happened to you.’
I couldn’t argue and headed up stairs to sleep. I really was feeling tired.

Morning came, and I had one more symptom than the day before - a sore throat. I turned on the news: ‘Swine flu pandemic ‘imminent’. I couldn’t escape it. Karl Stefanovic proceeded to tell me what I needed to know about the swine flu “situation” that morning: The Red Cross were mobilising sixty million volunteers across the world to deal with the disease; 114 Australian’s were still waiting for tests to confirm whether they had the virus; thermal imaging scanners were being used at international airports to identify passengers that might have a fever; and farmers were insisting pork was safe to eat.

I gave my illness few days, but the symptoms weren’t going away. Neither was the news about the swine flu. There were reports from Mexico on almost every channel.

Maybe I had bumped into some with the swine flu. I remember someone on the train coughing behind me. I saw my Mexican friend, Lorena recently. She hasn’t been to Mexico for years, but she is Mexican. Or maybe it was that retail assistant. She definitely had something. She had a red nose and a pale, clammy face.

It was time. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to see a doctor.

‘So, what can I do for you?'
‘Well, I’ve had a runny nose, and I’ve been coughing for about a week. And, I’ve had a sore throat for a few days now too.’
‘Let’s have a look.’
First, the doctor felt around my throat.
‘Well, the larynx are not too swollen.’
He then put a thermometer in my ear.
‘All normal.’
Then the doctor put on his stethoscope.
‘Deep breaths in… and out… in… and out… are you using your Ventolin?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do have refills?’
‘No, I think I’m all out.’
He began writing a prescription for Ventolin refills.
‘So, is that it?’
‘You’re having a bit of asthma, and you’ve got a cold. Just rest up.’
‘So, I don’t have the swine flu?’
‘What makes you think that?’

I couldn’t say it. It was too embarrassing. The news. The news made me think I had the swine flu.

Over the past two weeks, news and television programmes have swamped viewers with stories about the swine flu. In truth, swine flu is a very real problem for the people of Mexico. But, here on the other side of the world, media outlets were only too ready to give Australians a sense of the swine flu’s imminent arrival to our shores - along with an idea of the carnage to expect.

Swine flu joins a long list of virus’s to fear. Remember SARS in 2003? SARS barely registers a blip in the annual body count caused by infectious disease. Experts agree that SARS warranted a vigorous reaction, but questions remain about the way in which the threat was communicated to the public. And, what about bird flu in 2006? Although there were 115 cases of bird flu in nine countries around the world, the number of deaths caused by the virus was a comparatively small 79.

I was sucked in to the media to join their latest fear frenzy. But, this time I was on the other side. Where people look at you like you need to be destroyed.

According to the International Weekly Journal of Science experts agree that it is better to be accused of overreacting than of allowing the disease to run out of control. And, that if a similar fuss had erupted in the early days of AIDS, maybe HIV would not now be killing three million people each year.

So, perhaps the hype will not be in vain. The news worked to my advantage in some instances. For example, I did get more space on the train then usual. Though overall, I think I’ll practice a little more caution the next time a big news story comes my way. I’ll have to remember a few things: a current affair is great entertainment – nothing more; avoid headlines with ‘imminent’; don’t let TV presenters decide ‘what’s good for you’; and, I don’t need anchormen to brief you on the latest “situation” - I can experience it first hand.