Comments on: Swine Flu – Ten Tips for Me and You

By: Phase 3 Alert « Thought Shop

Phase 3 Alert « Thought Shop — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:59:54 +0000

[...] Now that America has declared a state of swine flu public health emergency, you may be asking yourself – what am I supposed to do? [...]

By: Beatrice

Beatrice — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:25:51 +0000

i think that in asian countries the Swine Flu did not spread rapidly compared to those countries that are located in colder climates. we should still be very thankful that the swine flu did not cause massive infections.

By: Susan Lowery

Susan Lowery — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:00:11 +0000

Time for an update, eh?
25% of our middle school was absent yesterday – any news thoughts from the good doctor?

By: Doc Gurley

Doc Gurley — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:30:09 +0000

Dear Brandon,
While I cannot give out personal medical advice over the internet, here’s the good news about swine flu – the incubation time (or the time to get symptoms after you were possibly infected) is supposed to be around 4-5 days. What that means is that, for most people, if it’s been a week and you’re perfectly healthy, you’re probably home free. The other good news is that we have a (count them: one!) medicine in pill form that can help “treat” swine flu. It is most effective at reducing symptoms if you take it the first 48 hours after you get symptoms. The current recommendation is to give it to people who don’t yet have symptoms ONLY if they’re a close contact – in other words, if you live with someone who’s sick with the swine flu. Why not give it to everyone? Here’s where the bad news comes in – influenza viruses like the swine flu mutate REALLY fast, and get resistant REALLY fast – so we want to save our one medicine for when there’s no other option. Second, this swine flu is looking like it’s not as severe as we first feared (although, remember, the mutation-issue can mean that this flu, by the time “real” flu season comes around, could be MUCH nastier), so we don’t want to use our medicines up now…
Hoping for the best for you,
Doc Gurley

By: Doc Gurley

Doc Gurley — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:22:42 +0000

Dear Twittering,
You’re doing an impressive job coping with a tremendously difficult situation. I agree, though, that you need to be seen by someone medical to check you out and make sure you’re okay. There are many nasty infections besides swine flu that can cause some of your symptoms – and many of those infections should be treated, even when you feeling a bit “better.” I think our first attempt at dealing with a possible widespread infection like swine flu shows us the big holes in our system – and our inability to find, shelter, and care for people like you is, in my opinion, the biggest hole of all. Wishing you all the best and hoping you get good care and the best of health,
Doc Gurley

By: Brandon Heichel

Brandon Heichel — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:32:51 +0000

i Have a question. Last Sunday (5 days ago) i was taking famnily portraits of a family and today i received notice that the little girl in the family has the swine flu. I feel fine but do i need to take any more precautions?

By: The Original Twittering

The Original Twittering — Fri, 01 May 2009 20:34:16 +0000

I am a homeless person who sleeps in a clean open-air space outdoors, but who eats in soup kitchens every day — in NYC. I go daily to a Starbucks 1-3 blocks, respectively, from NYU Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital. A month ago, I got what I thought was mild food poisoning; 2 days later, had flu symptoms, which stayed with me, somewhat severely, for a month. I had bloody green nasal mucous, and a terrible cough; with fatigue and serious malaise. I attributed it to another soup kitchen-bourne fly; but then, alas, THIS WEEK, news of the deadly siwn flu breaks out. (Homeless people have limited access to news sources). I am feeling better now; and the symptoms are milder, on the mend, it seems. But NOW I am concered if I have not already had a strain of the swin flu, I am compromised enough to succomb to a version of it. I don’t think I presently need medical intervention, but I am concerned about my safety.

By: Doc Gurley

Doc Gurley — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:22:42 +0000

Unfortunately, a DIY mask is beyond most of us – the key elements for it to protect the user are that 1) it fits tightly in a circle, with all parts touching skin – the reason being that the air you inhale should go THRU the mask, and 2) the mask itself should be such a fine weave that it can trap all droplet particles (and even, when you get to fancy-shmancy mask, thing WAY smaller than droplets.
Keep in mind, the nurse at a clinic may hand you a floppy mask if you have a cough – that’s sort of different situation. The goal there is to keep the person-who’s-coughing from spraying droplets everywhere – then the mask mostly needs to be positioned close to the mouth and cover the area-of-spray.
Finally, I can tell you from those times when a clinical smell was intense (read: bad) – there are very few “oils” of any kind you can put in a mask and not get a ranging headache from breathing it in just a few minutes. No data on whether adding an oil could add to its effectiveness…

By: Sandra

Sandra — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:21:11 +0000

If you don’t want to wear a mask (or the chemists run out) is there an alternative. Say, something like a hanky dipped in tea tree oil?

By: Healthy Affairs « What the Health Online Blog

Healthy Affairs « What the Health Online Blog — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:05:52 +0000

[...] 10 Tips to protect yourself: from the blog of Dr. Jan Gurley, an internist and Harvard Medical School [...]