| | Some things I don't really get about the so-called "swine" flu: it's a H1N1 influenza virus. Thus, the major antigens, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, are not really any different from the usual serotypes of run-of-the-mill seasonal flu. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but most human influenza is H1N1, correct?)
This being said, the novel 2009 H1N1 "swine" flu is gripping the country and the world. I could have cared less -- until my little sister began having high fevers, myalgias, a cough, sore throat, and headache.
No big deal, I thought. I'm a doctor. I see this stuff all the time. Viral syndrome. Self-limiting. She'll get better.
When my mom called me to tell me that my sister's temperature was 105.5 F (40.8 C), then I started to get concerned. I've seen fevers that high in surgical patients, but they're usually due to post-operative intraabdominal abscesses -- something that I'm pretty sure my sister didn't have.
After a quick call to my pediatrician friend, we sent her to Urgent Care to get a rapid nasopharyngeal flu swab -- which was positive. Thus, my sister has type A influenza. Further subtyping is being performed by the county's public health department, so we won't know if it's true "swine" flu for another few days. Not that it really matters. It's likely swine flu. Still likely self-limiting. She'd probably get better on her own.
She'll also probably get better (quicker) with Tamiflu.
What can I say? I'm a doctor. I believe in medication. It's what I do.
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| | Posted 7/6/2009 11:59 PM - 115 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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