Bouquets to the Health Department for finally waking up to the fact that their infection protocols are ludicrous. We hear on the news tonight that they are concerned the infection could spread like wildfire through doctors surgeries! Well, hello??!!! Do they think that doesn’t happen with ordinary flu, all the time? Do they honestly believe that in “normal” times, doctors’ surgeries are a model for a Savlon advertisement? Don’t they realise that doctors’ surgeries are always, the ultimate pathogen liberation centres? First Brickbat: Trying to use hotels and motels to isolate patients, is plain silly. But it would appear that the Department of Health are “reinventing the wheel” at last. Just let everyone know where the “infection hospitals” are please, and DON’T make them part of ordinary hospitals.
You want to use Middlemore? Fine. Isolate part, like the old renal unit on the other side of the railway tracks, and just use that… NOT the main hospital.
Second brickbat: Apparently, all medical personnel who have had anything to do with anyone suspected of having swine flu, are now on prophylactic Tamiflu! Okay, lets think about this based on the warnings that early use of Tamiflu could drive the development of new resistant strains.
Your best science fiction novelist can tell you the end point of that! A tacky novel synopsis goes something like this:
“As it transpired, the swine flu under the influence of prophylactic Tamiflu mutated fast, and spread throughout the community. Since Tamiflu short-circuits the virus by inhibiting neuraminidase production, which locks the budding viral copies of the initial virus to the surface of the infected cell (neuraminadase production is necessary to release the viral particles from the surface of the cell)… the part of the immune system which would normally clear the virus from the system -- and remember it for future reference -- does not have the opportunity to make any against the virus. No defence, of course, results in no reason to recognize the virus in the future, which equals no immunity. Doctors are therefore left susceptible to being infected in the future.
Once the doctors stopped taking Tamiflu, which was causing horrendous side effects , the pumped up, strengthened gremlins knock on the exhausted doctors’ doors, yet again. But this time, Tamiflu doesn’t work on the resistant virus, and being exhausted, the doctors lacked the strength to deal with it, and were very seriously sick indeed.”
Of course, that just expands the catalogue of (needless) fear engendering hysteria to frighten everyone into acquiescing and allowing their hide to be punctured with the future, upcoming, inevitable “saviour” swine-flu vaccine. Which any novel approved by "the system" would consider the best possible outcome.
Where is the common sense in using Tamiflu as prophylaxis, and helping drive resistance?
Far better that these doctors don’t take Tamiflu, have a dose of swine flu, then use all their drug modificators if they wish, such as Tamiflu, and then be able to investigate patients, drug free, at the front line, knowing it’s over, done and dusted, for them.
BUT even so, this does not guarantee that doctors who have had swine flu, can’t pass it on to people who have not had swine flu. After all, it just needs a handshake, not an actual infection.
Their words, not mine.
P.S. Even better if they learned the virtues of Garlic, liposomal vitamin C, and a whole raft of other quackery. Oh sorry. That's not in the manual.