Stewart Priest

Oink!

// June 18th, 2009 // General

So it appears that everyone around me is coming down with Swine Flu. My sister, last night, was one of the latest to become a confirmed case, and my mum was swabbed last night by a nurse – we’re now waiting for the results of that test.

I’ve been lucky – so far. I’m not displaying any symptoms, and I don’t really intend to put myself in harm’s way. I’m currently working from home because I’ve become the office leper (you see, I’m not ill, but they don’t want to take the chance), so I’m holed up in my bedroom with my laptop, TV and Xbox. I could do with a small fridge and a microwave – then I’d be truly self-sufficient. I’m pretty much ready for a nuclear holocaust – my room has become my own personal nuclear bunker – now, where did I put my shortwave radio?

It’s pretty bizarre being thrust into the middle of a Swine Flu zone. Up until now, it was something which was happening to other people. It was happening in other parts of the country, other parts of the city, but it wasn’t happening to anyone I had met or anyone I knew. Until Sunday. If you’ve read my last blog entry, you’ll know that I went to Glasgow’s West End Festival. It was there that I came into contact with someone who’s now been confirmed as being H1N1 positive. Unknown to me, my sister had been in this person’s company a lot over the previous couple of days, and I suspect that’s how she ended up with the virus. In turn, it would seem logical that this is how my mum ended up with symptoms.

I feel a little let down by the public health authorities in Glasgow. I understand that this pandemic is a living, breathing, evolving entity, but NHS Scotland (via NHS24) and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde don’t appear to be singing from the same hymnsheet. My GP informed me that it was my decision whether I attended work or not. He also stated that they were no longer conducting swab tests for suspected cases. This was directly contradicted by the NHS Scotland nurse who came out to test my mum last night. This, coupled with the fact that other GPs in the same area are testing patients, etc., I am forced to ask the question: If different public health agencies are not approaching the pandemic situation in a uniform way, how do they plan to minimise the impact it has on the country? In other words, how do they plan on minimising the risk of me getting it?

So, I await the results of my mum’s test, and we’ll see whether I eventually succumb.

Image by rumpleteaser on Flickr. Used under licence.