I think that the media has hyped the situation to the point that people are expecting to be seriously ill in order to think they have the swine flu. The symptoms can be so similar to the common cold that there are quite a few people that have had it and exposed more people because they didnt know they had the swine flu symptoms. One friend of mine had all of the symptoms including dizziness, headache, coughing, fever, chills, blood tinged sputum, runny and stuffy nose, and extreme exhaustion... He went to the doctor on Tuesday and the doctor told him he had a cold. Tried to prescribe antibiotics. He went home and called in to work, thankfully, because he works with the elderly... Anyway, I was talking to him on Facebook and told him those were the symptoms to the flu so he decided to call the doctor the next day (Thursday) to see if he should get tested. The doctor again tried to prescribe more antibiotics but he insisted and returned to the Dr office for the Type A test. At this point he was tested positive for Type A Influenza and was sent on his way. He was not told what to do about it or any information. The doctor said it could be the H1N1 virus but was not sure. I would like to know at what point should a person get treatment when diagnosed? What percentage is the possibility that the virus is H1N1 or just Type A Influenza? At what point is the virus to be treated with Tamiflu? And what symptoms are serious enough to seek additional medical attention. Today (Friday) I spoke with him and he was having a lot of wheezing and even more coughing and blood tinged sputum. How fast could his illness advance to the point it is dangerous?
In my opinon, the medical professionals have not been very informative about the symptoms and what to do about them. I would be much happier if they would down play the illness and how serious it could be but let people know how contagious it is and at what point they should seek attention or additional attention if already diagnosed and they should do this by the community.
There should be some site for people that already have the positive tests so they can stay updated as to what to do from there because people are just being sent home and do know what to do, where to go, and what to look for from there....